Inventor:
Fred Charles Thomas III
Last Update:
23-Jan-21
Total Patents Pending w USPTO:
16
Total Issued US Patents:
86
Total Published Inventions USPTO:
19
Total Issued Patents Worldwide:
180
Countries Patents Issued In:
19 (United States of America / Benelux / Canada / EPC / France /
Germany / Japan / Malaysia / PCT / Singapore / Taiwan / UK / China /
Australia / Philippines / WO / Brazil / India / Korea)
Companies Patents / Inventions
Assigned to:
9 (HP / Hewlett-Packard / Britta Technologies / Iomega / EMC / Dell /
3M / Cole National / Texas Instruments)

Seq. #
Status
Patent
Number w
link
Date
(Issue or Filing
as appropriate
relative to
status)
Title
Country/s
Corporate
Assignee
Footn
ote/s
(Inven
tors
backgr
ound
note/s
)
1
Pending

30-Oct-20
DIGITISING DRAWINGS
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

2
Pending

29-Oct-20
CAPACITIVE SENSING
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

3
Pending

30-Sep-20
SPEECH AND AUDIO DEVICES
United States
of America
HP

4
Pending

25-Sep-20
ELECTRONIC DEVICES WITH TOUCH SENSORS HAVING
OVERLAID PROJECTED-CAPACITIVE LAYERS
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

5
Pending

28-Aug-20
TRANSLATE A HAND GESTURE TO AN ACTION
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

6
Pending

26-Aug-20
TOUCH PEN SENSOR
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

7
Allowed

20-Aug-20
DETERMINING LOCATIONS OF ELECTRO-OPTICAL PENS
United States
of America
HP

8
Issued
10,699,550


30-Jun-20
STYLI
United States
of America /
China /
European
HP

9
Pending

30-Apr-20
DIGITAL PEN SENSOR SURFACE
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

10
Pending

30-Apr-20
TOUCH/PEN SENSOR SURFACES
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

11
Pending

30-Apr-20
TOUCH/PEN SENSORS WITH PEDOT FILMS
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

12
Issued
10,620,716
14-Apr-20
VISIBLY OPAQUE AND NEAR INFRARED TRANSPARENT
DISPLAY BORDER WITH UNDERLYING ENCODED PATTERN
United States
of America /
China /
European
HP

13
Issued
10,558,299
11-Feb-20
CALIBRATION OF AN INPUT DEVICE TO A DISPLAY USING
THE INPUT DEVICE
United States
of America
Taiwan / China
/ European
HP

14
Issued
10,459,574
29-Oct-19
DISPLAY INCLUDING HOT MIRROR
United States
of America /
China /
European
HP

15
Issued
10,429,950


1-Oct-19
A DIFFUSIVE EMISSIVE DISPLAY
United States
of America /
France /
Taiwan /China
/ Germany /
UK
HP

16
Issued
10,353,488
16-Jul-19
POSITIONAL INPUT ON DISPLAYS
United States
of America
/France /
Germany /UK
/China /
Taiwan
HP

17
Published

21-Mar-19
SCALING AND RENDERING VIRTUAL HAND
Patent
Cooperation
Treaty
HP

18
Pending

25-Feb-19
ENERGY STORAGE AND ALTERNATING CURRENT POWER
COMBINERS
United States
of America /
PCT
HP

19
Issued
10,191,593
29-Jan-19
POSITIONAL INPUT SYSTEMS AND METHODS
United States
of America /
Germany
HP

20
Issued
10,088,917
2-Oct-18
DETECTOR FOR A DISPLAY
United States
of America /
China / Taiwan
/ UK
HP

21
Issued
10,048,779
14-Aug-18
VIRTUAL HAND BASED ON COMBINED DATA
United States
of America /
UK / China /
Taiwan
HP

22
Pending

13-Apr-18
SURFACES WITH INFORMATION MARKS
United States
of America /
China /
European
HP

23
Pending

26-Jan-18
SCRIBING SHAFT SENSORS
United States
of America /
China
HP

24
Pending

24-Jan-18
SURFACES WITH EMBEDDED INFORMATION
United States
of America
HP

25
Issued
9,858,086
2-Jan-18
LOAD BOOT DATA
United States
of America /
KR /Japan /
India /
European /
China / Brazil /
Taiwan
HP

26
Pending

13-Jul-17
ELECTRONIC INPUT DEVICES WITH RADIAL FORCE SENSOR
ARRAY
United States
of America
HP

27
Issued
9,697,115
4-Jul-17
SEGMENTED CACHES
United States
of America /
2X Taiwan /
Brazil / India /
HP

KR /UK /
28
Issued
9,626,124
18-Apr-17
Direct-attached/network-attached Storage Device
United States
of America /
Germany /
India
HP

29
Issued
9,542,116
10-Jan-17
Direct Attached Storage System And Method For
Implementing Multiple Simultaneous Storage Schemes
United States
of America /
India
HP

30
Pending
2018/19997
2 Al
1-Nov-18
INK WITH A REFLECTIVE HOT MIRROR STACK PIGMENT
PCT
Hewlett-
Packard

31
Pending
2018/19997
0 Al
1-Nov-18
INKS WITH A LIGHT SCATTERING METALLIC PIGMENT
PCT
Hewlett-
Packard

32
Issued
9,225,541
29-Dec-15
Media shadow files and system
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

33
Issued
9,223,166
29-Dec-15
POSITIONAL INPUT SYSTEMS AND METHODS
United States
of America
/Taiwan /
China / Japan
HP

34
Issued
8,964,018
24-Feb-15
Video display systems
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

35
Issued
8,888,524
18-Nov-14
MODULAR POWER ADAPTER ASSEMBLY
United States
of America
HP

36
Issued
2,783,290
1-Oct-14
AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY FOR EXECUTION OF AN
APPLICATION
EU
Hewlett-
Packard

37
Issued
8,762,637
24-Jun-14
DATA STORAGE APPARATUS WITH A HDD AND A
REMOVABLE SOLID STATE DEVICE
United States
of America
HP

38
Published
2014/05162
8
3-Apr-14
TRANSITION TO AN INTERMEDIATE POWER STATE
PCT
Hewlett-
Packard

39
Issued
8,578,091
5-Nov-13
Providing Data Redundancy Using An Internal Mass Storage
Device And An External Mass Storage Device
United States
of America
HP

40
Issued
8,555,372
8-Oct-13
Automatic Firewall Configuration
United States
of America
HP

41
Issued
8,527,692
3-Sep-13
DATA STORAGE APPARATUS WITH A HDD AND A
REMOVABLE SOLID STATE DEVICE
United States
of America
HP

42
Issued
8,402,284
19-Mar-13
Symbiotic Storage Devices
United States
of America /
Brazil / UK
/India
HP

43
Issued
8,386,689
26-Feb-13
INTERFACE ADAPTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS
United States
of America
HP

44
Issued
166,109
6-Dec-12
WAKING AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
EU
Hewlett-
Packard

45
Published

28-Sep-12
TRANSITION TO AN INTERMEDIATE POWER STATE
Germany
HP

46
Publicatio
n
124,168
17-May-12
Server migration method
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

47
Issued
8,132,198
6-Mar-12
POINT-OF-SALE ENABLEMENT OF OPTICAL STORAGE MEDIA United States
of America
HP

48
Issued
8,113,434
14-Feb-12
Passive electro-optical identification tags
United States
of America
Britta
Technologies

49
Publicatio
n
19,646
26-Jan-12
Video display systems
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

50
Issued
8,085,948
27-Dec-11
NOISE REDUCTION IN A SYSTEM
United States
of America
HP

51
Issued
8,005,993
23-Aug-11
A System And Method Of A Storage Expansion Unit For A
Network Attached Storage Device
United States
of America /
Taiwan /Brazil
/ China /UK /
India
HP

52
Issued
2,340,491
6-Jul-11
DIRECT-ATTACHED/NETWORK-ATTACHED STORAGE DEVICE EU
Hewlett-
Packard

53
Published
125,965
26-May-11
Direct Attached Storage System And Method For
Implementing Multiple Simultaneous Storage Schemes
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

54
Issued
7,874,490
25-Jan-11
Active electro-optical identification
United States
of America
Britta
Technologies

55
Issued
7,865,710
4-Jan-11
Software recovery without the use of a keyboard, mouse,
trackball or computer monitor
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

56
Publicatio
n
318,737
16-Dec-10
Providing data redundancy using an internal mass storage
device and an external mass storage device
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

57
Issued
7,797,396
14-Sep-10
Network attached storage (NAS) server having a plurality of
automated media portals
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

58
Issued
7,734,959
8-Jun-10
Operating system recovery across a network
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

59
Publicatio
n
20,110,173,8
05
1-Jun-10
Hard-disk drive insertion
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

60
Issued
D615968
18-May-10
Electronic enclosure
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

61
Publicatio
n
201,019,146
16-May-10
Media shadow files and system
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

62
Issued
7,697,391
13-Apr-10
Massively multi-level optical data storage using
subwavelength sized nano-grating structures
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

63
Published
20,120,081,5
47
5-Apr-10
Conducting surveillance using a digital picture frame
United States
of America
Hewlett -
Packard

64
Issued
7,639,492
29-Dec-09
Drive Carrier For Computer Systems
United States
of America /
Taiwan / China
HP

65
Publicatio
n
20,090,273,8
44
5-Nov-09
Privacy Filter With Rounded Optically Opaque Regions
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

66
Issued
7,505,263
17-Mar-09
Storage device protection system
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

67
Issued
D579013
21-Oct-08
COMPUTER HAVING A DOOR
United States
of America
HP

68
Publicatio
n
20,080,256,3
86
16-Oct-08
Raid configuration indication in network attached storage
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

69
Issued
D577,719
30-Sep-08
Computer having a door
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

70
Publicatio
n
2008017790
7
24-Jul-08
METHOD AND SYSTEM OF A PERIPHERAL PORT OF A
SERVER SYSTEM
United States
of America
Hewlett-
Packard

71
Issued
7,123,446
17-Oct-06
Removable cartridge recording device incorporating
antiferromagnetically coupled rigid magnetic media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

72
Issued
6,947,254
20-Sep-05
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices
performing diverse functions
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

73
Issued
6,879,556
12-Apr-05
Method and apparatus for optical data storage
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

74
Issued
6,785,091
31-Aug-04
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices
performing diverse functions
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

75
Issued
150,915
5-Aug-04
Air bearing surface for a head, and a method of making it
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

76
Publicatio
n
2004009070
6
13-May-04
Method and apparatus for using vibration to clean a
read/write head
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

77
Issued
6,587,297
1-Jul-03
System and Method for Detecting the Presence of a Data-
Storage Cartridge Using Phase-Rotated Polarized Light
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

78
Issued
6,587,304
1-Jul-03
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices
performing diverse functions
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

79
Issued
44,901
27-May-03
Method and apparatus for using vibration to clean a
read/write head
EU
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

80
Publicatio
n
2003005326
2
20-Mar-03
Low-friction wear-resistant guide track for an actuator in a
disk drive
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

81
Issued
1,292,949
19-Mar-03
Method and apparatus for storing data in a removable
cartridge
EU
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

82
Published
10/359,500
5-Feb-03
Blended ABS Edges and Steps on Thin Film Magnetic Heads
and Method of Fabrication
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

83
Published
2002015701
1
24-Oct-02
Method and apparatus for secure transmission of identifier
for removable storage media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

84
Issued
6,445,667
3-Sep-02
Optical Servo Writing
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

85
Issued
6,445,523
3-Sep-02
Readable Indelible Mark on Storage Media
United States
of America /
Benelux /
Canada / EPC /
France /
Germany /
Japan /
Malaysia / PCT
/ Singapore /
Taiwan / UK
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 8
86
Published
20,020,112,1
61
15-Aug-02
Method and system for software authentication in a
computer system
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

87
Issued
6,424,492
23-Jul-02
Frequency Based Cartridge Detection System
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

88
Issued
6,360,466
26-Mar-02
Data Storage Cartridge with Multiple Labels
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

89
Issued
6,359,745
19-Mar-02
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for Data
Storage Cartridges
United States
of America /
Australia / EPC
/ France /
Germany /
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 8
Japan / Taiwan
/ UK
90
Issued
6,359,745
19-Mar-02
Latent illuminance discrimination marker for data storage
cartridges
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

91
Published
10/076,016
12-Feb-02
Method and Apparatus for Optical Data Storage
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

92
Issued
1,324,485
28-Nov-01
Latent irradiance discrimination method and marker
system for cartridgeless data storage disks
United States
of America /
EU
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

93
Issued
6,324,026
27-Nov-01
Disk Indelible Utility Mark
United States
of America /
Canada / EPC /
Japan / PCT
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

94
Issued
6,324,026
27-Nov-01
Readable indelible mark on storage media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

95
Issued
6,317,292
13-Nov-01
PTFE Fiber Based Liner for Flexible High Density Magnetic
Media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

96
Published
20,010,038,5
12
8-Nov-01
Data cartridge marker for foreign object detection
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

97
Issued
6,297,924
2-Oct-01
System and Method for Cartridge Detection and
Verification Using Signal Comparision (Phosphor/Retro-
Reflective Detection Using Signal Subtraction)
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

98
Issued
457,435
1-Oct-01
Digital appliance data download device for data storage
Taiwan
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

99
Issued
256,448
21-Sep-01
Rf id tagging for improved tracking in maintenance
environment
Japan
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

100
Issued
6,292,319
18-Sep-01
Thin Retroreflective Marker for Identifying an Object
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 9
101
Issued
6,282,060
28-Aug-01
Data Cartridge Marker for Foreign Object Detection
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

102
Issued
6,264,107
24-Jul-01
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for
Authenticating Articles
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

103
Issued
6,266,211
24-Jul-01
Latent illuminance discrimination marker for data storage
cartridges
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

104
Issued
6,259,575
10-Jul-01
Readable Indelible Mark on Storage Media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 8
105
Published
09/839,515
20-Apr-01
Method And Apparatus For Secure Transmission Of
Identifier For Removable Storage Media
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

106
Issued
120,629
8-Feb-01
Disk Drive for Detecting a Retroreflective Marker on a Data
Storage Cartridge
Taiwan /
Philippines /
Malaysia
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

107
Issued
6,181,662
30-Jan-01
Latent irradiance discrimination method and marker
system for cartridgeless data storage disks
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

108
Issued
6,097,562
1-Aug-00
Disk drive for detecting a retroreflective marker on a data
storage cartridge
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

109
Issued
6,091,563
18-Jul-00
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for Data
Storage Cartridges
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

110
Issued
6,067,214
23-May-00
Data Cartridge Marker for Foreign Object Detection
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

111
Issued
6,282,060
21-Feb-00
DATA CARTRIDGE MARKER FOR FOREIGN OBJECT
DETECTION
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

112
Issued
5,986,838
16-Nov-99
Thin Retroreflective Marker for Data Storage Cartridge
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 9
113
Issued
5,943,185
24-Aug-99
Data Storage Drive and Cartridge Having Alignment
Openings for Cartridge Mounting and Ejection
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3
114
Issued
5,943,185
24-Nov-98
Caddy for Cartridge and Disk Drive Accommodating Caddy
(Interchangeable Cartridge Data Storage System for Devices
Performing Diverse Functions)
United States
of America /
Taiwan / EPC /
Japan
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
3, 7
115
Issued
5,841,605
24-Nov-98
Caddy for cartridge and disk drive accomodating a caddy
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

116
Issued
5,831,795
3-Nov-98
Head Loading Mechanism for a Disk Drive
United States
of America /
Singapore /
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

117
Issued
5,809,520
15-Sep-98
Interchangeable Cartridge Data Storage System for Devices United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell
6
118
Issued
D 389,470
20-Jan-98
Disk Cartridge and/or Drive
United States
of America
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

119
Issued
5,638,228
10-Jun-97
Retroreflective Marker for Data Storage Cartridge
United States
of America /
Germany /
Philippines
Iomega > EMC
> Dell

120
Issued
5,419,733
30-May-95
Method of and Apparatus for Removing Debris from the
Floptical Medium
United States
of America
Iomega > 3M
1
121
Issued
5,334,849
2-Aug-94
Apparatus for and method of verifying etching of optical
servo information on magnetic media
United States
of America /
WO / Japan /
EP / Germany
Iomega > 3M

122
Issued
5,322,987
21-Jun-94
Pneumatic Hub Locking Device for Etching Optical Servo
Tracks on Magnetic Disks
United States
of America
Iomega > 3M
1
123
Issued
5,283,773
1-Feb-94
Steering Laser Beam While Etching Optical Servo Tracks for
Magnetic Disks
United States
of America
Iomega > 3M
1
124


Issued
5,279,775
18-Jan-94
Acousto-Optical Intensity Control of Laser Beam During
Etching of Optical Servo Information of Magnetic Media
United States
of America
Iomega > 3M
1

Invention title footnotes:
1. These five patents were the basis for the laser servo writing process for the first (prior to Zip) super floppy disk drive
and media. The product was call the “21 MB Floptical.” Iomega sold these patents and technology to 3M/Imation prior to
coming out with the Zip Drive. These same inventions were used to manufacture the Imation LS-120 120MB SuperDisk The
LightSaber, which was the name for the laser servo writer, won the 1994 Electro-Optic Application of the Year Award from
Laser Focus World Magazine. The following attached PDF files have published articles that describe these inventions and the
technology.
• LaserFocusWorld 1994
• LightSaber SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2062 Article
• Iomega Article – LFW Award
• Floptical Technology Primer
2. For this patent I obtained Iomega’s “Exceptional Invention Award”. Only two inventions have received this award
during Iomega’s 28 years in business. This invention has utility and hence is patented, but due to its unique optical properties,
it is hard to substitute for on the cartridge. In this manner it has also prevented others from replicating the razor blades of our
business the highly successful Zip and Jaz disk cartridges. There are over 400 million units of this invention in worldwide
circulation.
3. All these inventions fall into the Penny Tag category. These electro-optically based cartridge identification and
authentications systems, are the focus of the “Research Feature” article in the August 2003 edition of IEEE Computer
Magazine. Its file name is:
• IEEE Computer Research Feature Article, Aug.-2003.
4. These two patents have broad authentication and identification potential in a variety of applications since their
claims cover this use on any article. Potential applications are for pharmaceuticals, aerospace parts, nuclear facility fasteners,
currency, and other financial instruments. The latent irradiance patents uniquely cover the use of the decay time signature of
the marker materials, which is significantly less costly to implement than previously used spectral signature verification. Each
of Iomega’s 10s of millions of disk drives have a cartridge authentication system built in for less than $1.00.
• Zip Security White Paper - Final
5. Patents covering and capturing the entire market place for device interchangeable small form factor removable disk
drives. The original product was the 40 MB Clik! drive. These inventions most recent incarnation have been announced to the
marketplace as the 1.5 GB “Digital Capture Technology.” The following is a catalogue clipping of the original Clik! drive.
• Pocket Zip Image

6. An elastomeric actuated head loading ramp for the Jaz disk drive. Allows retraction of ramp from media and
prevents disk and head damage during random power off sequences where head unload is not under servo control.

7. A system for having a larger form factor removable cartridge disk drive work with a miniature from factor cartridge
via a caddy system for the miniature cartridge. This caddy will fit in the large form factor drive.

8. Indelible mark inventions use a laser (excimer) to mark microscopic bar codes on removable magnetic and optical
media. These marks can be read by the drive read/write head at no addition drive cost.

9. Thin retroreflective inventions use a micro retroreflective array in combination with a transmission hologram to
produce structured light patterns upon reflection from a light source (LED).

10. This invention is for the use of Teflon fibers in the liner material of flexible disks. High capacity floppies like Zip
(750 MB) rotate at rates an order of magnitude greater than the original floppy (1.44 MB), hence the use of Teflon fibers
wipes dust/debris from the disk while not wearing away the magnetic recording layer.
11. This was a fun and simple one. It is a label for removable data storage cartridge, which is similar to a stack of post-
it notes.

12. This is a near-field optical data storage patent. It covers the use of over-amorphised (non-reversible) phase change
media marks as data track servo field marks.
13. Invention covers using public/private key encryption methods to provide a secure media serial number wrapper
for communication between host computer and removable disk drive. This talk, I presented at the 2002 RSA conference,
covers these concepts for removable data storage.
• RSA Presentation – Fred Thomas, Iomega, 2-21-02
14. This invention, whose notice of issuance was just received from the PTO, is a very exciting one for me. It covers the
use of reflective nano-structures (structures smaller than the wavelength of light) to encode data in a massively multi-level
format. Structures such as micro-mirror facets and nano- gratings are covered by the patent. Essentially, by using these
structures, it is possible to encode data, with 1000’s if not million of levels, in the same area as a binary (2 level) DVD bit is
now stored. This invention, of any of my inventions, I would consider the most Lemelson-like in that it is presently a few years
ahead of its time. These two files contain peer-reviewed technical papers on this topic, which were presented at both the
2002 and 2003 OSA ODS Topical Meeting on Optical Data Storage.

• OSA ODS Paper 2003 – Fred Thomas – Final
• AO-DVD Short Paper – Fred Thomas – distribution


15. This invention uses gray-scale lithography techniques to blend the edges of thin film magnetic heads. A MEMS
technology implemented for disk drive head fabrication.