Crain’s Chicago Business quoted Haynes and Boone’s Jim Shimota, administrative partner in the firm’s Chicago office, in a profile of client Lynk Labs, which was named one of the Chicago area’s most-innovative companies.
Lynk Labs, a 20-year-old, six-employee company headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, designs and sells LED lighting technology and components. Lynk Labs earlier this year won an out-of-court settlement in a patent case against one of the biggest lighting makers in the U.S., Acuity Brands, Chicago Business reported.
In addition, the paper reported, founder Mike Miskin has no formal engineering training, but he and his company have cranked out 16 patents over the past 20 years, including three in 2016.
“People are starting to recognize that this little company in the suburbs has this amazing patent portfolio,” says Shimota, who represented Lynk in its two-year court battle with Atlanta-based Acuity. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. “In the current climate for patents, people are encouraged to try to challenge them. Lynk may have to enforce its portfolio.”
… Shimota admits he was a bit skeptical when he first met Miskin, Chicago Business reported. “I looked under the hood,” he says. “He was solving problems that people weren’t recognizing. The fact that he’s not formally trained allowed him to approach it differently than others. He’s got that thing where he’s able to see things before others.”
Excerpted from Crain’s Chicago Business. To read the full article, click here.