Authored by Anthony J. Lombardi
Patents for motion-picture innovations date back to the first movie camera, called the "Kinetograph," patented by Thomas Edison in 1897. Since 1931, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognized innovations contributing to motion-picture production, including many that have been patented. Viewers of this year's televised Academy Awards ceremony for artistic achievements, held on Feb. 22, 2015, saw "Birdman" awarded best picture. The academy's scientific and technical awards ceremony—briefly highlighted during that telecast—took place two weeks earlier. In contrast to the awards for artistic achievements, the scientific and technical awards are not limited to work introduced in the prior calendar year. Instead, they include achievements that "demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures."1
Each year the academy convenes a committee of approximately 45 experts from technical fields related to motion-picture production to identify potential recipients of the scientific and technical awards. To solicit applications, which are submitted online, the committee sends letters to individuals and companies involved in scientific and technical work for motion pictures. The committee considers and evaluates the achievements identified in the applications it receives and, in some cases, arranges for demonstrations as part of formulating its recommendations. The committee submits its recommendations to the academy's board of governors, which ultimately votes on the achievements to honor in a particular year.
Patents play a role in the committee's evaluation and selection process. The academy's rules2 for the scientific and technical awards state that "devices, methods, formulas, discoveries or inventions of special and outstanding value to the arts and sciences of motion pictures" are eligible. Consistent with the rules calling out "discoveries or inventions" as award‑eligible, the awards often honor contributions described in patents or patent applications. If achievements are covered by patents, then the committee will request that "copies of the patent be made available to it," and for any pending patent application, the applicant must provide the "date of filing, name(s) of author(s) [by author(s) the Academy is referring to the named inventors] and application number."3 The rules also state that achievements being considered "shall be widely publicized to permit anyone with claims of prior art or with devices similar to those under consideration to bring them to the attention of the committee."4 That is, the committee seeks to recognize those who innovated first.
The scientific and technical awards come in three varieties: an award of merit (an academy statuette, i.e., an Oscar), a scientific and engineering award (an academy plaque), and a technical achievement award (an academy certificate). Awards of merit are given for "basic achievements which have a definite influence upon the advancement of the industry," scientific and engineering awards for "achievements which exhibit a high level of engineering and are important to the progress of the industry," and technical achievement awards for "accomplishments which contribute to the progress of the industry."5
During this year's scientific and technical awards ceremony, hosted by actors Margot Robbie (from "The Wolf of Wall Street") and Miles Teller (from this year's best picture nominee "Whiplash") and held at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills on Feb. 7, the academy handed out 21 awards to 58 honorees. A range of technologies were recognized this year, including equipment used in motion-picture production, such as camera controls and display monitors, and software technologies used to create computer-generated imagery. A full list of this year's recipients appears on the academy's website.6
One of this year's Oscar statuettes was presented to Larry Hornbeck, an engineer at Texas Instruments Inc., for his work on digital micromirror technology. The technology, used in Texas Instruments' digital light processing (DLP) projectors, has now replaced film projectors in most theaters. Instead of projecting light through film, DLP projectors use microscopically small mirrors to create images. The mirrors, arranged in a matrix, each have an "on" state that causes a pixel to appear bright on screen and an "off" state that causes the pixel to appear dark. More than 8 million of the tiny mirrors are in the micromirror chipset (which can fit in the palm of a hand) found in 4K digital cinema projectors. These projectors can display 4,000 lines of resolution on motion-picture screens as compared with the 1,080 lines of resolution displayed by HDTVs.
Hornbeck is a named inventor on over 30 patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including many related to micromirror technology. The technology has evolved over time. Hornbeck first developed an analog version in 1978 before developing the digital version in 1987, and digital projection of motion pictures using the technology began in 1999. Throughout those phases of development, Hornbeck has been named as an inventor on different aspects of the technology. His most recent patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,891,149) related to this technology, which issued in November 2014, is titled "Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices with dielectric microstructure motion stopper." A related patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,531,759) issued in September 2013 and shares a common disclosure. Both patents relate to improving the performance of dielectric microstructures used in microelectromechanical systems, the name given to the micromirror chipsets.
This year's other Oscar statuette was awarded to David W. Gray, a sound engineer who is now an executive at Dolby Laboratories Inc.. Gray received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, which is presented "to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry."7 Gray has been involved with a variety of audio technologies, ranging from stereo optical soundtracks to digital sound on film and, most recently, Dolby Atmos, a high-resolution audio format for theatrical and home-exhibition systems.
At previous ceremonies, Ray Dolby, the founder of Dolby Laboratories, received an Oscar statuette in 1989 and a scientific and engineering award in 1979. He is a named inventor on over 30 patents related to audio technology, beginning with patents related to signal compressors and noise-reduction systems.
Computer-generated imagery has become a standard feature of many motion pictures, bringing to life scenes limited only by imagination. This year, the academy recognized several groups of engineers who developed software tools used to create digital animation. In 2001, the academy presented its first Oscar statuette for a software package to engineers at Pixar Animation Studios Inc. who developed RenderMan, a tool for creating 3-D animation. The RenderMan tool has been used in movies ranging from "The Abyss," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Jurassic Park" to last summer's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Edge of Tomorrow," "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction," to name just a few. Features of the RenderMan tool have received several patents, including one (U.S. Patent No. 8,847,963) that issued in September 2014 and describes techniques for adding details, such as skin and volume simulation, to animated objects in computer-generated imagery and computer-aided animation.
These are but a few of the scientific and technical awards over the years and some of the patents relating to them. From Edison's film‑based camera and projection system to today's digital counterparts, from the introduction of digital effects to software tools that provide increasingly lifelike computer‑generated imagery, production tools in the motion-picture industry have continued to evolve, providing new innovations to entertain audiences around the world.
Endnotes
1 http://www.oscars.org/news/21scientificandtechnicalachievementsbehonoredacademyawardsr.
2 The academy's rules are available at: http://www.oscars.org/scitech/apply.
3 Id.
4 Id.
5 Id.
6 A list of the 2014 scientific and technical award recipients is available at: http://www.oscars.org/news/21scientificandtechnicalachievementsbehonoredacademyawardsr.
Originally printed in Law360 (www.law360.com). Reprinted with permission. This article is for informational purposes, is not intended to constitute legal advice, and may be considered advertising under applicable state laws. This article is only the opinion of the authors and is not attributable to Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, or the firm's clients.
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