Letter warning of virtual tours infringing Patent 6,754,400

[mhobbi01]

Hi Everyone,

One of our clients has forwarded a letter from a Law Office called Thompson Hine (http://www.thompsonhine.com/lawyer/AnthonyHandal/). The letter indicates that the virtual tour we created and provided for our client infringes US patent No. 6,754,400 - System and
Method for Creation, Processing and Visualiation of Omnidirectional
Images of Tour Trechnology Systems, LLC.

I have found no indication of who Tour Trechnology Systems, LLC is and the following thread on another forum site: http://groups.google.com/group/ptgui/browse_thread/thread/823ee2299a3b8882

Has anyone else's client received a letter like this and how are you addressing it???

Thanks,

[HansNyberg]

This 2 guys and their lawyers are idiots.

Here is the patent.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6754400/fulltext.html#footer

Read the claims. Especially No 2
"2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of assembling the images in a digital format includes the step of transferring two planar fish-eye images to hemispherical images while removing distortions in the planar fish-eye images."

The 2 fisheye method is referred to at least 7 times in the claims and there is no "or" or anything that claims stitching more images than 2.

This is in reality the same as the IPIX patent but that one is owned as far as I know by Sony now but you also have Ford Oxaal http://www.pictosphere.com/kwx/patents-more.html who bought the IPIX name and the assets from them.
http://ivrpa.org/node/1203

I can not see how these 2 rumanians in any way can use their patent to what we do today.

I assume that you or anyone of the others do not use just 2 fisheyes.
From the first report by Henry he says that they use just cylindrical panoramas.

Hans