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I've been following the debate via QSI's web site since they and MTH started throwing lawsuits around, what is it now, about three years ago? I've now also read the patents displayed on MTH's web site. On the one hand, it appears to me that there is some over-reaction in many of the posts here. MTH is NOT, to be fair, claiming that its patent covers the basic concept of DCC systems, or any previously developed wireless or hand-held throttles. On the other hand, they are indeed making very broad claims regarding on-board sound systems and any control systems that make adjustments based on data received from the locomotive. In these areas (also coupler activation but as an HO modeler that's Greek to me), they are clearly trying to obtain a monopoly on actual concepts as opposed to specific means of achieving them. If they are successful, this will be very damaging to the hobby and truly, everyone will lose - including MTH. The post from LDB Enterprises is well worth reading. I've been an expert witness in a couple of patent cases, and the key message is that the U.S. Patent Office awards many patents that are successfully challenged. For better or worse, the Patent Office really do not set themselves up as the arbiter of what is and is not genuinely new. (As an aside, its noteworthy that most successful patent attorneys, such as my next-door neighbor, start out as civil servants in the Patent Office). While I too agree that MTH, or any other company, has a right to enjoy the fruits of a genuine technical invention, I do not believe in the patenting of a concept. At the end of the day, it certainly appears that MTH is attempting to use law as a means of obtaining a market share that it would not achieve through the merits of its products in a competitive marketplace. Other things being equal, MTH would be unlikely to prevail to the full extent, based on the apparent merits of the patents. Sadly, other things are never equal, and the winner of this business is going to be the side with the best lawyers. As others have commented, its always a pity in a specialist hobby that has relatively small numbers of participants, to see time and money being invested in lawsuits instead of product development. Its also the case that many model RR companies lack the resources to mount legal challenges, and I'm absolutely convinced that MTH is in part counting on this factor. A Lenz or especially a Marklin could take them on, but I'm not sure there is any reason for them to bother. If I were in O scale, my response would be a boycott of their products until they backed off on trying to monopolize these key concepts, as opposed to defending a specific way of achieving them.
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