Dimension, Inc. Granted 2nd Patent for Fractal Upscaling Technology

March 17, 2015

It is an especially grand St. Patrick’s day for Dimension, Inc. as, on this date, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Dimension a second upscaling patent, U.S. Patent # 8,983,236 (‘236 Patent). The ‘236 Patent covers methods for upscaling a source input video from a lower, first resolution, to a desired output video having a higher, second resolution, using fractal zooming techniques.

Dr. Lawrence Panik, Dimension, Inc. President, commented, "This latest patent strengthens our original upscaling U.S. Patent # 8,639,053, (‘053 Patent) which recently withstood an Inter Partes Review (IPR) challenge brought on by TMm Inc., a pink sheet company (TMMI) that has filed what we view as a nuisance lawsuit against us and whom we have countersued."

Michael Marcelli, a licensed patent attorney, explains the IPR process as it relates to Dimension’s ‘053 Patent as follows:

“Basically, TMm, Inc., challenged the entirety of Dimension’s original upscaling patent on the grounds that all 30 of Dimension’s claims were obvious to one skilled in the art. What is obvious to one skilled in the art has been challenging for the Federal Courts and the USPTO to determine because it varies from case to case, with every invention. Regarding the ‘053 Patent, TMm, Inc., asked a USPTO administrative panel to combine three to five different references, including an obscure Ph.D. thesis, to find that all 30 of Dimension’s claims were obvious. The panel agreed to review 25 of the 30 claims but found that the cited references and TMm, Inc’s., arguments did not justify review of the other 5 claims in Dimension’s ‘053 Patent.

The ‘053 patent had but one independent claim, Claim One. The remaining claims were all dependent upon that original claim. After reviewing the submitted materials, Dimension decided that the best course of action was to abandon the overbroad Claim One, not expend resources arguing the merits of the other 24 claims under review, accept the 5 enforceable claims in the ‘053 Patent, and, going forward, focus on obtaining more targeted claims directed to the many additional upscaling features and technologies described in the ‘053 Patent and in its line of ‘continuation’ applications. The ‘236 Patent is the initial result of that decision and more patents will be forthcoming that will add to Dimension’s patent portfolio.“