Electronic Security Systems & Integration Expert Witness

Provides Testimony In

Burglar Alarm Security Systems Wired, Wireless and Hybrid Security Alarm Systems and Sensors Intrusion Detection Systems Premise Monitoring Systems Smoke and Fire Alarm Systems Integrated Security Systems Video Monitoring (CCTV) and Verification with Security,Audio Listen In, Intercom, Paging with Security,Access Control with Security Home, Automation with Security Occupancy Detection Systems, Alarm Control Panels, Intrusion Control Panels, Alarm System Controllers, Control Devices, Keypads, Zone Expanders, Wireless Rx/Tx, Output Modules, Sensors, Digital Dialers / Communicators, Motion Detectors, PIR (Passive InfraRed) Fresnel & Mirror Optic, µW Doppler (X/K Band Microwave) Smoke Detectors, Heat Detectors Door and Window Sensors Electronic Security System and Sensor Design Wired and Wireless Electronic Circuit Design (Analog, Digital and RF) Embedded Controllers (CPU/MCU) (Zilog Z8/eZ8, Microchip PIC, etc.), Software Coding (Assembler / C) Circuit Simulations and Analysis Narrowband RF wireless (433Mhz) Spread Spectrum (902 to 928 Mhz), Battery Charging and Protection (CC/CV, LiFePO4, Li-Poly, etc.), Low voltage (control) systems,Alarm System Monitoring & Communications to Central Station., Alarm Signaling Technology Cellular, Land Line, Long Range RF,Security Network Protocols (AML, Wireless, Keybus, Combus), Personal Emergency Response System (P.E.R.S.), False Alarm Reduction Modules,Telephone, Thermostat, X-10 (PLC) Interactive Interface with Security,SOHO PBX Telephone Systems, New Product Development (NPD) Product Research & Development Electronic Product Design Engineering Management, Speed To Market, Design for Manufacturability Design for Reliability
Cost Reduction Programs Compliance & Agency Approvals Environmental Immunity (ESD/EFT) Radiated & Conducted Immunity False Alarm Immunity, Plastic Enclosure (Tooling) Design for Production Injection Molding, Mixed Mode ASIC Development Electronic (Smart) Thermostats Solar Cell Charging Circuitry (MPPT) Energy Management Systems, LED Driver & Control Circuitry, Solar Powered LED Lighting (Patio to Street Level),Glassbreak Detectors, Vibration and Shock Sensors

Electronic Security Systems & Sensors
Electronics R&D – New Product Development

Over 34 years’ in-depth industry experience. “Hands on” to senior executive levels.
Past Vice President of Engineering for Tyco Security Products / Digital Security Controls (DSC), a leading global manufacturer of electronic security systems and components with sales exceeding ~$400 million annually (Tyco acquired DSC in 2001).
Hundreds of products researched, developed and released including Wired and Wireless Security Systems, Motion Detectors, Smart Solar LED
Lighting and many similar devices.
Experienced with the complete new product development cycle. Concept to production.
Named Inventor on 25+ patents. Experienced in the Patent identification & filing process.
Experienced with Civil, Criminal & Patent litigation including Inter Partes Reviews (IPR).

List of Patents by Priority Date

Wireless Alarm System (1993)
A security system having a two way wireless keypad which operates in a particular manner for improved operation…
Method And Arrangement For Recognition Of A Coded Transmitted Signal (1994)
The present invention is for fast, reliable recognition of coded signals where the signal includes a predetermined…
Security System With Two Signal Reporting (1997)
A security system having two distinct channels of communication and which uses a single communication device…
Home Automation And Security System Controller (1997)
The present invention, in one aspect, is directed to a security system which is capable of acting as an information…
Controllable Still Frame Video Transmission System (1997)
A video capture controller for selective capture of video images from a plurality of video cameras, the capture…
Programmable Temperature Sensor For Security System (1998)
The present invention in one aspect, provides for a programmable temperature sensor for a device as part of a…
Suspended Code For Alarm System (1998)
The system generates alarm suspension codes without direct interaction with the alarm panel. The alarm control…
Biometric Input Device For Security System (1998)
The present invention provides for a biometric input device for a security system. The biometric input device includes…
Dual Mode Panel (1999)
A dual mode alarm control panel includes a sensing arrangement for determining conditions of the environment in…
Alarm System Using Local Data Channel (1999)
An alarm system has an alarm unit in combination with a line seize module. The alarm unit includes a transmitter /…
Alarm System With Programmable Device Control (2000)
An alarm system providing programmable remote control of electrically controlled devices, such as lights, is provided…
Security Alarm Keypad With Message Alert (2000)
A security alarm system is adapted to retrieve e-mail status information and provide an alert signal for the user of the…
Remote Recovery Arrangement For Alarm System (2000)
A security alarm system cooperates with a remote monitoring station to improve the reliability of the alarm system…
Security Alarm Keypad With Message Alert (2000)
A security alarm system is adapted to retrieve e-mail status information and provide an alert signal for the user of the…
Remote Recovery Arrangement For Alarm System (2000)
A security alarm system cooperates with a remote monitoring station to improve the reliability of the alarm system…
Alarm System With Programmable Device Control (2000)
An alarm system providing programmable remote control of electrically controlled devices, such as lights, is provided…
Integrated Lightning Detector (2003)
An alarm panel of a security system is additionally provided with an interference circuit for evaluating the possible…
False Alarm Reduction Method And System (2005)
A digital verification control, which is incorporated with an alarm system, includes a first timer device for presetting a…
Security Device With Built-In Intercommunicated False Alarm Reduction Control (2005)
A security device includes a plurality of security detectors intercommunicating with each other. Each of the security…
Integrated Detecting Processor (2005)
An infrared sensor includes an infrared generator for generating infrared radiation within a detecting area, a pyro…
Energy Signal Detection Device Containing Integrated Detecting Processor (2005)
An energy signal detection device includes a pyroelectric sensor sensing an infrared radiation within a detecting area…
Process And System Of Energy Signal Detection (2006)
A process and system of energy signal detection, which improves sensitivity, performance and reliability thereof and…
Process And System Of Power Saving Lighting (2007)
A process and system of lighting with green energy source and intelligent power management, which saves energy…
Process And System Of Energy Signal Detection (2008)
A process and system of energy signal detection, which improves sensitivity, performance and reliability thereof and…
Single MCU-Based Motion Detection, Local Alarm And Supervisory Arrangement For Alarm System (2008)
A device with single MCU-based motion detection, local alarm and supervisory arrangement for alarm system…

Retained as an Expert Witness in the following cases

Expert Witness / Technical Consultant Experience

Honeywell International, Inc. v. 2GIG Technologies, Inc. et al
>Def. 2GIG Technologies, Inc. Rep. by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Retained by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, the attorneys for the defendant, 2GIG Technologies, Inc.. The plaintiff, Honeywell International Inc., represented by the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, accused 2GIG Technologies Inc. of infringing on U.S. patent entitled “Integrated Security And Communications System With Secure Communications Link”. A prior art search conducted by Weil, Gotshal & Manges identified the international patent entitled “Home Automation And Security System Controller”. As a named inventor on this international patent I was contacted and subsequently retained as an Expert Witness by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Worked with Weil, Gotshal & Manges legal team to generate extensive Expert Report, subsequent amendments and responses. Compiled an analysis of Honeywell’s manufacturing potential with respect to their claimed key infringed product (the Ademco Symphony 8132 Advanced User Interface). Provided various additional support as required. Assisted with rebuttal of opposing Expert Reports. Prepared and trained for upcoming Deposition by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Case settled before trial.

Honeywell International, Inc. v. Nest Labs, Inc. (*Google) et al
>Def. Nest Labs, Inc. (*Google) Rep. by Fish & Richardson PC
Honeywell sued Nest Labs for multiple patent infringement involving several patents in the Home Automation field, more specifically, Smart Home HVAC Thermostat Controllers (“Smart Thermostats”), a popular example being the Nest Learning Thermostat. I was contacted by Fish and Richardson, the attorneys for the Defendant Nest Labs and retained. Reviewed in detail the Honeywell owned, United States Patent entitled “Power Stealing Control Devices” as well as several related patents and documentation. Asked to analyze electronic schematics and determine the precise functionality of several key components. Performed several comparative analyses. Generated an initial Expert Declaration in 2012 and then a follow up Expert Declaration in 2015. Provided technical support based on my history and experience. Case settled out of court. *Note: Google acquired Nest Labs during this litigation matter.

Alarm.com Incorporated v. Telular Corporation
>Pla. Alarm.com Incorporated Rep. by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
In May of 2013, Alarm.com filed suit against Telular for patent infringement of the following 4 US Patents all entitled “System And Method For Connecting Security Systems To A Wireless Device” and entitled “Monitoring System To Monitor A Property With A Mobile Device With A Monitoring Application”.
I was retained by the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the attorneys for the Plaintiff, Alarm.com Inc. Performed preliminary review of the case material. Telular, was at the time a major customer of iControl products and it was Telular’s sales and installation of these (re-branded) iControl products that prompted Alarm.com to initiate this infringement suit. Less than 2 months later, iControl launched their own patent infringement suit against Alarm.com (see #4 below). This caused the original Alarm.com v. Telular matter to be put on the back burner. The time table of the iControl v. Alarm.com matter being much shorter than this Alarm.com v. Telular action. This case was settled in conjunction with the iControl matter (see #4 below for more details).

iControl Networks, Inc. v. Alarm.com Incorporated et al
>Def. Alarm.com Incorporated Rep. by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
At the time this suit was filed (July 10th 2013), I was already engaged by Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the attorneys for the Defendant Alarm.com Incorporated. Both parties (Alarm.com and iControl) sued each other for patent infringement involving a total of 11 patents. Prepared extensive Expert Reports and related documents. Assisted in Rebuttal of other sides Expert Reports. Performed both infringement and invalidity analysis. Provided multiple possible Prior Art examples. All work done to a very accelerated timeframe. Required many late nights, even some through the night sessions with the Cravath team working to meet the case deadlines. Fully prepared and trained extensively for several weeks by the team of Cravath Attorneys for my forthcoming Deposition. Just before my scheduled time for the Deposition, the parties entered into preliminary settlement talks. My Deposition was put on hold and in the end cancelled as the parties ultimately reached a settlement agreement.

Script Security Solutions, LLC v. AT&T Digital Life, Inc. et al
>Def. AT&T Digital Life, Inc. Rep. by Duane Morris LLP
Retained by the law firm of Duane Morris LLP, the attorneys for the Defendant, AT&T Digital Life. Reviewed case material. Provided multiple examples of (potential) prior art. Generated supporting (prior art / invalidity) claim charts. Provided additional technical support as required. Case settled before trial.

Secured Structures, LLC v. Alarm Security Group, LLC
>Pla. Secured Structures, LLC Rep. by Tadlock Law Firm
Secured Structures sued the Alarm Security Group for infringement of US patent entitled “United home security system”. Retained by the Tadlock Law Firm, the attorneys for the Plaintiff, Secured Structures LLC. Reviewed and analysed relevant material as required. Assisted with claim construction matters. Prepared expert declaration. Provided technical expertise and support. Case settled before trial.

C. Lewis-Harris et al v. Interstate Realty et al
>Pla. C. Lewis-Harris & S. Payne Rep. by Langdon and Emison A.A.L.
Retained by Langdon & Emison Attorneys At Law who represented the Plaintiff (C. Lewis-Harris & S. Payne) in a Wrongful Death suit. Reviewed all case material (Police Dep. report, Fire Dep report, Central Monitoring Station Logs, etc.) Performed in-depth onsite inspection. Completed detailed analysis of equipment (alarm control system hardware, pull stations, pull cords, wiring, etc.) and relevant documentation (test plan & logs, maintenance plan & logs, etc.). Formulated theory of failure mechanisms. Received “Notice of Taking Deposition”. Prepared for deposition. Deposed by defendants attorneys. Case settled before trial with plaintiffs receiving a favorable settlement of close to one million dollars (according to public court records).

Iron Gate Security, Inc. v. Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
>Def. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Rep. by Hunton & Williams LLP (DC)
Iron Gate Security Inc., represented by the law firm of Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP, sued Lowe’s for infringement of US Patent entitled “Assembly, And Associated Method, For Remotely Monitoring A Surveillance Area”. Retained by Hunton & Williams LLP, the attorneys for the Defendant, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.. Reviewed and analysed relevant documentation. Searched for, identified and prioritized prior art and/or obviousness material on a claim by claim basis to determine optimum references. Heavily involved in the preparation of the IPR (Inter Partes Review) Petition. Prepared expert declaration in support of IPR effort. Reviewed and assisted with the generation of the completed draft IPR Petition. Parties entered into settlement talks, the litigation matter was settled and the IPR petition was shelved.

Petition for I.P.R. by RPX Corp. (v. MD Security Solutions LLC)
>Pat. MD Security Solutions Rep. by Freitas, Angell & Weinberg
RPX Corporation submitted before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a Petition (Pet.) for an Inter Partes Review (IPR) of U.S. Patent entitled “Security Alarm System”. Retained by Freitas, Angell & Weinberg (FAW LAW), the attorneys for Patent Owner (MD Security Solutions). Reviewed and analysed relevant material. Provided declaration regarding key technical points. Reviewed and critiqued Patent Owners response to PTAB. Received “Notice of Taking Deposition”. Prepared for deposition. Deposed by Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks (Attorneys for RPX Corporation). Received positive feedback from FAW LAW (client) post deposition.

Petition for I.P.R. by SecureNet Technologies (v. iControl Networks)
>Pet. SecureNet Technologies Rep. by Cooley LLP
Retained by the law firm of Cooley LLP, the Attorneys for the Petitioner (Pet.) SecureNet Technologies to assist in the preparation of multiple IPR (Inter Partes Review) Petitions. Assisted in the search, vetting and prioritization of prior art and obviousness references. Generated comprehensive expert declarations and was heavily involved in the preparation of the finalized IPR Petitions. IPR Petitions filed Sep 30th, 2016. The Patent Owner (Pat.) iControl Networks Inc., is represented by the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati P.C..

Consultant at Parker Security Consulting Inc.
June 2011 to Present
Founded own company, to provide technical consulting and expert witness services in the areas of Electronic Security Systems and Sensors as well as Electronics Research and Development (R&D), New Product Development, and other areas related to my skills and 34 plus years of industry experience. A partial list of my technical consulting and expert witness activities including Civil, Criminal & Patent litigation (as well as IPR’s), appears in the previous section of this document.

President at EE-Systems Group Inc. Canada (R&D)
August 2004 – Present
Co-founded EE Systems Group Inc. in both Canada (for R&D) and the United States (Operations). Oversight for new product and business development. Full management and executive responsibility. Developed multiple new technologies and intellectual property. Multiple United States, Canadian, Chinese and International patents developed, filed and/or granted. Defined and negotiated major corporate contracts with several organizations. Numerous new products developed and introduced to production. Developed and licensed our “ePIR” software to several multinational companies including Zilog, now part of IXYS for passive infrared motion detection (marketed under the name “ZMOTION“). The ePIR / ZMOTION solution provides for Intrusion as well as occupancy detection. eFAR100 False Alarm Reduction module developed using embedded Z8 MCU technology with firmware written in assembler (machine code). Also developed full scalable suite of technology for solar powered, motion controlled, LED illumination from patio to parking lot sizes.

Vice President of Engineering at Tyco Security Products
Head of Engineering at Digital Security Controls (DSC) Limited (Note: DSC was acquired by Tyco Security Products in December 2001)
March 1985 – December 2003 (~19 years)
Head of 200+ member engineering department composed of engineers, scientists, technologists and technicians. Responsible for all of DSC’s research and product development efforts. Senior member of the DSC executive team setting strategic direction for the company. Cross functional responsibilities in Marketing, New Business Development and Manufacturing. Development of policies, procedures and practices. Financial planning and budget generation.
Administration of corporate patent investigation, generation and infringement avoidance. Key vendor relationship building and negotiations. Major customer presentations and interaction. Principally involved in several corporate initiatives such as Six Sigma and ISO900X (quality programs), Speed to market, Ethics training, Customer training, Major cost reductions, etc.

Vice President of Engineering at Swinemaster Inc.
June 1984 – March 1985
In charge of a small R&D team that developed and built several working prototypes of an automated baby pig feeder. The multipart component design of the baby pig feeder utilized several (up to 10) Zilog Z8 Microcontroller Units (MCU’s) with the software written in assembly language (machine code).

Technical Sales Representative at Har-Tech Electronics Ltd.
January 1984 – June 1984
Provided sales and technical support to customers (and potential customers) of electronic component manufacturers such as Zilog and others in the greater Toronto area (GTA).

Engineering Technologist at Thermetic Controls Limited
January 1983 – December 1983
Designed and implemented production test equipment for baseboard heater safety limit switches. Also designed and built working prototype of a digital setback thermostat for controlling electric baseboard heaters by pulse width modulation (PWM).

Selected Major Competencies and Accomplishments

While at EE-SGI, developed several new technologies such as ePIR for motion detection, eLEDing for high efficiency LED illumination and eFAR for significant false alarm reduction. Successfully completed multiple SR&ED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development) applications resulting in significant financial grants to EE-SGI.

While at DSC/Tyco, was principal architect and driving force behind most of DSC’s major commercial product successes. These include the industry benchmark setting “Power” and “Maxsys” families. Also includes the PC1550, the most prolific alarm control panel in the world with an installed base in the millions.

Worked directly with one of Latin America’s premier telephone operators to determine requirements, then rapidly produced functional prototypes for demonstration to their CEO and other senior management. Previously maintained an excellent relationship with the senior decision makers in this organization and as such could be an enormous asset to any company that hopes to supply them. This organization has identified a market of nearly six million customers for intrusion security. Identified a range of suitable products for their market.

Organized and drove corporate speed to market initiative. Defined required policies and procedures. Implemented STM plan. Resulted in average product development cycle reduction of 40%.

Developed the KEYBUS and COMBUS protocols for interconnecting components. These protocols have a proven track record and have been widely imitated and copied. Also developed DSC’s wireless protocols for both 924 Mhz DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) and 433.92 Mhz tight narrow band.

Saved DSC from 15% shortfall in annual production. Due to an clerical error, a critical custom component (an ASIC – Application Specific Integrated Circuit) was shorted by ~200,000 units. Lead time was long, all attempts to persuade supplier failed. Used relationship with suppliers senior management to have required units arrive just in time.

Prior to completion of DSC sale to TYCO, re-negotiated agreements with key suppliers. Resulted in annualized savings of over ten million dollars.

Conceived, and drove the development of over twelve mixed mode ASIC’s (Application Specific Integrated Circuits). Perfect track record. No failures. All were commercial successes. Mixed mode ASIC’s combine analog and digital circuitry on a single chip. They offer superior capabilities and performance to “off the shelf” solutions while dramatically reducing cost and improving product reliability.

Publications and other Documentation

Many proprietary specifications. Numerous contributions to product manuals and guides.

Education

RCC Institute of Technology A Division of Yorkville University Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1980 – 1982
Electronic Engineering Technology

Northern Secondary School
(High School)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1975 – 1979
Focus on Electronics (in Shop class)

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