The patent story with rectangular rapid flashing beacons [RRFBs]

Back in 2012, IPBiz quoted Judge Richard Posner on the industry standard/patent interface:


“Once a patent becomes essential to a standard, the patentee’s bargaining power surges because a prospective licensee has no alternative to licensing the patent; he is at the patentee’s mercy.”



See Posner on industry standard patents

Flash forward to 2017, and one has an interesting situation with rectangular rapid flashing beacons or RRFBs for short. A 29 December 2017 story in the Ann Arbor News, Federal rules, patent issues put brakes on Ann Arbor's crosswalk plans , outlines part of what has been going on.

The intellectual property relates to U.S. Patent Nos.
8,081,087 and 9,129,540.