Patents

 
 
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    Boycottnovell.com

  • Links 20/11/2009: EVO Game Console is Out, Firefox 3.6 Beta 3

    Roy Schestowitz
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:49 pm
    Contents GNU/Linux Distributions Devices/Embedded Free Software/Open Source Leftovers Dr. John Halamka Keynote GNU/Linux Old Computers Computers get second life at BBA hardware lab The software is designed to be easily added to by developers from anywhere. In addition to the fact that Linux software is adaptable, efficient and unencumbered by the multiple lines of computer code characteristic of the better known Microsoft programs, it is also free. “People who write viruses won’t write in Linux because it’s not a challenge – it’s too easy,” he said.

  • Fedora 12: Video

    Roy Schestowitz
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:07 am
    Summary: Short new demo of Fedora 12 KDE, as Ogg Direct link

  • Why Windows Seems Like a Dead End

    Roy Schestowitz
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:48 am
    Summary: Yesterday’s USENET post from Richard Rasker quoted verbatim Subject: Windows 7’s dirty secrets revealed From: Richard Rasker <spamtrap@linetec.nl> (Linetec) Date: Thursday 19 Nov 2009 18:07:34 Groups: comp.os.linux.advocacy An interesting look under the hood of Windows -- and in particular Vista 7: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/18/windows_7_heart/ It would appear that quite a bit of criticism on the technical implementation of Windows and the knowledge of Microsoft's programmers actually isn't all that far off the mark: - Criticism: Windows is such a convoluted…

  • Hypothesis: Mono Proponents Will Replace GIMP with Paint.NET

    Roy Schestowitz
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:29 am
    Summary: A reader believes that an application which promotes .NET/Mono might be marketed to GNU/Linux-using public some time in the future now that the GIMP is removed from Ubuntu, due to another Mono application BACK in June we warned that a Canonical employee who had come from Microsoft wanted to remove the GIMP. Reason? Because a simplistic Mono application was seen as a “good enough” replacement. Let’s not forget where GTK came from. It turns out that our concerns were justifiable because despite opposition, the GIMP is to be removed from Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). What…

  • O’Reilly and Microsoft Abandon Web Standards, ‘Open’ Web Foundation (OWF) Wants Them Redefined

    Roy Schestowitz
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:37 am
    Summary: As HTML5 is approaching, vendors continue in their attempts to gain ownership and exclusivity over content using formats and protocols MICROSOFT’S control of the media is an important subject because it leads to “perception management” [1, 2], as exemplified in the previous post. Glyn Moody reveals that “the Editor of The Next Web Italy, @Contz, is “Junior PR at Microsoft Italy”; tiny conflict of interest there, perhaps…?“ It’s not just publications as such which are affected by Microsoft marketing people. O’Reilly and…
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    Biocompare Patent News

  • Entest BioMedical Files 3rd Patent Application for COPD Stem Cell Treatment

    18 Nov 2009 | 6:53 pm
    Entest BioMedical Inc. announced today the filing of a third patent application relating to the area of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition that affects more than 5 million patients in the United States, resulting in more than 120,000 deaths per year. The application covers an implantable medical device useful in re-directing the immune system to stop tissue inflammation.

  • BioLife Solutions Granted Japanese Biopreservation Patent

    18 Nov 2009 | 6:53 pm
    BioLife Solutions, Inc. , a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of proprietary cGMP hypothermic storage and cryopreservation media products for cells, tissues, and organs, today announced that it has been granted a Japanese patent for an application that includes claims related to protecting cells from injury and death caused by cold temperatures used in biopreservation. The patent is titled "Inclusion of Apoptotic Regulators in Solutions for Cell Storage at Low Temperature," and BioLife was previously granted US and European patent protection for this intellectual property.

  • Olink Bioscience Acquires Patents For Rolling Circle Amplification

    16 Nov 2009 | 10:56 pm
    Olink Bioscience have today announced that they have expanded their patent portfolio within the field of rolling circle amplification by acquiring a family of three patents from the Danish biotech company In Situ RCP A/S.

  • Ryogen is Awarded New Patent

    12 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am
    Ryogen LLC, a genomic start-up company, has been awarded a new patent titled "Isolated Genomic Polynucleotide Fragments from Chromosome 7".

  • Endo Pharmaceuticals and LecTec Settle Patent Dispute

    11 Nov 2009 | 6:28 pm
    Endo Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has reached a settlement with LecTec Corporation on outstanding patent litigation related to LecTec's U.S. Patent Nos. 5,536,263 and 5,741,510.
 
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    Anticipate This

  • Bilski-Hitler Satirical Video.

    Jake Ward
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:25 pm
    JW Note:  Hat-tips to Zura’s 271 Blog and IPBIZ.  Hilarious spoof on Youtube related to the ongoing Bilski v. Kappos case being considered at the SCOTUS.  Apparently some patent attorney has had way too much time on his hands.  Enjoy!    Posted in General Commentary

  • NYT Op-Ed – Inventing a Better Patent System.

    Jake Ward
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:47 am
    An interesting op-ed article at the New York Times this week by Robert C. Pozen, the chairman of MFS Investment Management and a lecturer at Harvard Business School, on reforming the patent system in the United States.  Check it out here. Posted in General Commentary

  • They Invented What? (No. 153)

    Jake Ward
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:40 pm
    U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,240: Float tube urinal. What is claimed is: 1. A containment device for receiving and containing urine and being capable of direct attachment and support along a leg of an individual between the leg and external forces that would tend to collapse the containment device against the leg, the containment device being configured for use by a person using a float tube, said device comprising:           a substantially rigid case having opposing inner and outer walls, said inner wall being configured for support against the leg of the individual, said outer wall being…

  • “Patentable Subject Matter After the Bilski Oral Argument” Webcast – November 19, 2009.

    Jake Ward
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:45 am
    The American University, Washington College of Law (WCL) is cosponsoring a program on November 19, 2009, titled “Patentable Subject Matter After the Bilski Oral Argument”.  Per the WCL website: A Telecast by the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, Washington College of Law, American University and the Federal Circuit Bar Association November 19, 2009, 4:30-6:30 pm Washington College of Law, Room 603 In Bilski v. Kappos, the U.S. Supreme Court will address limitations on patentable subject matter in the context of a business method invention, analyzing a body of…

  • USPTO Director Kappos Launches Blog.

    Jake Ward
    10 Nov 2009 | 6:19 pm
    Per this press release today at the USPTO:  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos today launched a blog to foster a direct dialogue with the USPTO’s stakeholders and the general public. “It’s important for me to be able to hear directly from the IP community, and that is why we are establishing this open channel for sustained dialogue and the exchange of ideas,” said Kappos. “I hope that the public will find this blog to be a useful vehicle for providing input to me directly and…
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    Just A Patent Examiner

  • Limited Time Offer

    4 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pm
    Effective Sunday, November 8th, the Office's Revised Count System Initiatives will go into effect, except for those initiatives that will require updates to the Office's software systems.Most significantly, that means that the new provisions for the docketing of RCEs will come online.The following initiatives will be effective this Sunday:* Certification and Recertification* Patent Examiners' Work Credit* Changes in Docket Management Policies* Patentability Determination and Hoteling Waiver* Examiner-Initiated InterviewsThe specifics of these initiatives were discussed in this earlier…

  • Director's Blog: Now with Feedback!

    2 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pm
    The Director has been posting weekly to his blog, on a variety of subjects.Two weeks ago, he posted on the union's adoption of the proposed new count system.---I wanted to take this opportunity to express my thanks to POPA's membership for voting to adopt the changes to the count system proposed by the task force. These changes were long overdue and represent a major step forward in re-tooling a system that hasn't been updated in more than 30 years. For the sake of both the examining corps and patent applicants, change was necessary.I decided to move forward with the changes the task force…

  • Latest News from the Office

    20 Oct 2009 | 7:40 pm
    A few quick notes about the goings on of late at the Office.The USPTO's new website went online on October 8th.The Office has withdrawn its proposed Continuation Rules Changes. You can read about it at Patently-O and 271. Also, the USPTO's press release.Dr. Triantafyllos Tafas, one of the plaintiffs in the case, doesn't want the earlier district court ruling vacated. Read about it at at Patently-O and IP Watchdog.The USPTO's First Action Interview Pilot Program has been expanded to allow more applications to qualify. They also refined and simplified the procedures. You can read about it at…

  • Partnering in Patents

    13 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm
    The AIPLA is in town again this week for their Annual Meeting.As part of that Annual Meeting, they will be holding the 16th incarnation of Partnering in Patents, 'An Open Dialog Between the USPTO and the Bar' tomorrow afternoon.These sessions take place at the USPTO, giving the PTO and attorneys the opportunity to get together and have an exchange of ideas.I've attended the sessions in the past whenever my schedule has allowed. I've very much enjoyed them, and found the presentations and especially the comments/questions from attorneys to be most enlightening, helping me to better understand…

  • The Count System Version 2.0

    2 Oct 2009 | 6:57 am
    The Office on Wednesday afternoon notified the examining corps of the details of their proposal for a new count system. The Broad BrushThe new count system includes the following elements:Count System Changes and More Time for Examiners: The proposed changes will give examiners more time overall, more time for a first action on the merits, and time for examiner-initiated interviews, while diminishing credits for RCEs and providing consistent credits for transferred or inherited amendments. Process Changes: These will increase work credit certainty for examiners, increase fairness to…
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    IPKat - news and fun for everyone!

  • Friday fantasies

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:42 am
    Have you checked the IPKat's list of Forthcoming Events? There's plenty coming up, as you can see from the side-bar on the IPKat's front page. It gets a bit quiet over Christmas, but January's only just around the corner.Are you IP-savvy, as fit as a fiddle and always carry an umbrella in case it rains? If so, the United Kingdom's IPO has a job for you as Senior Policy Advisor, International Policy on IP, Public Health and Climate Change. The post is based in London, not Newport, so you can't escape the IPKat's attention by blending in with the local sheep ... Duties include representing the…

  • Internet-hosted prior art and proof of publication: UK not bound by EPO level of proof

    20 Nov 2009 | 1:59 am
    In a recent hearing concerning a UK patent application, Ranger Services Ltd's application, BL O/362/09, 17 November 2009, Hearing Officer Lawrence Cullen was faced with a question relating to the status of cited prior art which had been obtained from an internet archive. Rejecting the application before him, which was for a system of using an automatic number plate recognition system to detect cloned vehicle number plates, he considered that the current European Patent Office guidelines [see earlier IPKat post here] would suggest that the cited prior art should be taken into account. In doing…

  • IP rights "not the driver" for vegetable varieties innovation

    20 Nov 2009 | 12:54 am
    While most felines have little affection for vegetation, the IPKat is something of an exception. He has just been perusing "Patents and Vegetable Crop Diversity", a US research paper by Paul J. Heald (Allen Post Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law) and his colleague Susannah Chapman of the same university's Department of Anthropology.According to the abstract: "The intellectual property system does not seem to drive the rate of innovation in the market for vegetable varieties. Drawing on a unique data set of all plant patents, plant variety protection certificates, and…

  • The Digital Economy Bill - will it come in time?

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:07 am
    Nick McDonald of Browne Jacobson has written to the IPKat with the following:"Her Majesty in yesterday's Queen's Speech said the following: "My Government will introduce a Bill to ensure communications infrastructure that is fit for the digital age, supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications and enhances public service broadcasting".The Digital Economy Bill will:Reform the law on online copyright infringement - by creating duties on Ofcom to require ISPs to take action against identified file sharers, and giving Ofcom and/or ISPs the power to disconnect persistent…

  • "Would you care for a glass of CANNABIS, Sir?"

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:59 am
    Drink and drugs were the main preoccupation of some of Europe's finest legal brains this morning, when the Court of First Instance rendered its decision in Case T‑234/06, Giampietro Torresan v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe GmbH & Co. KG, a decision which some of the IPKat's readers may feel to have been reached while under the influence of one or other of those popular commodities.Over ten years ago, in February 1999, Giampietro Torresan applied to register as a Community trade mark the word CANNABIS for (i) ‘Beers’ (Class 32); (ii)…
 
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    Patent Baristas

  • UK High Court: Get Your Ducks in a Row for Entitlement of Patent Priority

    Stephen Albainy-Jenei
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pm
    In a case highlighting the importance of ensuring a correct chain of title when filing a patent application, the UK High Court addressed the issues of loss of priority due to an incomplete assignment, as well as the credibility of expert witnesses.  In particular, it is important to transfer rights to interests initially owned by consultant inventors as soon as possible — especially before the declaration in respect of the claim to priority needs to be made, i.e.,  within 12 months of the date of filing of the priority application.  See, Edwards Lifesciences AG v Cook Biotech…

  • Book Review Monday: Intellectual Property Rights and the Life Science Industries

    Stephen Albainy-Jenei
    16 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pm
    I aim to shed light on the extent to which advance in the life sciences was directed by the profit motive and the availability of the patent system … and on the ways that the patent ‘institution’ evolved in response to science and to interest groups, mainly business ones, but also legal practitioners associated with business. ~ Graham Dutfield In Intellectual Property Rights and the Life Science Industries: Past, Present and Future, Graham Dutfield presents a perspective on how we got to where we are in life sciences patenting — and where we are likely headed – …

  • Friday IP Round-Up: Time Travel Edition

    Stephen Albainy-Jenei
    13 Nov 2009 | 1:31 pm
    Does Patent Reform Need Congressional Action? The Coalition for Patent Fairness (CPF) has put out a memo trying to debunk what it sees as the myth that patent reform no longer requires congressional action.  From CPF:   “The Court’s ability to effect needed changes is limited because it is restricted by the language Congress enacted more than 50 years ago. Only Congress has the authority and the responsibility to ensure that our patent system is meeting the needs of the 21st century economy and the current need for economic growth and job creation.”  (More here) Large Hadron…

  • Court Dismisses Tafas Suit Against Rules; Leaves Lower Court Ruling Intact

    Stephen Albainy-Jenei
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pm
    In the the Tafas v. Kappos lawsuit, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filed a joint motion for dismissal of the appeal and to vacate the judgment of the district court below because the USPTO has rescinded the rules that formed the basis of the litigation.  The Federal Circuit agreed that the appeal is now moot and dismissal of the appeal is not only appropriate, but required. Under Secretary Kappos officially rescinded the highly hated regulations (Final…

  • Biotechnology and Chemical Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership Meeting

    Stephen Albainy-Jenei
    12 Nov 2009 | 12:07 pm
    The next quarterly meeting of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Biotechnology and Chemical Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership is scheduled: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Auditorium in Madison East, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. The Biotechnology and Chemical Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership is designed and developed to be a forum to share ideas, experiences, and insights between individual users and the USPTO. The USPTO does not intend to use these customer partnership groups to arrive at any consensus. Please contact Cecilia Tsang at…
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    Patent Docs

  • Amicus Briefs in Ariad v. Eli Lilly: Professor Christopher Holman

    Patent Docs
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:59 pm
    By Kevin E. Noonan -- Christopher M. Holman, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (and proprietor of Holman's Biotech IP Blog), has filed an amicus brief in support of neither party in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. While not arguing on behalf of either party, Ariad would benefit if the Federal Circuit adopts Professor Holman's position: he not only advocates that there is no separate written description requirement in 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, but asserts that the requirement is differentially (and improperly) applied to biotechnology…

  • Chisum on Patent Law Themes and Inequitable Conduct

    Patent Docs
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:59 pm
    By Donald Zuhn -- Earlier this month, Donald Chisum (at right), who for the past 31 years has authored the patent treatise Chisum on Patents, was in Chicago to give a luncheon presentation on recent patent law developments to a group of local practitioners. Mr. Chisum, who was professor of law at the University of Washington from 1969 to 1996 and professor of law at Santa Clara University from 1997 to 2006, is also the author of the Patent Law Digest. Both Chisum on Patents and the Patent Law Digest are published by LexisNexis, which sponsored the luncheon. Mr. Chisum...

  • Patent Term Adjustment: 37 C.F.R. § 1.704(b)'s Three-Month Provision

    Patent Docs
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:44 pm
    By Sydney Kokjohn -- Patent practitioners concerned about patent term adjustment should pay careful attention to 37 C.F.R. § 1.704(b) concerning applicant delay, especially regarding the date of issue fee payments. This section provides that "an applicant shall be deemed to have failed to engage in reasonable efforts to conclude processing or examination of an application for the cumulative total of any periods of time in excess of three months that are taken to reply to any notice or action by the Office making any rejection, objection, argument, or other request." Importantly, 37 C.F.R §…

  • Lilly Files Principal Brief for Ariad v. Lilly Rehearing En Banc

    Patent Docs
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:59 pm
    By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, Defendant-Appellant Eli Lilly & Co. filed its principal brief for the rehearing en banc of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., which is scheduled for December 7th. (Patent Docs provided a summary of Ariad's principal brief, which was filed on October 5th, last Tuesday; see "Next Up: Ariad v. Lilly Rehearing En Banc.") In response to the two questions presented by the Federal Circuit's en banc order -- i.e., whether 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, contains a written description requirement separate from an enablement requirement, and if so, what the…

  • Court Report

    Patent Docs
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:13 pm
    By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases, and a few interesting cases will be selected for periodic monitoring. Monsanto Co. et al. v. Germann 4:09-cv-01848; filed November 11, 2009 in the Eastern District of Missouri • Plaintiffs: Monsanto Co.; Monsanto Technology LLC • Defendant: Dennis Germann Infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,352,605 ("Chimeric Genes for Transforming Plant Cells Using Viral Promoters," issued October 4, 1994) and RE39,247 ("Glyphosate-tolerant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate Synthases,"…
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    Patent Law Blog (Patently-O)

  • Federal Circuit Affirms EDTex Ruling that Iovate's Muscle Building Patents are Invalid

    Dennis Crouch
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:13 am
    Iovate & University of Florida Research Foundation v. Bio-Engineered Supplements & Nutrition (BSN) (Fed. Cir. 2009) (Download 09-1018) Iovate is the exclusive licensee of UF's patented method for "enhancing muscle performance or recovery from fatigue." Pat. No. 6,100,287. The method includes the single step of administering a coposition that contains a ketoacid and either a cationic or dibasic amino acid. Eschewing their home-state courts, the patentee filed suit in the Eastern District of Texas -- alleging that BSN was selling infringing supplements. On summary…

  • Nil: The Value of Patents in a Major Crisis Such as an Influenza Pandemic

    Dennis Crouch
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am
    I have posted a short draft essay to SSRN that is being published in the Seton Hall Law Review as part of their annual Health Law Symposium. The overall topic of the symposium is Preparing for a Pharmaceutical Response to Pandemic Influenza. My discussion focused on the value of patent law in preparing for a health care crisis. Read the paper on SSRN. Abstract: This essay focuses on the role of patents in relation to a potential global crisis such as an influenza pandemic or other public health crisis. I argue that patent rights will be largely ignored during an epidemic and that any…

  • Vacatur: Judge Posner Agrees to Vacate Inequitable Conduct Holding Based on Settlement Agreement

    Dennis Crouch
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:20 pm
    New Medium v. Barco (N.D. Ill. 2009) Seventh Circuit Appellate Judge Richard Posner heard this case sitting by designation in the Northern District of Illinois. The final judgment is interesting in relation to the Federal Circuit's recent refusal to vacate the district court's opinion after the PTO retreated in Tafas v. Dudas. In a 2008 decision, Judge Posner held New Medium's asserted patents unenforceable due to inequitable conduct during ex parte reexamination of the patents. Notably, Judge Posner found that the inventor/owner Carl Cooper had made false statements to the PTO…

  • Patent on Tax Refund System Deemed Invalid under Section 101

    Dennis Crouch
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am
    H&R Block v. Jackson Hewitt (E.D. Tex. 2009) E.D. Texas Magistrate Judge Love has recommended that H&R Block's advance-tax-refund patents be held invalid for failing to claim patentable subject matter under Bilski. The claims in question are all directed toward either a "computerized system" or "computer-implemented method." Quoting Nuijten, the court first held that Bilski controls both system and method claims – since a "court should not be 'overly concerned with pigeonholing subject matter once the court assures itself that some category has…

  • Post EBay Injunctive Relief

    Dennis Crouch
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:12 am
    IP Today has published an interesting report on permanent injunction decisions since the Supreme Court's 2006 decision in eBay v. MercExchange. The authors found 67 district court injunction decisions. 48 (72%) granted relief; 19 (28%) denied relief. The article highlights a number of cases where injunctive relief was denied even though the parties were market competitors. Unfortunately, the article does not indicate whether the parties were actually competing in the market influenced by the patent. (The article indicates that IMX v. LendingTree involves competitors.) Ernest Grumbles,…
 
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    Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog

  • How Not to Invent a Patent Crisis

    Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:47 pm
    F. Scott Kieff and Henry E. Smith authored a chapter in the book "Reacting to the Spending Spree: Policy Changes We Can Afford" which examines challenges the Obama administration faces today, and in the foreseeable future, and the administration’s planned responses.Kieff and Smith's contributions deal with the topic of patent reform and the authors' view that in light of the rapid (and arguably excessive) changes that have already occurred in the courts, patent law needs "a tweaking of existing safety valves and processes" and not an "opening [of] the floodgates to more discretion and…

  • ED Tex: Computerized Business Method Patent Fails Bilski Test Under 35 USC 101

    Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:02 pm
    H&R Block Tax Services v. Jackson Hewitt Tax Services Inc., No. 6:08-cv-37 (E.D. Tex., Nov. 10, 2009)H&R Block sued Jackson Hewitt in February 2008 alleging infringement of patents relating to "a system and method for distributing payments to individuals and, more particularly, to a system and method for allocating a portion or all of an individual’s payment into a spending vehicle."  Jackson Hewitt subsequently moved the court to find the patent invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter on summary judgmentUnlike Bilski, H&R argued that the business method was tied to…

  • Bilski Movie Spoof

    Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm
    For whatever reason, numerous spoofs have been made using the "Hitler rant" scene from Der Untergang ("Downfall"), ranging from US elections, the real estate market, ACORN, etc.Well, a spoof relating to patent law (and more specifically Bilski) has now been made, and it's quite funny, although at times you can't tell if the character playing Hitler is pro-patent or anti-patent . . .

  • Kappos Blog Up and Running on the PTO Website

    Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
    10 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pm
    To read the blog, click here.Also, the blog has been bookmarked on the 271 Blogroll, and may be conveniently accessed there too.Finally, the PTO appears to be warming up more to RSS feeds (or maybe I'm just getting around to noticing it) - the blog has a variety of RSS feeds that the public may use to follow the blog, as well as other news from the PTO site.

  • Bilski Oral Argument at the Supreme Court

    Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:30 pm
    "If you're not confused, you're not paying attention."   -- Tom PetersWell, the analysis has started to roll in, and one thing is certain about the Bilski case: almost no one believes that the claims on appeal will be held patentable.  Not one Justice defended Bilski's method claim directed to hedging risks in commodities trading.  What appeared to bother the court the most was the concept of business methods based entirely on human activity, or, as Bilski's attorney Michael Jakes put it, "methods of organizing human behavior."The Court didn't care much for these types of…
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    The Invent Blog

  • Firefox extension for cut/paste Westlaw/Lexis citations

    nipper
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:42 am
    I rarely use Westlaw/Lexis, but the CiteGenie FireFox extension could be really useful for those of you whom do. As their website points out: Cutting and pasting when doing legal research using your browser is simple. But having to construct the citation for what you pasted is not so simple. This is especially true with legal citations from sources like Westlaw. You have to stop and copy the case name separately, determine the pinpoint page numbers, and adjust the date and court name format. So I decided to write a browser plugin that would automatically add a pinpoint citation to the text I…

  • Google adds free legal case law research

    nipper
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am
    Via this article:  Free Legal Research by Google & What It Means : My Shingle, Google has released the ability to search case law for free, including state case law.  UNREAL. To test it out, use this URL:  http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search?hl=en&as_sdt=2000.  Scroll towards the bottom to select “Legal opinions and journals.” This day was probably something the “other” case law providers have dreaded for a while (ergo why they have spent so many resources diversifying their offerings beyond just case law…). UPDATE. See also: Rick Klau…

  • Wikis and Law Firms

    nipper
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:49 am
    Some useful articles/posts on wikis and law firms: Law Practice Today :: Using Wiki Technology to Streamline Information Sharing and Document Management Tasks Slaw: Wikis and KM at Law Firms CNNMoney.com::Boosting teamwork with wikis Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms – Part One: ThoughtFarmer Example Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms – Part Two: Sharepoint Example Wikis for the Legal Profession (Dennis Kennedy & Tom Mighell) Wikis at the Rosen Law Firm Book recommendation:  Kennedy/Mighell’s The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies:…

  • Tech Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar

    nipper
    12 Nov 2009 | 7:51 am
    Here’s a link to my law practice management article in the November/December issue of The Advocate (the official publication of the Idaho State Bar) on “Technology Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar.” Related posts:Idaho, Law Practice Management and Blawgs Posting has been a bit light here for the past...Free Law Practice Management Tips The ABA’s Law Practice Management Section has a monthly online...Idaho Universities and Patents Earlier today the USPTO released its list of top...

  • My favorite quote from the Bilski v Kappos SCOTUS oral arguments

    nipper
    10 Nov 2009 | 7:08 pm
    Most of the other patent blogs have been covering the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Bilski v. Kappos case.  [e.g., Patently-O] My favorite quote from the case comes from Justice Scalia (page 16 of the pdf): You know, you mention that there are all these — these new areas that didn’t exist in the past because of modern business and what-not, but there are also areas that existed in the past that don’t exist today. Let’s take training horses. Don’t you think that — that some people, horse whisperers or others, had some, you know, some insights into the…
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    Patent Prospector

  • Fatigued

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:30 pm
    6,100,287 claims a nutritional supplement for "enhancing muscle performance" and recovering from fatigue. Iovate sued BSN over '287. The district court found the asserted claims anticipated by advertisements in Flex magazine. It took no muscle flex for the CAFC to confirm. Iovate Health Sciences v. BioEngineered Supplements & Nutrition (BSN) (CAFC 2009-1018) precedential On August 27, 2008, the district court granted BSN's motion, holding claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 18 invalid under § 102(b) as anticipated by advertisements for TwinLab® Mass Fuel and Weider's VICTORYTM…

  • Heritage of the Heretic

    15 Nov 2009 | 7:15 pm
    In the ultimate backfire, political hack Jon Dudas has left his mark on the patent office. Dudas demeaned the PTO by being openly hostile to its bread-and-butter clientele, patent applicants, with proposed rules that would limit claims and even applications, in a banal attempt to address pendency. Challenged by Dr. Triantafyllos Tafas, with GlaxoSmithKline riding shotgun, the district court shot the agency down. The PTO appealed. In a muddled decision, a CAFC panel partly reversed, which lead to an en banc appeal. Under the new leadership of a more sensible David Kappos, the agency withdrew…

  • All Red Hat and No Cattle

    14 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pm
    The open source software crowd have had their knickers in a twist for some time about patented processes via software, being fervently against them, and having more generally quaint notions about intellectual property, including copyright. Patrick Anderson provides an incisive analysis of this week's tempest in a teapot in his blog entry: "Free" Sells, But Who's Buying? There doesn't appear to be much innovation in open source software crowd, otherwise, those kids would be pounding on the PTO's door with patent applications. Seems to me that Linux is basically a copycat software environment,…

  • Rotten at the Core

    12 Nov 2009 | 8:35 pm
    The nature of human organizations is for their collective morality to sink to the lowest common denominator. Which is low, to the level of greed unbridled. After all, corruption is human nature. Intel is trying to get the antitrust monkey off its back by paying off rival AMD $1.25 billion. This is the same Intel that has furiously and ferociously lobbied for patent deform legislation that will get inventors' patent monkey off its back, by diluting patent protection in this country. In return for the Intel payoff, AMD will withdraw its antitrust complaints in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South…

  • Sharpened

    10 Nov 2009 | 8:43 pm
    Samsung has been stung by Sharp at the ITC over flat-panel LCD display patents. One of the Sharp patents in the case went to LCD brightness and refresh rate, and another to minimizing flickering. Samsung has brushed aside speculation about the ruling's impact, stating that it won't affect the company's ability meet market demand. The Financial Times opined: "unable to compete on price, rivals are trying to compete on patents." Samsung has publicly dismissed a cross-license with Sharp, and said it has a work-around for the patents in dispute at the ITC. No abatement in the display…
 
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    Patent Pending

  • Patent Pending Blog has Sister Blogs!

    Robert Shaver
    8 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm
    The Patent Pending Blog has always had a lot of bicycling and outdoors posts, as well as posts on firearms, ancient technology, historical patents, motorcycle technology, and diverse other technologies.  I have recently started a separate blog just for bicycle technology, and one just for outdoor technology.  The other diverse fields of technology will continue to have postings on the Patent Pending blog, but bicycle technology will be featured at "Bicycle Technology and Patents": http://bicyclepatents.com/and outdoor technology will be features at "Backpacking…

  • Belt Drive Bike from 1890

    Bob Shaver
    24 Nov 2008 | 9:07 am
    Here is an interesting belt drive bike from 1890. 

  • Arizona Whip Lighted Flagpole

    Bob Shaver
    2 Nov 2008 | 7:49 pm
    I have been looking for a way to light up the flagpole on my recumbent trike, and found a product that looked like it would work, the Arizona Whip.  Jerry at arizonzawhips.com was very nice to work with, and I got it hooked up this past weekend. The whip is 5" tall, and is of clear lexan. Inside the clear tube are 24 LED lights, 12 facing forward and 12 facing backward. Each side has a red group, and a yellow group, and on one side the red and yellow groups of LEDs flash on alternately. Jerry has other color configurations, including a red, white and blue one. The whip screws into a…

  • Super Bright Flashlight for Bike Light

    Bob Shaver
    23 Oct 2008 | 9:01 am
    I've been experimenting with a lighting setup that is as bright as a Dinotte, but way cheaper. It is based on a replacement LED bulb that an inventor I work with has just come out with. With this insert, a 60 lumen Surefire flashlight becomes a 240 lumen monster. The batteries also last longer, due to a heat sink that improves efficiency. This light is brighter than a car light, because I've driven at night in a car, shined the flashlight ahead onto the road, and you can see the spot in the pavement illuminated by the car headlights. It is unbelievably bright. I was camping next to…

  • Restored Motobecane

    Bob Shaver
    28 Sep 2008 | 8:01 pm
    I am declaring the 1973 Motobecane restoration done!  I have not been riding it lately because the Catrike Speed is so much fun.  I got a Motobecane headbadge, decals, a Cinelli stem, and Campy seatpost.  The saddle is the original Brooks Professional, and was always pretty comfortable.  The aero brake hoods are an upgrade from the original centerpulls. 
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    Patent, Copyright and Trademark Blog

  • Reach Out and Infringe Someone: Using Ad Slogans as Chapter Headings

    20 Nov 2009 | 8:27 am
    Dear Rich: I work for a publisher and recently ran across a manuscript for a fiction book that used advertising slogans for chapter headings. For example, the authors used Hebrew National's, "We Answer to a Higher Authority." The authors thought it was fair use but since it's an advertising slogan is that also considered fair use? I told them to check with an attorney but they decided to just remove them.  The Dear Rich Staff gets so sad when someone's creativity is stifled by legal uncertainties. The short answer is that you're okay to use slogans in fiction. However,…

  • How Do You Copyright an Educational CD?

    19 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am
    Dear Rich: A friend of mine has a CD with educational material (not school-related) but some type of teaching program she has put together and wants to copyright. Do you have any suggestions? Start with the principle that your friend already owns a copyright for her work. It's automatic. She should include a copyright notice on the CD, packaging and on the materials that appear on the user's screen. The notice should be something such as "Copyright 2009 [Your Friend's Name]" and if she is including recordings on the disk, there should also be a "P" in a circle followed by similar information…

  • Will Wayne Dyer Love You If You Infringe?

    18 Nov 2009 | 6:36 am
    Dear Rich: I wrote a study guide for my church for The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer. It was given to people for free. In the study guide we quoted brief sections from Dyer's book, giving him credit, and then I wrote questions about each chapter. I want to start a little business developing study guides of existing books for churches to use. Is it fair use? The short answer is that we don't know. Issues of fair use can only really be decided by a judge who weighs several factors and does some hocus-pocus. Many literary guides survive without any hassle but there are also a few…

  • My Inventor's Notebook: Is it Tamper Proof?

    17 Nov 2009 | 6:12 am
    Dear Rich: After reading David Pressman's Patent It Yourself I learned of the importance of keeping a notebook to record and track the progress of an invention I'm working on. I went out and bought a spiral notebook at an office store to use as my inventor's notebook, and have entered ten pages to date. Lately I've been reading that a spiral notebook is not "tamper-proof" enough as compared to sewn or glue-bound notebooks. What are your thoughts? I plan on keeping the original notebook no matter what I decide to do. The short answer is that your notebook is fine for your purposes,…

  • Cornhole Boards and Pro Sports Logos

    16 Nov 2009 | 6:40 am
    Dear Rich: I make and sell cornhole boards. Recently I was contacted by an organization that oversee's trademarks for the NFL, MLB and more and was told to no longer sell our boards with their logos on them because it was trademark infringement. We were using decals, not painting their name or logo on them. I thought if you purchased a licensed item, in this case a vinyl decal, it was legal to use it on a resale item. Does this fall under the first sale doctrine? We state we are not affliated with the NFL, MLB and such. What if the logo was custom made to look slightly different? If you…
 
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    Securing Innovation

  • Sound Engineering Leads Music Innovation

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:58 am
    The Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies examines the phenomenon of Auto-Tune with help from special guest Professor "Weird Al" Yankovic!  

  • China Intellectual Property Business

    17 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm
    I've been looking forward to this week's trip to Asia, where I'll be getting together with other speakers at the first IP transaction focused conference in China. Marshall Phelps, Corporate VP for IP Policy and Strategy at Microsoft,  Joff Wild, Editor of IAM Magazine, and Duncan Bucknell, CEO, IP Strategist, Lawyer & Patent Attorney, coincidentally our featured guest blogger here on IP.com's corporate blog, Securing Innovation, are among the global IP leaders speaking at this conference. China Intellectual Property Business 2009 ("CIPB 2009") is organized by Global Leaders…

  • PATINEX 2009: Patent Information Expo

    11 Nov 2009 | 11:03 am
    Johnson Kong, here, in South Korea where IP.com is exhibiting at PATINEX 2009. This is not the first year we've participated in this conference. Last year, Tom Colson, CEO of IP.com,  addressed this gathering of IP professionals and business leaders from around the world on Advanced Enterprise Innovation Management and IP Strategies. PATINEX offers insight into various facade of IP information and latest cutting edge developments of new tools and services for protecting, enforcing and exploiting a company's IP. Conference host, Jung-Sik Koh, Commissioner, Korean Intellectual Property…

  • Hedy Lamarr: Not Just a Pretty Face

    8 Nov 2009 | 9:09 pm
    November 9th is Inventors' Day, marking the birthday of Hedy Lamarr a famous Hollywood glamour girl of the 1940's, who is now recognized as one of the leading women inventors of the 20th century. "Any girl can be glamorous," Hedy Lamarr once said. "All she has to do is stand still and look stupid." The film star belied her own apothegm by hiding a brilliant, inventive mind beneath her photogenic exterior. In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time. We've still got a…

  • Tweet of the Week @Pogue

    31 Oct 2009 | 1:42 am
    Thanks to David Pogue, New York Times technology columnist and CNBC tech dude, for tweeting this week about German innovation in automobile manufacturing. And linking from his Twitter stream @Pogue to this very interesting YouTube video giving us a good look inside Volkswagen's "transparent factory" in Dresden, Germany.
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    Latest Patents

  • Apple patent applications published on 19 November 2009

    Administrator
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am
    9 US patent applications published on 19 November 2009 and assigned to Apple 1 20090288010 USER INTERFACES FOR EDITING VIDEO CLIPS 2 20090287067 INTEGRATED SENSORS FOR TRACKING PERFORMANCE METRICS 3 20090286549 Location Determination 4 20090285038 INTERLEAVING CHARGE PUMPS FOR PROGRAMMABLE MEMORIES 5 20090285037 INTERLEAVING CHARGE PUMPS FOR PROGRAMMABLE MEMORIES 6 20090284534 THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNITS 7 20090284532 CURSOR MOTION BLURRING 8 20090284476 PUSHING A USER INTERFACE TO A REMOTE DEVICE 9 20090283300 Flex Circuit with Single Sided Routing and Double Sided Attach

  • Canon patent applications published on 19 November 2009

    Administrator
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am
    82 US patent applications published on 19 November 2009 and assigned to Canon 1 20090288153 INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD 2 20090288128 DIGITAL BROADCAST RECEPTION APPARATUS, INFORMATION CONTENT PRINTING METHOD IN THE APPARATUS, PRINT APPARATUS COMMUNICATING WITH THE APPARATUS, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF 3 20090288100 Application Platform 4 20090288028 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING CONTENT 5 20090287993 MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND METHOD THEREOF 6 20090287941 INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND STORAGE MEDIUM 7 20090287855 DEVICE MONITORING…

  • Fujitsu patent applications published on 19 November 2009

    Administrator
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am
    48 US patent applications published on 19 November 2009 and assigned to Fujitsu 1 20090288090 PRIORITY CONTROL PROGRAM, APPARATUS AND METHOD 2 20090288088 PARALLEL EFFICIENCY CALCULATION METHOD AND APPARATUS 3 20090288060 CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM EXPOSURE METHOD AND CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM EXPOSURE DEVICE 4 20090287985 Apparatus and method for frame transmission 5 20090287965 VERIFICATION SUPPORTING SYSTEM 6 20090287884 INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD 7 20090287818 MONITORING APPARATUS AND MONITORING METHOD 8 20090287753 PARALLEL EFFICIENCY CALCULATION METHOD AND…

  • Google patent applications published on 19 November 2009

    Administrator
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:49 am
    7 US patent applications published on 19 November 2009 and assigned to Google 1 20090288098 Separate Plug-In Processes In Browsers and Applications Thereof 2 20090288079 AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION OF A SOFTWARE PRODUCT ON A DEVICE 3 20090287824 MULTI-PROCESS BROWSER ARCHITECTURE 4 20090287797 Generating, Storing, and Displaying Graphics Using Sub-Pixel Bitmaps 5 20090287698 ARTIFICIAL ANCHOR FOR A DOCUMENT 6 20090287697 AGENT RANK 7 20090287664 DETERMINATION OF A DESIRED REPOSITORY

  • Hewlett-Packard patent applications published on 19 November 2009

    Administrator
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:49 am
    2 US patent applications published on 19 November 2009 and assigned to Hewlett-Packard 1 20090287711 INFORMATION SEARCH SYSTEM AND ITS METHOD 2 20090285284 PICTURE CODING APPARATUS AND PICTURE DECODING APPARATUS
 
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    patentability

  • USPTO, EPO & JPO To Start PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway

    Brian Fletcher
    13 Nov 2009 | 9:43 am
    The Trilateral Offices (European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)) agreed on November 13, 2009 to begin a pilot program in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) framework utilizing PCT work products (international search reports, written opinions, and international preliminary examination reports). Under the PPH, an applicant receiving a determination from an office of first filing that claims in an application are allowable may request that the corresponding application filed at a second office be advanced out of turn for examination…

  • USPTO Director Kappos Discusses New Blog

    Brian Fletcher
    10 Nov 2009 | 2:11 pm
    Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos today launched a blog to foster a direct dialogue with the USPTO’s stakeholders and the general public. “It’s important for me to be able to hear directly from the IP community, and that is why we are establishing this open channel for sustained dialogue and the exchange of ideas,” said Kappos. “I hope that the public will find this blog to be a useful vehicle for providing input to me directly and giving us the feedback we need to be able to…

  • USPTO Director Announces New Initiative To Accelerate The Patent Process For Independent Inventors

    Brian Fletcher
    9 Nov 2009 | 9:10 am
    On November 5, 2009, USPTO Director David Kappos delivered the keynote address at the 14th Annual Independent Inventors Conference held at USPTO’s headquarters in Alexandria, Va. During the address, Director Kappos announced a new initiative that is specifically designed to accelerate the patent process for independent inventors.  He called it a “backlog reduction pilot project” that will be made available only to small and medium-sized entities and will give them the opportunity to receive special, accelerated status for a new application if they abandon a pending, unexamined…

  • USPTO Rescinds Controversial Patent Regulations Package

    Brian Fletcher
    8 Oct 2009 | 1:54 pm
    Agency Files Joint Motion with Plaintiff GlaxoSmithKline to Dismiss Lawsuit Related to Proposed Claims and Continuation Rules Today, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos signed a new Final Rule rescinding highly controversial regulations, proposed by the previous administration, that patent applicants felt unduly restricted their capacity to protect intellectual property.  The regulations, which addressed the number of continuation applications as well as the number of claims that could be included within each application, were…

  • WIPO Lists Top PCT Applicants For 2008

    Brian Fletcher
    24 Sep 2009 | 5:50 pm
    As we reported here, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently published its latest compilation of IP-related statistics.  Annex B to the report is a list of the top PCT applicants in 2008.  That list is available below (please click on the image to open a larger version that is easier to read and can be magnified further). Tweet This Post
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    Florida IP

  • An update on Glenn Beck's domain name proceeding

    Woodrow Pollack
    9 Nov 2009 | 4:52 am
    Glenn Beck sought to terminate the domain name registration for glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com. Read about this dispute here. Domain name disputes pursuant to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution policy can (and regularly do) incorporate international legal principles. After the initial complaint and response, the domain name owner's attorney sent a letter to Glenn Beck's attorney, asking him to stipulate that the principles of the American First Amendment will govern this dispute. Specifically, the domain name owner asked Beck to stipulate to 2 things:1. The Parties…

  • Happy birthday, Barcode!

    Woodrow Pollack
    7 Oct 2009 | 6:29 am
    On October 20, 1949, Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver filed a patent application titled "Classifying Apparatus and Method." 3 years later, on October 7, 1952, U.S. Patent 2,612,994 issued. The '994 Patent protected an apparatus for classifying articles having concentric circular light-reflective outer classification lines, and inner auxiliary lines:The inventors sought to solve a local food chain's need to design a system for reading product data automatically. It's fair to say they succeeded. Read about their story here. And thanks Google for commemorating this technological advance!Read…

  • Pro se plaintiff's attempt to get $1 billion from Nokia didn't work out so well

    Woodrow Pollack
    6 Oct 2009 | 11:48 am
    Tony Colida owns a number of design patents for ornamental designs relating to cellular phones. Unlike utility patents, design patents cover only the ornamental features of the protected invention, and not the functional features. Colida's 4 designs are depicted below:Colida is no stranger to patent infringement litigation. In fact, he has unsuccessfully appealed judgments of noninfringement against him at least nine times. In this case, he sued Nokia for its Model No. 6061 phone, depicted below:Acting pro se, Colida sought $1 billion in damages. He moved for a default judgment against Nokia.

  • Glenn Beck v. glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com

    Woodrow Pollack
    29 Sep 2009 | 4:31 am
    What do you do when someone uses your trademark as the basis for a domain name? One avenue of protection is to institute a dispute pursuant to the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). Enter Glenn Beck. A couple of weeks ago (according to Beck's complaint), someone registered the domain name: glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com. Beck hopes to terminate this registration by way of the UDRP proceeding. To do so, he must prove 3 things:1) The domain name at issue is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which Beck has rights;2) The registrant does not have…

  • Waive doctrine of equivalents in the 1st litigation, you can't resurrect in the 2nd substantially similar litigation

    Woodrow Pollack
    28 Sep 2009 | 7:18 am
    Ron Nystrom was awarded U.S. Patent 5,474,831 entitled "Board for use in constructing a flooring surface." This wood-flooring board is shaped to shed water from the upper surface, while still maintaining a comfortable surface on which walk. In 2001, he sued Trex for infringement. Trex's allegedly infringing product consisted of a plastic and sawdust mixture, which was compressed and then hardened into a decking board shape.After claim construction, Nystrom conceded that he could not prove infringement. The court entered summary judgment of non-infringement, and Nystrom appealed. Nystrom was…
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