Håkan Lans

Anders Håkan Lans (born 2 November 1947 in Enskede) is a Swedish inventor. His patented inventions are a color graphics processor ("Data processing system and apparatus for color graphics display") and an "Arrangement for producing a pattern on a light-sensitive surface"

Håkan Lans is the designer of a tracking system which makes use of a Self-Organized Time Division Multiple Access (STDMA) datalink. The STDMA datalink is currently in use in Automatic Identification System (AIS). AIS is a short range coastal tracking system which is mandatory aboard international voyaging ships with gross tonnage (GT) of 300 or more tons, and all passenger ships regardless of size.

STDMA is also in use as one of the three physical layer models proposed for Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), a cooperative surveillance technique for air traffic control which is in the process of implementation.

Lans has his own company, GP&C Systems International AB, which is focused on marketing STDMA.

Concerning the patent on colour computer graphics, Lans has sued several companies, including Compaq, Gateway and Hewlett Packard, for not paying royalties, and allegedly infringing on his patent. The companies were then sued for patent infringement by Lans, as a private person. The defendants counterclaimed that the patent was assigned to Uniboard AB, a company wholly owned by Lans. The judge ruled that this was the case and thus Lans lost the case. This has led to a dispute between Lans and his attorney, Louis Mastriani, and his lawyer in Sweden, Talbot Lindström, who Lans has sued for misconduct. This suit was settled in April 2012. An allegation was presented on Swedish National Television that Lindström's conduct was due to alleged connections with The Pentagon, in order to stop Lans' progress on his STDMA patent.

Another debate is regarding STDMA. There was a patent application for the system, but a US patent ex-parte reexamination certificate was issued in 2010 canceling all claims.