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ECE 477 Final Report Spring 2004
This would be an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. The project will
certainly utilize LEDs to inform users that their table is ready for them. It is most likely easy to
circumvent this infringement by arranging the LEDs in a distinctly different pattern. This design
patent covers only the design. No patent was found that covered the method used to
communicate to the coaster the need to illuminate the LEDs. A substantially different look
should make the remote device unique enough to not conflict with this patent.
6,681,109 Server Call System [4-5]
This could be interpreted as a literal infringement. The patent mentions a keypad and
display for entering information and receiving messages. The devised project does not
implement separate units for servers, as the main focus of the project is to receive and prepare
orders before people get their table. It would cheapen the restaurant experience to talk to a box
at the table instead of a waiter. Also, the ordering device has a menu that the user can navigate
through instead of a list of codes for different orders. This entering of order information is
completely different than the patent. The purpose of the patent is to alert a server that a table has
a request for something so that the server will take care of the customers. The purpose of the
project is to tell a server what customers would like to have at their table when they are seated.
The order is sent straight to the kitchen and the server doesn’t need to think about it until the
customers are ready to be seated, then the server simply checks to see if any food is up for that
table. This argues that the patent and the project do not perform substantially the same function.
The patent describes a different method for communication as well. It utilizes a keypad and list
of codes that are translated by the central computer into an order. The project utilizes a
navigable menu with descriptions of menu items to help the user determine their order.
Navigation buttons are used to scroll through menu options whereas the patent uses numeric
codes. The menu display versus the list of codes is substantially different ways of going about
ordering food.
6,208,976 Order Management and System with Auto Menu Updating [4-6]
This would be an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, as the patent describes a
menu display implementation nearly identical to the layout of the project the focus on the fact
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