Little Old Lady Suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia and Everyone Else for Infringing on Her Laser Patents

Oh sure, she looks friendly enough. But don’t let her matronly, argyle looks fool you. A retired Columbia University Professor, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, is looking to extract some cold, hard cash from a who’s who of consumer electronics giants. Otherwise, they can forget about importing their goods into the U.S. Rothschild’s complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Feb. 20, claims that some 30 companies are violating a patent she owns for light-emitting and laser diodes. Today, the ITC has agreed to investigate the matter. It’s worth noting that Rothschild has already successfully tested the legislative waters with lawsuits against Philips and others–the Philips matter was settled out of court earlier this month.

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