SEL EXHIBIT NO. 2017
`
`INNOLUX CORP. v. PATENT OF SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY
`
`LABORATORY CO., LTD.
`
`IPR2013—00068
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`Page 1
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`IPR2013—OQO66
`
`) ) ) )
`
`)
`
`INNOLUX CORPORATION,
`
`Petitioner,
`
`vs.
`
`) U.S. Pat. No.
`
`7,876,413
`
`'
`
`)
`
`) ) )
`
`SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY
`
`LABORATORY CO., LTD.,
`
`Patent Owner.
`
`The videotaped deposition of MICHAEL J.
`
`ESCUTI, Ph.D., called by the Petitioner for
`
`examination, pursuant to Notice, and pursuant to
`
`the applicable rules,
`
`taken before Sandra L.
`
`Rocca, CSR, CRR, at 115 South LaSalle Street,
`
`Chicago, Illinois, on the 5th day of September,
`
`2013, at the hour of 9:39 a.m.
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`312-442—9087
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`Veritcxt Chicago Reporting Company
`800—248—3290
`
`847-406-3200
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`

`

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`APPEARANCES:
`
`JEFFER MANGELS BUTLER & MITCHELL, LLP
`By: W» STANPEY M- GIBSON
`3 Park Plaza, Suite 1100
`Irvine, CA 92614
`(949) 623-7200/Fax: (949) 623-7202
`Sgibs°n@jmbm'°°m
`appeared on behalf of the
`Petitioner;
`
`STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP
`’
`By: MR. STANLEY A. SCHLITTER
`115 SON-h LaSalle Steel:
`Chicago, IL 60603
`(312) 57742505“: (312) 5774370
`sschlitter@steptoe.com
`-and-
`HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP
`By: MR. EDWARD D. MANZO
`120 South Riverside Plaza
`Suite 2200
`.
`Chlcag", IL 60605
`(312) 526-1535/Fax: (312) 655-1501
`edward.manzo@huschblackwell.com
`appeared on behalf ofthe
`Patent
`61"
`Also Present:
`
`Ms. Mary Ann Naas, Videographer
`
`1
`
`IND EX
`
`_
`WITNESS
`MICHAEL J. ESCUTI, PhD.
`
`1)AGE
`
`2
`3
`4 “Am BY
`Mr. Gibson
`5
`Mr. s km
`6
`c 1 er
`7
`ermarrs
`8
`ER
`PRES
`9 Deposition Exhibit
`64
`10 N0. 1001 US. Pat.No. 7,876,413
`64
`11 No. 1003 US. Pat. No. 5,636,329
`12 No. 1004 Nakamoto patent, English and
`Japanese translations
`64
`13
`
`5
`273
`
`No. 1006 Imagine Optix web page
`
`31
`
`14
`
`No. 1007 NC State web page re
`Escuti bio
`33
`15
`16 No. 1008 Opto-Electronics & Lightwave
`Engineering Group web pages
`34
`17
`
`
`
`EXHIBITS
`1
`PRESENTED
`2 NUMBER
`3 Deposition Exhibit
`4 No. 1013 schematic Fig. B (Modified
`Fig. 4 of Shiba) from Escuti
`5
`'204 declaration, pg. 50
`130
`6 No. 1014 New Modified Fig. 4 of
`7
`Shibmhemauc
`139
`N 1015 U s P t N 7 697 102
`O.
`'
`' a
`0‘
`’
`’
`No. 1016 US. Pat No. 6,404,480
`
`176
`
`178
`
`8
`9
`10
`
`179
`183
`
`11
`
`No. 1017 SEL—CMO 0064398
`N . 1018 U.
`.
`N . 5,684,555
`°
`5 P“ °
`No. 1019 schematics and hand drawings
`re Metal—1 and Metal-2
`220
`12
`13 N01 1020 sehemafics'and hand drawings
`14
`re mg" C and fig D
`227
`N01 2010 schematic re Fig. 2C prior art 66
`15
`
`29
`
`No. 2012 M Escuti Declaration
`15
`~
`.
`N0. 2013 LGD1sp1ay productinfo
`17
`web pages, 2 pgs.
`116
`18 No. 2014 ChunghwaPicmre Tubes web
`page, 1 pg,
`115
`
`19
`20 NO- 2015 ShinMaywa Web Page, 2 pgS-
`No. 2016 Pascal web page, 2pgs.
`21
`No. 2017 Micro-Tee web pages, 7 pgs.
`
`116
`
`116
`116
`
`115
`116
`
`Page 5
`.
`,
`VIDEOGRAPHER. My name 1s Mary Ann Naas
`1
`2 of Veritext. Today's date is September 5th, 2013.
`,
`,
`.
`3 The time 1s apprommately 9:39.
`4
`This deposition is being held in the
`5 ofiice of Steptoe & Johnson located at 115 South
`.
`.
`.
`6 LaSalle Street, Chicago, 111111013.
`-
`'
`7
`The caption ofthe case IS Innolux Corp.
`
` 8 versus Patent of Semiconductor Energy Lab in the
`
`
`
`
`Page 2
`Page 4
`
`22
`2
`3 NO- 2018 ULVAC Web Pages; 2 Pgs~
`21
`24 No. 2019 MicroFab web page, 4 pgs.
`i:
`24
`No. 2020 so Technology web pages,
`25
`25
`4 pgs,
`l 16
`
`i—
`Page 3
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`9 United States Patent and Trademark Office. The
`10 name of the witness is Dr. Michael Escuti.
`
`At this time will the attorneys please
`11
`12 identify themselves, after which our court
`13 reporter, Sandra Rocca of Veritext, will swear in
`14 the witness and we can proceed.
`15
`MR. GIBSON: Stan Gibson on behalf of
`
`16 the Petitioner,
`17
`MR. SCHLITIER: Stan Schlitter of
`18 Steptoe & Johnson and Edward Manzo of Husch
`19 Blackwell on behalf of the patent owner.
`20
`MICHAEL J. ESCUTI, Ph.D.,
`21 having been first duly sworn, was examined and
`22 testified as follows:
`
`18
`19
`
`20
`21
`22
`23
`
`37
`
`130
`
`No. 1009 ppm-Electronics & Lightwave
`35532:“ Gm" we?“
`N0. 1010 NSF Lab Module web Pages
`N .1011
`1:
`ti
`fShibaFi .4fr m
`° E,,:§.:f;“d;fmfion
`g
`°
`PE 94
`129
`No. 1012 Fig. Aschematie of Shiba
`F1 .41:
`E cufi‘204
`EWATION
`23
`deilaratiilii, p; 49
`COD nue
`24'(
`fi
`11)
`’
`24 BY MR. GIBSON:
`
`25
`25
`Q. Good morning. Could you state your name
`
`312-442-9087
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`Veritext Chicago Reporting Company
`800-248-3290
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`2 (Pages 2 - 5)
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`847-406-3200
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`Page 6
`Page 8
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`1 and spell your last name, please.
`2
`A. My name is Michael Escuti. Last name is
`3 spelled E-s—c-u—t—i.
`4
`Q. And I take it you've had your deposition
`5 taken before?
`
`A.
`6
`7 before.
`
`I've had a deposition taken three times
`
`1 petition?
`2
`A. My assignment is to and was to consider
`3 the prior art in relative terms to this patent and
`4 evaluate the positions that the positioner —- that
`5 the Petitioner was taking toward the Board or has
`6 taken in the petition and form opinions about
`7 those and advise the team on what the technical
`
`8 issues are and things like that.
`9
`Q. And other than attorneys for the patent
`10 owner, did you communicate with anyone regarding
`11 the subject of your assignment at any time?
`12
`A.
`I have not communicated with anyone
`13 aside from the attorney team on this matter.
`14
`Q. And what did you review to formulate
`15 your opinion for this matter?
`16
`A. The complete list, I think, is listed in
`17 my declaration of what I've reviewed, but it began
`18 with the '413 patent. I also reviewed the
`If at any time you do not understand one
`Q.
`18
`19 of my questions, please let me know and I'll be
`19 petition, the Board's decision, the request for
`20 happy to rephrase it. The court reporter sitting
`20 rehearing and the decision ofthe request for
`21 rehearing.
`21 to your right is taking down your testimony today
`22 and at the conclusion of your deposition, you'll
`22
`Of course, I also reviewed the prior
`23 receive a booklet of your testimony and have the
`23 art, in particular Sukegawa and the patent
`24 Nakamoto and others in connection with the '413
`24 opportunity to make changes and corrections to
`25 litigation.
`Eyour testimony. But please be advised, ifyou do
`Page 7
`Page 9
`
`
`
`Q. Even though you're somewhat familiar
`8
`9 with the process, I just want to go over the
`10 background rules briefly with you.
`11
`You understand that you've taken an oath
`12 to tell the truth?
`
`I do understand that.
`A.
`13
`Q. And that's the same oath you would take
`14
`15 as if you were testifying in a court of law.
`16
`You understand that?
`17
`I do understand that.
`
`A.
`
`1 make any changes or corrections, we can comment on
`2 your credibility as it pertains to those changes
`3 or corrections.
`
`4
`5
`
`Do you understand that?
`I do understand that.
`
`A.
`
`Q. Any reason why your deposition cannot
`6
`7 proceed today?
`8
`A. There is no reason.
`
`Q. When were you first contacted in this
`9
`10 matter?
`
`A. As best as I can recall, it was in
`11
`12 April.
`13
`Q. Of this year?
`14
`A. Of this year, yeah.
`15
`Q. And what were you asked to do?
`16
`A. At first I was asked to review the '413
`
`17 patent that we're talking about today and join a
`18 meeting with the attorneys here and discuss my
`19 understanding of the patent and the possibility of
`20 my joining the IPR in support of this patent.
`21
`Q. And I take it you then accepted the
`22 assignment?
`23
`A.
`I did.
`
`Q. And what did you understand that your
`24
`25 assignment was to do in this case or in this
`
`
`
`Q. When you say "and others," what are you
`1
`2 referring to?
`3
`A. Well, Shiba is also another reference
`
`4 that's -— that I commented on for this patent and,
`5 of course, there's a closely related case that
`6 we’ll talk about tomorrow with at least one
`7 additional reference.
`
`Q. Did you review any other prior art in
`8
`9 performing your assignment on the '413 patent?
`10
`A. Certainly not in detail. Aside from
`11 these references, this is what I've examined in
`12 detail.
`
`Q. When you say "not in detail," are there
`13
`14 things that you looked at that you did not look at
`15 in detail, but there are other references that you
`16 looked at?
`
`A. Along the way I certainly searched --
`17
`18 for example, one of the issues in this case is
`19 contact through an opening andI certainly looked
`20 through other prior art for an understanding of
`21 what other prior art gave about that -- that
`22 terminology and what an appropriate and reasonable
`23 definition would be.
`24
`But it turned out that the references we
`
`25 already had were representative of that -- that
`
`
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`312-442—9087
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`Veritext Chicago Reporting Company
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`1 was evidence enough for my position on that, so
`2 that I didn't turn to those. I didn't need to
`
`OO\)O\UIJ>
`
`3 turn to those because they were cumulative.
`Q. Do you recall what you reviewed in that
`regard, the ones that you didn't need to turn to?
`A.
`I don't recall.
`
`Q. Did you review any other patents that
`are owned by SEL other than the '204 and the '413?
`A.
`In this matter, I did not review any
`9
`10 other patents. Of course, I can't recall if
`11 sometime in my career I've reviewed patents that
`12 are assigned to SEL. I don't recall.
`13
`Q. But doing this assignment, you don't
`l4 remember reviewing any other SEL patents?
`15
`A. That's correct. In this assignment, I
`16 didn‘t review any other patents owned by this
`17 patent owner.
`18
`Q. Are you familiar with any other patents
`19 owned by SEL, other than '204 and '413, as you sit
`20 here today?
`21
`A.
`I'm not familiar with any other patents
`22 that are involved in any litigation that SEL -—
`23 SEL has.
`
`1 the university research.
`2
`Q. And who were you consultng for?
`3
`A. There were three firms that I can
`
`4 specifically remember. One was Cabot. Another
`5 was a small firm that was —~ to be honest, I don't
`6 remember their name. They were a very small firm
`7 and local to Providence, Rhode Island. And then
`8 -- then lastly, there was some consulting to 3M,
`9 of course at St. Paul, Minnesota
`
`Q. And what type of consulting work were
`10
`11 you doing for Cabot?
`12
`A. The consulting work was to advise them
`13 on their questions for using a particular kind of
`14 material that they had and had certain material
`15 properties and they were looking for opportunities
`16 to use it and market i —- well, to use it in an
`
`17 application that could lead to new business for
`18 them.
`i
`
`Q. And for the small firm?
`19
`A. For the small firm, it was a -- it was
`20
`21 actually to help them create a toy. It was quite
`22 fun. They were -- they were a firm, more of --
`23 more of a design firm, and they wanted to create
`
`
`
`
`Q. Well, apart from litigation, are you
`24
`25 aware of any at all?
`
`24 skateboarding/rollerblading glove that would have
`25 a circuit inside it so that a child could press a
`
`l—
`
`Page 11
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`Page 13
`1 button and then have it make a noise and make a
`A. No, I'm not.
`1
`2 song or make various things happen. So it was an
`Q. Let's talk a little bit about your
`2
`3 integrated circuit that I was designing and
`3 educational background.
`4 prototyping for them.
`4
`Ifyou can tell me where you graduated
`5
`Q. Do you know if that was ever
`5 fiom college and what year?
`6 commercialized?
`6
`A.
`I graduated with my Bachelor's of
`7
`A.
`It was a very small outfit and I think
`7 Science in electrical and computer engineering in
`8 that project was -— came to a prototype and then
`8 1997 at Drexel University. I then went on to
`9 didn't find any future funding.
`9 graduate school and earned two degrees, first a
`10
`Q. And then what were you doing for 3M?
`10 Master's and then a Ph.D., where the final year
`11
`A. For 3M, my principal role was to lead
`11 for the Ph.D. was 2002 and that was at Brown
`12 short courses, a series of short courses that was
`12 University, also in electrical engineering.
`13 on the subject of LCDs and displays more
`13
`Q. And the Master's, is that also at Brown?
`14 generally. It went beyond LCDs.
`14
`A.
`It was.
`15
`So this was in conjunction with my Ph.D.
`15
`Q. And do you remember what year that was?
`16 advisor where we were both creating the short
`16
`A.
`It's in my CV specifically, of course,
`17 course and presenting it to them in their facility
`17 but as best as I can remember, it was 1999.
`18 to technical folks of all kinds.
`18
`Q. And were you working in industry at all
`19
`Q. And when did you first start either
`19 from 1997 to 2002?
`20 studying or working with LCDs?
`20 ' A.
`I consulted with industry as a
`21
`A.
`I first became aware of the principles
`21 consultant, but I was not employed or working.
`22 of LCDs and TFTs during my Bachelor’s degree
`22 during that time because I was a graduate student.
`23 training, so that would be before 1997. During
`23 So I had consulting outside of my academic
`24 graduate school is whenI first began building
`24 responsibilities and, in addition, I was supported
`25 them and making them myself in the lab, and that 25 in part by industrial funding in the context of
`
`
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`1 has continued in my research to today.
`2
`Q. So during your graduate studies, what
`3 kind of LCDs were you building or making?
`4
`A. We constructed most kinds. We had a lab
`
`5 facility where I and my colleagues would prototype
`6 the -- sometimes the whole display system, but
`7 typically, it would be —- we'd make a single pixel
`8 or a small number of pixels.
`9
`And so we'd make it from the glass to
`10 the substrates and to the patterning of electrodes
`11 and in some occasions with TFTs and -- and the
`
`l something. There were many, many things that we
`2 looked at in the optical side.
`3
`Q. And that's what your dissertation was,
`4 was on the optical side?
`5
`A. My dissertation had an emphasis on
`6 optical physics, but it also involved display
`7 systems, and in one case the in—plane switching
`8 mode, which definitely involved the electronics
`9 because key to that is a set of electrodes and
`10 pixel control system that is different than
`11 standard, and I had to make that as well.
`
`12 kinds of LCDs would vary quite a lot because it
`Q. Now, when you obtained your Ph.D., you
`12
`13 was research, after all, so it wasn't simply the
`13 then -- it looks like you did a post—doc in the
`14 standard modes, the twisted nematic and the other
`14 Netherlands, is that right?
`15 modes, but it was —— it delved into other modes
`15
`A.
`I did, following my Ph.D., spend two
`16 years as a post-doc in the Netherlands, in
`16 that would be more energy efficient, for example,
`17 and that was certainly a hot topic at the time.
`17 Eindhoven specifically.
`18
`Q. When you say occasionally you were
`18
`Q. And what were you doing there?
`19 dealing with TFTs, what were you doing when you
`19
`A. While I was there, I was physically at
`20 were not dealing with TFTS?
`20 the technical university that's in Eindhoven. But
`21
`A. Well, we studied, Ithink, the displays
`21 in their system, there's a blending that’s quite
`22 as a system. We didn’t just study one small
`22 great. I think it's quite good for students where
`23 aspect or a single aspect of displays during
`23 industry serves roles within the university in a
`24 graduate work. We studied displays as a system
`24 very intimate way.
`25 and so that system required multiple aspects. One
`So while I was there, one of my
`25
`Page 15
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`
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`1 supervisors was a very senior person in Philips
`2 Research labs, which is also located there. So
`
`1 of them is, of course, the optics of an LCD. The
`2 other aspect has to do with the electronic control
`3 ofthe LCD pixels.
`4
`And then there's -- there's sort of the
`5 information that drives those circuits or that
`
`6 goes into those circuits as well. So we‘ve —- we
`7 studied all of that and my emphasis was on the
`8 first two things I just said, the optics and the
`9 electronics.
`
`3 my projects were influenced by both the university
`4 side and the industry side that was there. So my
`5 work specifically focused on LCDs and -- among
`6 other things.
`7
`Q. What were you doing with LCDs?
`8
`A. Well, one of the things we were looking
`9 at there —- and as I recall, there's a publication
`Q. What were you doing with the optics?
`10
`10 on this -- has to do with backlights and efficient
`11 backlighting for LCDs.
`A. Could you say specifically when?
`11
`Q. During your graduate studies, what were
`12
`12
`Q. Anything else that you did in those two
`13 years with LCDs?
`13 you -- what were you studying or experimenting
`14
`A. Yes, yes.
`14 with in terms of the optics?
`15
`Q. What's that?
`15
`A.
`I studied many things. So, for example,
`16 my dissertation was about -- I can't remember
`16
`A. There were -- there were many other
`17 precisely the title. That's also in my CV, but it
`17 things that I've done during that time. It's —-
`18 I'm certainly not going to remember all of it. It
`18 was about novel LCDs and photonic switches. And
`19 so we looked at birefiingent layers and the effect
`19 was a dynamic research environment where we could
`20 explore different things.
`20 of controlling polarization.
`21
`So another thing that we studied was
`21
`We looked at holographic means to create
`22 displays. We studied displays that would be
`22 organic light-emitting diodes and some of the
`23 material properties that are involved in the
`23 bistable, so that you -— you didn‘t have to put
`24 semiconducting materials.
`24 voltage on them all the time, but you could -- you
`25 could just activate them when you needed to change
`
`25 So we looked for ways to optimize them
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`1 both from the chemistry —— I'm not a chemist, but
`2 I was working with chemical engineers. We also
`3 looked for ways, using other principals, to
`4 control the molecules themselves to improve
`5 performance, whether it was light extraction or
`6 mobility enhancement. There were many things that
`7 we were looking at.
`8
`Q. Anything else that you can recall in
`9 that two-year period?
`10
`A. Right now I can't specifically remember
`11 anything else.
`12
`Q. All right. And then you became an
`13 assistant professor at NC State?
`14
`A. Following my post—doc, I began my
`15 position at NC State in 2004 as an aSsistant
`16 professor.
`17
`Q. And what types of courses were you
`18 teaching in that or have you taught in that
`9
`19 six—year period?
`20
`A. The six—year period‘being when I was an
`21 assistant professor?
`22
`Q. Yes.
`23
`A. Well, in my role as assistant professor,
`24 of course I both teach and research and the
`
`Page 19
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`\ODONONM-PWNH
`
`v-AHt—‘O
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`
`the -- was an introductory circuits course that
`involves a lab as well and it's required by all
`our students in the department to take. So that's
`"Circuits, Signals and Systems."
`Another course that I taught during that
`time, actually created, was a course on LCDs and
`organic electronics, and that course in particular
`had support from the National Science Foundation
`for me to develop the lab portion ofthat course.
`And so in that course, students -— that
`I created with one of my graduate students, we
`would guide our students to actually make the
`elements we were studying. So they made a simple
`LCD, they made an organic TFT, they made an
`organic solar cell and an organic LED, and then
`they tested it and evaluated it. So that's
`another course that I taught.
`There's a third course I taught that --
`I think it's at least approximately titled
`"Introduction to Photonics and Optical
`21 Communications."
`
`20
`
`1 well, my focus has always been on the interaction
`2 of light and matter and so it's this field of
`3 optoelectronics, sometimes it's called photonics.
`4 And many of the applications that I look at
`5 involve displays, not exclusively, but involve
`6 displays, but also telecom, energy harvesting
`7 sensors, camera systems, optical recording.
`8
`And so my interest is to study and
`9 innovate in the material side and the architecture
`
`10 of a system for a particular application. So one
`11 example of that is related to LCDs that has
`12 continued even now is the design of proj ectors and
`13 LC -— direct-View LCDs which have improved energy
`14 efficiency compared to our standard technology.
`
`1 still another -- another side.
`
`And in my research, we also investigated
`2
`3 optical TF —- I'm sorry —~ organic TFTs and
`4 enhancements that we can offer using the other
`5 principles that we have for improved performance.
`6
`Q. Anything else that you can recall in
`7 that six—year time period, from 2004 to 2010, in
`8 terms of research?
`
`A. At the moment, I can't recall anything
`9
`10 further.
`
`Q. All right. Then in 2010 you became an
`11
`12 associate professor at NC State?
`13
`A.
`I did.
`
`Q. And did your courses change or did they
`14
`15 stay the same?
`16
`A. My courses around that time changed. I
`17 'began teaching a new course on electromagnetics
`18 and it's also required by all students in my
`19 department. It's an undergraduate course and that
`20 includes transmission lines and circuits inside
`
`
`
`
`
`Q. Anything else you were researching in
`15
`16 that time period?
`17
`A. Yes. During that time period, I advised
`18 I think five Ph.D. students, four or five. We
`19 studied topics that relate to nonmechanical beam
`20 steering. We studied topics that have to do with
`21 optical filtering. We studied topics that have to
`22 do with optofluidics, which —- which is this field
`23 where particles or cells are within a fluid and
`24 there are optical means to control them, to move
`25 them, to grab them, to analyze them. So that was
`25 teaching involved -- one course that I taught was
`Page 21
`
`21 it, as well as the more general principles of
`22 classical electromagnetics.
`Q. Okay. And in terms of research, what
`22
`23
`Q. Any other courses that changed?
`23 were you doing while you were an assistant
`24
`A. Yes, there's one other one which began
`24 professor?
`
`25 this semester and it's the first time I'm teaching
`25
`A. As an assistant professor, I studied --
`
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`it. It's also the first time it's being taught
`1
`2 anywhere in the university. And this course is
`3 "Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology."
`So this has an emphasis on, of course,
`nanotechnology and its applications in —— across
`many fields, including nanoelectronics,
`nanomaterials, biotechnology, among many others.
`Q. And what about your research? Is there
`anything different since 2010 in your research?
`A.
`In my academic research, I think largely
`I've continued the general directions that I laid
`out. I certainly have a different emphasis now.
`Some are more -- I'm spending much more time on
`than others, but it's largely in the same
`directions.
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`
`1 university, through sponsored programs that
`2 industry would pay the university to sponsor
`3 research in my lab.
`4
`Q. And that's the kind of research you were
`5 just discussing?
`6
`A. Yes.
`
`Q. And ImagineOptix, how did that get
`7
`8 started?
`
`ImagineOptix started in —- actually,
`A.
`9
`10 right as I joined NC State, I encountered two of
`11 my co—founders. They are father and son, so they
`12 have the same last name and confusingly, they have
`13 the same first name, but they have different
`14 middle names.
`
`So I met them and we founded the company
`15
`16 with —— where it was clear that they saw an
`17 opportunity to build pico projectors, small
`18 projectors that could be integrated into other
`19 devices including cell phones, but also other
`20 things like camcorders and it —- as we -- as we
`21 talked, we realized that my technology that I was
`22 already studying for my post-doc and had plans to
`23 pursue at NC State, would be a very good solution
`24 for that. So we joined together.
`25
`I became, you know, a majority
`
`
`
`
`
`Q. What are you spending much more time on?
`A. Well, the two project directions that
`18 are more and more important, one of them is
`19 displays and display systems where we have
`20 technologies that solve energy problems or
`21 complexity problems within display systems. So
`22 that's one.
`
`Another is in telecom. So we are able
`23
`24 to make elements that have great benefits to the
`25 telecom industry. So we have an emphasis on
`
`Page 23
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`Page 25
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`1 shareholder ofthe company and we then proceeded
`1 studyng that and providing prototypes for
`2 from there. And that's really where it started.
`2 industry. It’s industry-sponsored, in fact. Both
`3 It continued then to seek funding from -- from any
`3 of these are industry-sponsored.
`4 means that we could to establish the company and
`4
`Q. When you say "telecom," can you be a
`5 pay for the intellectual property costs, for
`5 little more specific?
`6 example.
`6
`A. Well, this may not be as specific as
`7
`Q. And when you said your technology would
`7 you're asking, but it's hardware that would
`8 be a great fit for what they were doing, what were
`8 support an optical fiber system, for example,
`9 you referring to in terms ofyour technology?
`9 supporting the internet.
`10
`A. Well, the technology that we had been
`10
`A third project that's taking much of
`11 studying and continue to study today, offers a
`11 our attention is in the direction of making
`12 dramatic improvement to the energy efficiency of a
`12 optical fihns for astronomers and so there's
`13 display system when configured in the ways that we
`13 several astronomers that we've been working for
`14 were pursuing. And so that means that, for
`14 that study -- they're called exoplanets and solar
`15 example, your cell phone display or your projector
`15 systems that have planets around them and so we,
`16 could have twice the efficiency that it would
`i
`16 in partnership with them, create elements that
`17 otherwise without our technology using standard
`17 help them do that.
`18 methods and, of course, that means that your cell
`18
`Q. Apart from ImagineOptix, which we'll get
`19 into in a moment, have you done -— and apart from 19 phone would last twice as long roughly, or a
`20 what you've just discussed -- have you done any
`20 projector could be twice as bright, still using
`21 other work for industry while you've been at
`21 all the same pOWer or other technology.
`22 NC State?
`22
`So that's the basis of the technology,
`23
`A.
`I think it's the case that all of my
`23 but that can be applied in many ways and there
`24 work while I‘ve been at NC State with industry,
`24 were at least two ways that we applied it. One
`25 outside of ImagineOptix, has been through the
`25 way was to integrate it into the liquid crystal
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`1
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`murmur-buck)
`
`\O
`
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`ooquA-hmwr—A
`
`NNNNNHHD—IHD—‘t—IHHP—KH4>UJNHO\OOO\IO\M-PWNHO\O
`
`
`
`layer along with micro—displays and direct—view
`screens.
`
`So in that case, we were designing
`
`systems and building prototyping systems that
`involved the TFT plane and our technology which
`directly applies in the optical layers and in a
`whole system, you know, with control drivers and
`electronics and software that would do that. So
`
`my company was pursuing several projects or did
`pursue several projects and prototypes that lead
`to that kind of thing.
`Q.
`Is the technology focused on the optical
`layer?
`A. Well, the technology involves
`electronics. It's —— so I'm not sure —— can you
`
`rephrase the question?
`Q. You mentioned -—
`A.
`It's not ~-
`
`-- the technology went into the optical
`Q.
`layer. So I‘m just trying to understand, was the
`technology -- is that what was special about the
`technology was the changes in the optical layer or
`was it something else?
`A. The technology's value occurs in the
`optical layer and so this improvement in energy
`Page 27
`
`efficiency is related to the optics of what's
`going on in the display, but the technology
`depends on the electronics that support it. So
`it's not apart from the electronics. It's an
`'
`optoelectronic technology. So —-
`I Q.
`Is that described in —- I didn't mean to
`cut you off. Go ahead.
`A.
`I'm sorry. Well, just as an example,
`because we're changing the liquid crystal layer,
`that necessarily in our case led to requirement
`changes in the TFT layer. For example, we
`required different voltages than were standard and
`so we had to build backplanes and work with
`systems that had that difference in particular.
`Q. Anything else in change in the TFT
`layer?
`I think many things changed in the TFT
`A.
`layer. It had to be completely redesigned for our
`technology and that's what our team did.
`Q. And is this —— are these products —-
`have they been commercialized at all or --
`A. That set of projects led to prototypes
`and it led to new ideas that we have continued
`
`
`
`the simple reason was that we found better ways to
`l
`2 do it that would not displace the current
`3 technology quite as much. So it would compliment
`4 it rather than replace it.
`5
`Q. And can you give me a general
`6 description of how this technology, this new
`7 technology that you're working on now would
`8 compliment and not replace?
`9
`A. The energy -- the improvement in energy
`10 efficiency that I've been referring to this whole
`11 time occurs because the elements we make handle
`
`12 both polarizations of the light at the same time,
`13 Whereas almost all LCD systems use only one
`14 polarization at a time. Typically, that's one of
`15 the linear polarizations.
`16
`In our case, we're making elements that
`17 handle and manipulate both at the same time. So
`18 because we're handling both, we can send both
`19 through the system. We can use unpolarized light
`20 rather than polarized light, and as you may know,
`21 most light sources, LEDs or fluorescent lights,
`22 outside lighting is unpolarized. And so to be
`23 used in an LCD, it first has to be formatted for
`24 use in the LCD and~that process generally cuts out
`25 half the light as absorption, as loss.
`
`Page 29
`
`Q. So is this a technology that's focused
`1
`2 on the optical layer?
`3
`A.
`I don't think that's a fair
`
`4 characterization. As we just said, it's a
`5 technology tha —- where the benefit occurs in the
`6 optical layer, but it has consequences in the
`7 electronic layer as well.
`8
`Q. Let me just go ahead and hand you your
`9 declaration, which I think also has your CV
`10 attached, which is Exhibit 2012.
`11
`(Document marked previously as Exhibit
`12
`Number 2012 was presented.)
`13 BY MR. GIBSON:
`
`Q. Do you recognize that as your
`14
`15 declaration and your CV at the end? And I believe
`16 your signature's on page 101.
`17
`Sorry, your signature's not on page 101.
`18 It's earlier than that.
`
`A. My signature's on page 3. It appears to
`19
`20 be my declaration and its appendices.
`21
`Q. And Appendix B is your -- that's your
`22 curriculum Vitae?
`
`
`
`A. That's my CV as of the date that's on
`23
`24 it, which of course was April.
`with. So that particular approach to implementing
`NU"
`
`25
`Q. Are there updates since then?
`the technology we have not pursued recently and
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`A. There are minor updates, at least in my
`1
`l diffractive optical element that has unique
`2 properties and that's what's being illustrated
`2 opinion, to the list of publications and to the
`3 here. Do you want me to go into the technical
`3 issued patents since that time.
`4 properties of polarization gradings?
`4
`Q. And do you know what the updates are to
`5
`Q. No.
`5 the list of publications?
`6
`A.
`I don't recall in great detail, butI
`6
`Is this some sort of a beam splitter?
`7 Is that an accurate way to call this?
`7 know that there is one journal paper that was, I
`8
`A. There are many ways to call this
`8 think, just last week published.
`9
`Q. Where was that published?
`9 element. One is as a hologram or a grading. If
`10 you use it as a beam splitter, that's one thing
`10
`A. As best I recall, it's in the journal
`11 you could do. You could also use it in an LCD, as
`11 Optics Letters.
`12 we talked about earlier, as a way to switch the
`12
`Q. Do you know what that paper was focused
`13 pixel or to switch what happens to the light
`13 on?
`14 through that pixel. It's not a simple beam
`I do. If it's the one I'm thinking of,
`14
`A.
`15 splitter.
`15 it's —— as you can imagine, there are many
`16
`Q. So is this the technology you were
`16 manuscripts that are in play at any one time. So
`17 describing earlier that you're currently working
`17 I think this particular manuscript had to do with
`18 on at ImagineOptix?
`18 what are called vortex beams and these are optical
`19
`A. This is part of the technology. There
`19 beams that have additional quantum properties that
`20 are many other pieces of the technology.
`20 can be used both in communication systems, in
`21
`Q. Does this use an organic material?
`21 sensing, and also in the optofluidics context that
`22 ' A.
`It uses