Dstandish, your summary, while incomplete is very good, except i erred in: "Valence's patents may not be as good as they look." , The five patents that Paul suggested I look at are actually very good, particularly #5,834,136, since it contains claims to actual cells with a quite unique (and in a way possibly quite broad) polymer structure and cell structure. The other four are mostly "methods patents" indicative of intensive work to develop manufacturing techniques of high quality, but the latter, being "methods" patents are not as enforceable, IMHO, as the one where actual strong and broad cells are claimed.
Mind you this is not an opinion as to validity, enforceability and possible prior art, after writing some 40 patents of my own, I developed a "knack" for seeing strength and weaknesses in patents, but I am not a Patent Attorney, and always leave to my Patent Attorneys the task of wording my own claims.
Zeev |
