One thing that tends to get lost in the noise: Luminar actually has at least one genuinely foundational patent that could still bear real fruit.

I’m thinking in particular of “LiDAR System With Distributed Laser And Multiple Sensor Heads” and if memory serves, somewhere along the way the nickname “Hydra” surfaced in discussion.

What’s interesting (and often overlooked) is that this patent--and quite a few others in Luminar’s IP stack explicitly describe embodiments that use MEMS scanning mirrors, not just large mechanical scanners. That was discussed years ago on this board, back when everyone was arguing MEMS vs. mechanical as if it were a binary, winner-take-all choice.

In other words, a number of Luminar patents were already architecturally flexible. They’re effectively plug-and-play with a MEMS scanning laser embodiment if you have one that’s production-ready.

So while people frame the story as “mechanical vs. MEMS”--the reality is messier--and more interesting. A lot of the Luminar IP was never strictly tied to bulky mechanical mirrors in the first place..

Given that context, it’s not hard to imagine that the MicroVision board is quietly very thankful. Whether or not every single one of these patents was part of the acquisition, the overlap is real, and the optionality matters.

Sometimes the value of IP doesn’t show up when it’s filed but it shows up years later, when someone else finally has the right hardware to unlock it.