Atmospheric (A) and his family live in Seattle where they enjoy the outdoor life. They are all athletic, ride bicycles, jog, play team sports and golf. Each of them also wears eyeglasses. They whole family suffered unhappily for years with messy lenses, and each family member has had difficulty in outdoor athletic activities because the weather in Seattle produces rain, sleet and mist which lands on one’s lenses and makes it difficult to see. (A) sought various means of eliminating the problem, and finally, after several years of work, developed the eyeglass wiper.

 His family wore their eyeglass wipers everywhere. In fact, the best advertisement for sales of the device was the family itself. Several people purchased the eyeglass wipers as prototypes directly from (A) in the summer of 1995 before they were commercially manufactured. (A)’s patent issued in January, 1997.

The invention relates to eyeglasses, more particularly to wipers for eyeglasses.

 The object of this invention is to provide an eyeglass wiper mechanism which will effectively keep eyeglasses clean of rain, steam, or the like.

 Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of eyeglasses which are provided with a means for keeping the lenses free or clean so that even when it is raining, snowing or the like, the person wearing the glasses will be able to readily actuate the wipers so as to keep the lenses clean for clear visibility.

 A further object of the invention is to provide eyeglass wipers which are extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

 Referring in detail to the drawings [Fig. 1-4], the numeral 10 designates the eyeglass frame which can be made of any suitable material, and a pair of temples or side pieces 11 are hingedly connected to the ends of the frame 10 through the medium of hinge pins 12. Mounted in the frame 10 is a pair of lenses 13.

 The present invention is directed to a wiper means for maintaining the lenses 13 clean or clear of steam, rain, snow, or other foreign matter, and the wiper mechanism of the present invention includes a source of electrical energy such as the battery 14 which may be secured to the frame 10 in any suitable manner.

 Also carried by the fame 10 is an electric motor 15 which may be provided with a manually operable switch or control button 16 whereby upon actuation of the switch 16, the motor 15 an be energized. The electric wire 17 may lead from the motor 15 to the battery 14.

 There is further provided a pair of moveable wiper blades 18 and 20. The blades 18 and 20 may be pivotally connected to a portion of the frame 10. A shaft 22 may be rotated by the motor 15, and the shaft 22 rotates an eccentric 23 which has one end of a link 24 connected thereto. The other end of the link 24 is pivotally connected to a cross piece or body member 25 through the medium of a pivot pin 26.

 I claim:

1. An eyeglass wiper comprising,

(a) an eyeglass frame,
(b) a pair of eyeglass lenses inserted into said frame,
(c) an electric motor attached to said frame,
(d) a manually operable switch attached to said frame,
(e) a battery attached to said frame,
(f) an electric wire extending from said motor to said battery,
(g) a pair of moveable wiper blades, each pivotally attached to said eyeglass lenses such that the length of the blades contact the surface of said eyeglass lenses,
(h) a shaft attached to said motor,
(i) a link having two ends, one end attached to said shaft and the other end attached to said wiper blades.

 (A) initially relied on his filing date of September 1, 1996, but after (B)’s evidence was presented, he introduced a spiral notebook containing various dated drawings. The last drawing was dated February 1, 1996 and was quite detailed. Later that same month (A) showed the notebook to a representative from Ray-Ban Sunglasses. (A) then filed his patent application.

 After filing the patent application, (A) licensed his invention to Chronometer (C) who manufactured and distributed eyeglass wipers all over the United States. (C) has notified (A) that it believes (D) will be successful in challenging (A)’s patent so (C) will no longer pay royalties as of next month.

 The product has now been on the market for several months and there are already imitations of this new product. Dewpoint (D) produces similar eyeglass wipers and (A) has sued (D) for infringement of his patent. (D) has alerted (A) that if he persists in this litigation, (D) will introduce the following evidence to challenge the validity of the patent. (1) Common knowledge of windshield wipers for automobiles evidenced by the number of cars possessing such wipers, (2) an article published in the December, 1995 issue of FourEyes Journal concerning tiny blowers that can be attached to eyeglasses to keep them clear of fog, rain, snow, etc., and (3) a Bolivian patent issued in 1989 for eyeglass wipers that are operated by pulling a string dangling from each side of the eyeglasses which moves the wiper across a lense.

 (A) has asked for your advice with his various legal problems. Advise him on the interference with (B) plus the infringement action against (D) and problems with the licensee (C). Include any remedies that might be available to him and any defenses any of the parties might raise.
 

Everyone who watched the 1996 Summer Olympics was thrilled at the bravery of Kerri Strug (K) when she won the gold medal for the U.S.A. in women’s team gymnastics with her incredible vault on a broken foot. Immediately following the Olympics, Kerri was appeared on many television talk shows where she was asked repeatedly about her experience. She delighted audiences with her tiny person, bubbly personality, chipmunk voice and unassuming manner. Kerri served as an inspiration to young girls everywhere who saw her as a role model for excellence in a difficult sport and for her courage in the face of adversity.

In September, 1996 "Saturday Night Live" had Kerri as the host one week, and then a few weeks later, the SNL crew produced a segment with a clumsy and large "Kerri" performing her famous vault but very badly. When she was then carried off the floor by her supposed coach, he could not lift her. The "Kerri" character’s chipmunk voice was exaggerated considerably, and at the end of the show the character sang a medley with Alvin and the Chipmunks supposedly because her voice blended so well with theirs. Although most viewers found the skit hilarious, Kerri’s feelings were really hurt since she thought SNL was saying that she was getting fat and that her voice was peculiar.

Thereafter Kerri produced an instructional videotape on various aspects of gymnastics but concentrating on her primary event, the vault entitled "Leaping to Success." It was sold to various gymnastics programs around the country and to schools. It was broadcast on public television as a part of a series on women in sports; PBS did not seek permission for the right to use and broadcast the tape. Many students borrowed the tape from their gymnastics schools and made copies of it at home, while others videotaped it from PBS.

Even though Kerri entered college in the fall, she was able to write a book (with John Lopez); Landing on My Feet, was published early in 1997 and was registered for copyright a month later. Sales were good, and the work became a standard for gymnastics students. The gymnastics instructor at a local dance and gymnastics studio, Jumpy (J) found the book so useful that she began to photocopy the first three chapters for distribution to her students in the first session of each beginning class.

Kerri’s agent believed that her career could be extended if she found a toy manufacturer to produce a Kerri doll. (K) entered into an agreement with Mattel (M) which introduced the Kerri doll in the fall of 1996, in time to capture the holiday gift buying season. The remarkably flexible and lifelike Kerri doll was dressed in the white leotard trimmed with a blue swatch, a red stripe and white stars. Little girls purchased the doll in record numbers and the Kerri doll became the hottest toy last season. The doll was not registered for copyright, but (M) did include a copyright notice stamped on the doll’s rear end. Both (M) and (K) made a great deal of money on the sale of the dolls.

This fall, Nebish (N) introduced its own gymnastics doll named the Terri doll. It is remarkably similar to the Kerri doll in every way, including dress. The Terri doll had one additional feature, however; it talked repeating phrases like "Oh, that had to hurt!" and "Tough luck!" (N) did not seek permission from either (K) or (M). The Terri doll costs only half as much as the Kerri doll, and almost immediately after its introduction, it began to outsell the Kerri doll. Little girls apparently were not able to tell the difference, and the Kerri dolls languished on toy store shelves.

Book sales continued to do well, however, and Kerri was approached by Orion Pictures (O) about making a motion picture from her book. Negotiations broke down and (O) abandoned the idea of turning her book into a movie. Shortly thereafter Paramount Pictures (P) purchased the option to make Landing on My Feet into a motion picture. Before Paramount exercised its option, however, (O) released a movie called the "Gymnastics Miracle" that featured a number of women gymnasts and was a story built around a love relationship between a U.S. woman gymnast and a male gymnast from Latvia. One of the important scenes from the movie featured the woman gymnast competing with an ankle injury. She is able to win the gold medal even though her ankle was broken on her first vault in the final event. Kerri believed that (O) used her book and life to produce this part of the movie. (P) has now indicated that it will not exercise the option to make a movie about Kerri.

(K) consults you to assist her with the various problems these facts highlight. Please advise her about any causes of action she might have against SNL, PBS, (J), (N), (O) and (P). Include any remedies she might have and any defenses that these parties might raise.