Israeli inventor and entrepreneur, Yehuda Binder, claims in a lawsuit against the large toy company Fisher Price that a toy that it manufactures and markets called Code-a-Pillar, based on his invention he proposed to the company a few years ago.
The lawsuit was filed recently in Delaware, USA, and this is only a declaratory lawsuit and not a claim for monetary compensation.
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The developer claims that the modular toy was conceived about a decade ago and that it was patented in the US and elsewhere in the world. The toy itself consists of several parts that can connect to each other in different configurations, with each configuration setting a specific mode of action for the toy.
Unlike other toys, the various parts of the toy are connected to each other in an electric connection in addition to the mechanical linkage.
Binder was formerly responsible for the Indigo development team and among the founders of Orckit Communications. More than 160 approved patents are registered by him in the United States and over 300 worldwide.
According to the lawsuit, in 2010 Binder met in New York with the then vice president of the inventor relations division of Fisher Price and presented him with the prototype he had created.
Then, he claimed, the company representative informed him that they were not interested in the invention. However, in 2016, at the CES Innovation Show in Las Vegas, the company introduced a toy that is also made up of modular parts that connect to this in USB when the operation of the toy changes according to the order of parts.
According to the lawsuit, in response to Binder’s request for the theft of the idea and the violation of the patents, Fisher Price did not deny the meeting between the parties in 2010. An attempts to stop marketing the product did not help. The company claims Binder violates no less than six different patents. There was no response from Fisher Global.
