Hi Steve - yes I know quite a bit about this. Matsushita has sent a blanket mailing to companies doing electronics assembly. The patent addresses the process of putting an adhesive on the board that is used to hold components on the board prior to wave soldering. The patent was issued in 1982. One of our member companies brought the issue to our attention. As IPC represents the electronics assembly industry, we wrote to all of our members doing assembly (as well as non-members) informing them that this was a blanket mailing by Matsushita. We asked them if they were responding, and whether they were interested in a coordinated response. We have received over 150 replies to our mailing so far. The path forward hasn't been decided yet. Anyone interested in the mailing can provide me a fax # and I'll make sure they get a copy of the mailing. PLEASE respond to me privately ([log in to unmask]) and don't CC Technet with your fax #. Dave -------------------------------------------------------------------- David W. Bergman CAE Vice President of Technical Programs IPC 2215 Sanders Road Northbrook, IL 60062-6135 P 847-509-9700 x340 F 847-509-9798 email [log in to unmask] IPC's website www.ipc.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> SteveZeva <[log in to unmask]> 04/14/98 06:21PM >>> Hi ya'll! I just stopped by one of my other favorite sites (www.smtnet.com) and found the following post: >Posted by Mike C on April 14, 1998 at 18:01:28: >We received a letter from IPC concerning patent infringements (patents held by >Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.) LTD (Panasonic) that may effect most of us who >use adhesive to secure components to PCBs for subsequent wave soldering >process. If you have not received a copy of this letter Contact IPC and request a >copy (847) 509-9700. IPC is Surveying Companies to Judge if industry members >would like to consolidate their responses through IPC. I do not wish to hinder IPC >efforts but I feel we should all be made aware of what is going on. IF ANYBODY >HAS INFORMATION ON THIS LETTER PLEASE POST INFO HERE. Following is >the cover letter sent from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. ., Ltd. >Dear Sir >This is to inform you that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (*Matsushita*; >maybe known as Panasonic, its brand name) Owns U.S. Patents, among others, >identified below, which we assume may be of interest to your company. >USP 4,812,692 USP 4,814,870 >For your convenience, attached are the copies of the above patents. Matsushita is >willing to grant licenses under these patents to any company on a >nondiscriminatory basis. If you would be interested, please contact us for further >information. We can be reached by fax # +81-6-909-0053 >Further, please be advised that Matsushita does not intend to assert the above >patents against infringement occurred in conjunction with the use of certain >manufacturing equipment supplied by Matsushita or its authorized distributors. >Sincerely yours, >Shinjiro Saikawa >General Manager >Licensing Department I Is this something that we should really worry about? Anybody know? -Steve Gregory- ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC web site (http://jefry.ipc.org/forum.htm) for additional information. For the technical support contact Dmitriy Sklyar at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.311 ################################################################ ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC web site (http://jefry.ipc.org/forum.htm) for additional information. For the technical support contact Dmitriy Sklyar at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.311 ################################################################