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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: johnzhang who wrote (12347)	12/8/1999 1:32:00 AM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 54805

>> Since Excimer laser itself is not an invention of Visx and commercially available, there's nothing to block competitive from entering the laser vision correction field once the patent claim is invalid. I presume competitors would still have to get fda approval for their systems, even if the visx patents aren't upheld. From what I've seen that represents a significant barrier to entry in terms of time to market. uf

To: johnzhang who wrote (12347)	12/8/1999 8:53:00 AM
From: Mike Buckley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

John, Because I haven't studied the Excimer Laser technology, I have to wonder if it doesn't remain a gorilla game, not a royalty game. You mentioned that VISX doesn't own the basic technology, that it's a non-proprietary technology. But everything else I've read about it in this folder is that VISX has the best innovations on the basic laser technology. That's the same model of Qualcomm; CDMA is a public technology but no one has been able to arrive at innovations that are as successful as Qualcomm's innovations. My point is that there are gorilla games being played around proprietary innovations of non-proprietary technologies. The CDMA niche is one of those gorilla games. Investors should decide for themselves if the laser technology for eye surgery is another one. --Mike Buckley

To: johnzhang who wrote (12347)	12/8/1999 1:56:00 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Respond to of 54805

The ruling by the administrative judge in now way invalidates any of the VISX patents. The VISX lawyers were simply trying to expedite the enforcement of the patent against the Nidek laser. They asked the ITC (International Trade Commission) to grant them an injunction against the Nidek laser system as they claimed that it infringed upon their patents. The administrative judge in the ITC court apparently disagreed and did not grant them an injunction against Nidek. In no way were anyone their patents rules invalid. They plan to appeal the ITC judges ruling. They originally took this case to the ITC to get a quick ruling on their motion for an injunction, as the US courts system takes 18 months for them to get a injunction. That cases is still pending in the US courts. I think VISX is a good buy right now.