Lathan Lycurgus Smith v. Donald Trump

I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information

• Parties & Counsel:
  • Plaintiff: Lathan Lycurgus Smith, Pro se (California)
  • Defendant: United Nations; United States of America; United States Military Indivisable Secret Service; NASA; Donald Trump; and United States Patent and Trademark Office
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel: Pro se
• Case Identification: 3:17-cv-07068, N.D. Cal., 03/23/2018
• Venue Allegations: The complaint does not contain specific allegations establishing venue in the Northern District of California.
• Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges "thief of ideal and writen scribe's of my notes" by the "Unitied States secret service," seeks "new ownership" of various patents listed in the complaint, and requests "imunity of patent infringment."
• Technical Context: The patents listed in the complaint relate generally to disparate fields including search engine technology, electric machines, and advanced transportation systems.
• Key Procedural History: The filing is an Amended Complaint, though no details of the original complaint or the reasons for amendment are provided within the document.

Case Timeline

II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis

The complaint lists fourteen U.S. patents but does not formally assert any of them in specific counts of infringement (Compl., p. 4). The following analysis addresses the first two patents from that list.

U.S. Patent No. 9,805,097 - Method and system for providing a search result

The Invention Explained

• Problem Addressed: The patent background describes that conventional search results are often presented as a simple list, which "can limit user engagement" as a user may lose interest after viewing only the top few items (US 9,805,097 B2, col. 1:29-35). This linear presentation is described as particularly time-consuming and inefficient on the small screens of handheld devices (col. 1:39-42).
• The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a system that generates a "framed structure" for displaying search results, where different content items are arranged in various sub-components or frames (col. 2:1-8). This allows for a more dynamic and visually organized presentation, such as a tiled layout, rather than a simple top-to-bottom list (col. 3:51-55; FIG. 2). The system can select which items to display and determine the size and position of their frames based on predicted user response or other objectives, such as maximizing revenue (col. 6:5-13).
• Technical Importance: This technology represents a move away from simple ranked lists in search engine results pages toward more dynamic, card-based, or modular user interfaces that can integrate diverse types of content (e.g., news, videos, advertisements) in a more engaging manner (col. 5:2-9).

Key Claims at a Glance

• The complaint does not assert any specific claims. Independent claim 1 is presented for illustrative purposes.
• Claim 1 of the ’097 patent includes these essential elements:
  • receiving a search request from a user;
  • determining a plurality of content items based on the search request;
  • selecting one or more content items from the plurality;
  • generating a framed structure having at least one sub-component;
  • determining a correspondence between the selected content item(s) and the sub-component(s);
  • arranging each content item with respect to its corresponding sub-component; and
  • generating a search result based on the items and the framed structure.
• The complaint makes no mention of asserting dependent claims.

U.S. Patent No. 9,755,463 - Electric machine

The Invention Explained

• Problem Addressed: The patent background notes that in applications like robotics, electric motors need to be powerful yet lightweight, as excess motor weight must be supported and accelerated by an upstream actuator (US 9,755,463 B2, col. 1:38-41). The manufacturing process for conventional high-torque motors is also described as often being "time consuming and expensive" (col. 1:35-37).
• The Patented Solution: The invention describes an electric machine with a novel structure designed to improve heat dissipation and increase torque density (col. 1:44-50). It features a first carrier with electromagnets and a second carrier with permanent magnets that move relative to each other (Abstract). A key aspect is the specific geometry and relationship between the "posts" on the first carrier and the "magnetic poles" on the second, with their size, pole pitch, and post height being selected to fall within a specific region that provides a beneficial "force or torque per weight per excitation level" (Abstract; FIG. 170A-170F).
• Technical Importance: The patent describes a design for electric motors that aims to optimize the trade-off between size, weight, and power, which is a critical design constraint in fields like robotics and electric vehicles where high torque-to-weight ratios are paramount (col. 1:38-41).

Key Claims at a Glance

• The complaint does not assert any specific claims. Independent claim 1 is presented for illustrative purposes.
• Claim 1 of the ’463 patent includes these essential elements:
  • A first carrier having an array of electromagnetic elements defining magnetic poles;
  • A second carrier having electromagnetic elements, with the second carrier arranged to move relative to the first carrier;
  • An airgap provided between the first and second carriers;
  • The electromagnetic elements of the first carrier including posts with slots, and one or more electric conductors in each slot;
  • The posts of the first carrier and the second carrier together defining a size of the electric machine;
  • The magnetic poles having a pole pitch S in mm;
  • The size of the motor, pole pitch and post height being selected to fall within a defined region.
• The complaint makes no mention of asserting dependent claims.

Multi-Patent Capsule Analysis

The complaint also lists the following twelve patents under the heading "In Auto Tranportation, Electric & Hyrokinetic" (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,748,804, Electric machine, issued August 29, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes an electric machine with a specialized stator and rotor configuration. The design focuses on specific geometric relationships between the posts, slots, and magnetic poles to achieve a high torque-to-weight ratio, particularly for robotics applications (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,748,803, Electric machine, issued August 29, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent discloses an electric machine with two carriers containing electromagnetic elements. It details a specific arrangement of conductors and posts, along with defined geometric parameters for pole pitch and post height, intended to provide a beneficial force or torque per weight for a given electrical input (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,742,227, Electric machine, issued November 21, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent relates to an electric machine architecture, specifying a region defined by the motor's size, pole pitch, and post height. This defined region is claimed to yield improved performance in terms of force or torque per weight, which is advantageous for applications like robotics (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,742,226, Electric machine, issued November 21, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes an electric machine with a first carrier and a second carrier having electromagnetic elements. The invention defines a specific relationship between the size of the motor, the pole pitch, and the post height to optimize the torque-to-weight ratio (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,742,225, Electric machine, issued August 22, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent discloses an electric machine having two carriers with electromagnetic elements, where the size of the motor, pole pitch, and post height are selected to fall within a region that provides a benefit in terms of force or torque per weight per excitation level (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,727,617, Systems and methods for searching quotes of entities using a database, issued August 8, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a system for searching and ranking quotes. It involves identifying subject entities from a user's query, determining scores for quotes based on factors like relevance and recency, and displaying the selected quotes to the user (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,718,630, Transportation system, issued August 1, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent relates to a high-speed transportation system, such as a hyperloop. It describes a capsule traveling through a tube, with a levitation system and a track positioned to provide balancing force vectors for stability (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,604,798, Transportation system, issued March 28, 2017.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent covers a high-speed transportation system with at least one capsule traveling through a tube. A key feature is a track positioned to provide balancing force vectors to achieve stability for the levitating capsule (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,517,901, Transportation system, issued December 13, 2016.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a high-speed transportation system using a "net-tension tube." This tube structure is designed to be structurally efficient, potentially reducing material costs and weight for the transport tube (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,511,959, Transportation system, issued December 6, 2016.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent discloses a high-speed transportation system where at least a portion of the travel path is arranged over or in a body of water. This approach may be used to create straighter, more direct routes between destinations (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,490,736, Adjustable assembly of rotor and stator and applications thereof with a variable power generator, issued November 8, 2016.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a variable power generator where the stator and rotor are adjustably movable relative to each other. This adjustability allows for control over the magnetic field overlap, which in turn controls the power output (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 9,476,401, Marine hydrokinetic turbine, issued October 25, 2016.

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a power generator for use in marine environments, such as a hydrokinetic turbine. The system includes a stator and rotor that are adjustably movable to control the overlap of their magnetic fields, thereby regulating power generation from water currents (Compl., p. 4).
  • Asserted Claims: No claims are asserted (Compl., p. 4).
  • Accused Features: No product features are accused (Compl., p. 4).

III. The Accused Instrumentality

The complaint does not identify any specific accused product, method, or service. The allegations are directed at the "thief of ideal and writen scribe's of my notes" rather than the infringement of patent claims by a commercial product (Compl., p. 1).

IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations

The complaint does not assert any specific patent claims against an accused instrumentality and therefore provides no basis for an infringement analysis. The pleading does not contain allegations that would permit the construction of a claim chart. No probative visual evidence provided in complaint.

V. Key Claim Terms for Construction

The complaint does not assert specific claims, rendering an analysis of key claim terms for construction inapplicable.

VI. Other Allegations

The complaint does not contain allegations of indirect infringement or willful infringement.

VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case

The Amended Complaint does not present a conventional patent infringement dispute. Instead, it raises fundamental questions of legal sufficiency and justiciability for the court.

• A central issue is one of justiciability: does the complaint, which alleges "thief of ideal" and seeks "new ownership" of patents from governmental entities, state a cognizable claim for patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271 or any other federal law?
• A key procedural question will be one of pleading standards: does the complaint provide sufficient factual detail to meet the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8 and 12, given its failure to identify any specific accused product, assert any patent claims, or allege facts connecting the defendants' conduct to any element of a patent infringement claim?
• A threshold legal question is one of jurisdiction and immunity: can the court exercise jurisdiction over the named defendants, which include the United States government, its agencies, the United Nations, and the sitting President, entities that may be subject to sovereign or other forms of immunity from such a suit?