Optical Communication Products filed suit against Finisar over five patents related to vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. 3/7, 6:2011cv00104. Aside from seeking damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs for infringement, the plaintiff wants the court to halt operations at Finisar’s state-of-the-art plant (which the company spent $13M to renovate in 2006) in Allen, Texas.Finisar has an open patent infringement suit against the plaintiff, filed in December, so this seems to be part of a larger market share battle. The components in question are those incorporating Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELS), generally applied towards the conversion of electrical current into optical power for communications and other uses (gas sensors, miniature clocks, soon to be included in compact GPS devices).  In an unrelated case, Finisar lost a $79M jury verdict on appeal to DirecTV in a case filed in 2006; in that case several of its electronic programming guide patents were also ruled invalid.