Tag Archives: ITO-replacement market

3M’s metal mesh touch screen patents and lawsuits interview

August 24, 2018 By Jennifer Colegrove, Ph.D. Principal Analyst, Touch Display Research Inc.

This week 3M announced a patent infringement lawsuit again a touch panel supplier Tovis, its subsidiary Tovis North America, and Scientific Games Corporation. The suit alleges that certain Tovis touch display products which are used by Scientific Games in their gaming machines infringe 3M’s U.S. Patents 8,179,381; 9,823,786; 8,274,494; and 8,704,799.

In the “ITO-replacement: transparent conductor market 2017 report, Seventh edition”, Touch Display Research profiled over three hundred companies working on non-ITO transparent conductors. Metal mesh is one of the most popular transparent conductor materials and is widely used in projected capacitive touch sensors for smart phones, active pen touch tablets and notebooks, and in large-format, digital touch signage.

Figure: ITO Replacement 2017 Report

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., ITO-Replacement Report, February 2017

Earlier this year, 3M filed a similar patent infringement lawsuit against Elo Touch Solutions Inc.

“3M invests substantially in research and development to create innovative products for our customers,” said Makoto Ishii, vice president and general manager, 3M Display Materials and Systems Division. “We will defend our intellectual property protecting those investments against unauthorized use and infringement by metal mesh manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and others making use of 3M’s intellectual property rights.”

Touch Display Research interviewed Mr. Scott Hagermoser, Global Business Manager of 3M Touch Systems about metal mesh patents and the lawsuit. I asked that since metal mesh is a widely used ITO-replacement transparent conductor, what was the optimal result that 3M expected from this legal action. Mr. Hagermoser indicated, “3M doesn’t want to be overly disruptive to the touch industry; we are not a patent troll organization. We offer to license our metal mesh technologies so we can get compensation for our investment.”

Metal mesh suppliers have different patterns and structures, such as one film with two sides of metal mesh, or two films where each side has one metal mesh. I asked if it was possible that some metal mesh companies could avoid 3M’s metal mesh patents. Mr. Hagermoser indicated 3M had many claims in their metal mesh patents, and the details have to be left to the lawyers and engineers to figure out.

I asked if 3M is also suing Microsoft for the metal mesh, Mr. Hagermoser said that he won’t comment on that.

I’ve been the first industry analyst to write market research reports about the touch screen industry since 2006. When I saw the trends of new transparent conductive material used on touch screens, I published the industry’s first “ITO-Replacement: Transparent Conductor Market Report” in 2013. Many touch screen manufacturers, display manufacturers, OEM/ODMs are my good industry friends. I don’t like to see them sue each other. However, on the other hand, I don’t like the thought of intellectual property theft. We should play the game fairly. I recommend when your company manufactures or purchases metal mesh touch screens, you inquire if that touch screen is clear from others patents.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team

Active pen, touch, and voice recognition

These emerging technology markets are heating up.

	16 types of active pen and 9 types of passive pen are analyzed Over 170 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 400 page PowerPoint. Market data include 5 years history data (2013 to 2017), and 6 years forecasts (from 2018 to 2023). All the devices with active pen are compared side-by-side with pen technologies, and pen suppliers in the excel database. Read more
	Touch panel for 9 vertical, or commercial market. Over 270 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 250 page PowerPoint. Market data include 4 years history data (2013 to 2016), and 6 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2022). Business strategy recommendations to transfer from consumer touch business to vertical market. Read more…
	Comprehensive analysis of voice command, voice recognition, speech recognition, virtual assistant, voice translation, machine learning, and smart speaker devices. Over 300 companies profiled in the excel database. Market data include 4 years of history data (2013 to 2016), and 8 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2024). Over 290 page PowerPoint. Voice technologies in 11 applications are analyzed in the report. Read more
	Detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other transparent conductive technologies. Over 300 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 500 page PowerPoint. Market data include 5 years history data (2012 to 2016), and 8 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2024). Read more…

Reasons to pick these reports:

We attend or speak at over ten industry conferences each year and interview hundreds of companies annually to provide the first-hand information and analysis in this report.
Colegrove, author of this report, performed first-hand surveys and interviews with hundreds of display manufacturers, touch panel suppliers, and OEM/ODMs in the last 12 years.
Obtain market intelligence, find out the market trends and profit from it
Know your competitors
Invest in the right direction, avoid wrong investment
Empower your business planning, make fact based decisions
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Touch Display Research experts have been writing touch and display industry analysis reports for over twelve years. You can access this expertise by purchasing and receiving the report today.

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About Touch Display Research Inc.

Touch Display Research, Inc. (www.TouchDisplayResearch.com) is a technology market research and consulting firm specializing in touch screen and emerging display technologies such as OLED displays, quantum dots, flexible displays, e-paper displays, ITO-replacement, Active pen, near-eye displays, smart windows, gesture controls, voice controls, and eye controls. Touch Display Research helps technology companies grow and connecting their technologies to the marketplace. We have been writing about OLED industry for over 10 years. We were the first company to publish Quantum Dot market reports. We were the first company to publish Active Pen market report, and ITO-replacement market report. We have always been there to analyze new and emerging technologies. Touch Display Research provides reports, consulting, and due diligence to touch suppliers, display manufacturers, consumer electronics ODMs/OEMs, material suppliers, investors and venture capitalists. We are member of Flextech Alliance, SEMI and SID.

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Cisco’s Spark Board touch screen is using ITO-replacement

March 7, 2017

Microsoft’s Surface Hub brought interactive whiteboard to a higher level last year.

In October 2016, Google announced it will release 55 inch Jamboard interactive whiteboard to the market in 2017 to compete with Surface Hub. But the Jamboard is still not available yet at this moment.

On January 24th, 2017, Cisco announced its Spark Board and joined the competition. Cisco is moving faster than Google: the Spark Board became available in end of January. People can purchase the 55 inch Spark Board right now for $4990 plus a monthly fee of $199. Cisco will release a 70” version in end of this year for $9,990.

Figure: Cisco Spark Board

Source: Cisco

Touch Display Research believes the Spark Board touch sensor is using metal mesh or silver nanowire transparent conductors.

In the ITO Replacement—Non-ITO Transparent Conductor Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2017 Report, seventh edition, Touch Display Research profiled over 300 companies and research institutes working on advanced transparent conductive (TC) materials. The report provides a detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other technologies.

Figure: ITO replacement 2017 report

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., 2017

Our survey found that the ITO-replacement transparent conductive material industry had grown over 10 time from 2012 to 2017. Touch Display Research forecasted that non-ITO transparent conductors will continue to have rapid growth in the next several years.

Many companies’ metal mesh characters are compared in one chart in the Excel database, and the silver nanowires of many companies are also compared in one chart in the report.

The “ITO-replacement Technologies and Market Forecast 2017 Report” Seventh Edition is available immediately.

PowerPoint file	>500 pages
Excel database	Profiles >300 companies. 5 years history data: 2012- 2016 and 8 years forecasts from 2017 to 2024. Units, ASP, Revenue. List of all ITO-replacement devices and suppliers; comparisons of many metal mesh, many silver nanowire
Published time	February, 13^th, 2017
Price	$5800 for company with <5 user. $6800 for company with 5 or more users
Bonus	Client can have a 30-minute free phone call with the author: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, within 3 months of the purchase

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team