Posts in Europe

In all, the world’s nuclear power plants have accrued a total of 16,000 cumulative reactor-years of commercial operation and yet there have only been 12 total nuclear power reactor accidents around the entire globe, far fewer than the total number of coal or gas mining explosions the world has experienced over the years. In our ongoing series looking at nuclear power’s potential, prompted by Japan’s short return to nuclear power after its 2011 disaster, we’re taking a quick look back at three major nuclear reactor events to see what the actual fallout has been from those accidents and if we’ve learned our lessons adequately enough to charge forward with making nuclear power a great part of America’s clean energy portfolio.

When an undertaking operates in more than one country of the European Union it is a wise legal choice to apply for a trademark on a community level. A community trademark allows the applicant to file for a trademark within 28 countries of the European Union instead of the expensive and time consuming method of independent national filings for each country. The downside of the Community trademark application is with respect to satisfying the requirement of genuine use in connection with goods and services. Within 5 years of trademark registration the mark must be used in more than one country of the European community. In Sofa Workshop Limited v. Sofaworks Limited, the judgment elucidated upon the term “Genuine Use” in respect of trademarks and the territory covered by them.

In June, authorities in France served a formal notice to Google that it must delete certain links from it’s Google.com domain on a legal basis known as ‘the right to be forgotten.’ The right to be forgotten is implicated when an individual contacts a search engine company, such as Google, asking for a search result to be de-listed, essentially taking it out of their available search results. The provider assesses whether the privacy issue at stake has enough merit to de-list the link. If they don’t, the individual then has another avenue to take with a regulatory agency which may overturn the search engine provider’s decision.

In the decision dated 5th May, 2015, the General Court of the European Union concluded, upon examining the opposition by British SKY Broadcasting Group Plc (now SKY International) against Skype Ultd, that there is an existence of likelihood of confusion between the prior registered mark, “SKY” and the applied mark, “SKYPE” preventing the registration of the sign, SKYPE, in the European community.

There’s one very important limitation to note when talking about the Lexus hoverboard: it can only be operated across a track which has a metal layer running across beneath the surface. On most roads, skate parks and handrails, this product would drop like a brick. It’s held aloft by magnetic forces strong enough to keep the board four inches in the air. Depending on a rider’s weight, the board hovers between one and two inches off of the ground. The magnets gain enough force to do this with the help of superconductors that are cooled to about -321°F with the help of liquid nitrogen, which creates a vapor trail of exhaust coming from the hoverboard that makes for an interesting added effect.

A lot of research and development into alternative fuels for aircraft has focused on biofuels, which has also been an area of focus of automakers. Last January, Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) announced a series of developments in creating green diesel that cuts carbon dioxide emissions in half compared to conventional fossil fuels. The company also unveiled a breakthrough in the effective biofuel conversion of halophytes, shrub like plants indigenous to the Middle East which grow in seawater found near desert terrain.

Any story about innovation that starts with Leonardo da Vinci is one worth telling. The fact that the great French philosopher René Descartes also plays a starring role in the history of the contact lens makes this story of innovation all the more noteworthy. Conceived in the earliest parts of the 16th century, 34 million Americans wear thin film contact lenses over their eyes for some form of vision enhancement. The first true contact lenses was created by Swiss physicist A.E. Fick in 1888, when the lens maker fabricated a spherical glass segment for the correction of refractive errors in a wearer’s eyes.

The development of the roller coaster as a ride for thrill seekers is primarily an American invention but the story of the modern coaster’s development spans centuries and continents. Roller coasters have served purposes as diverse as human entertainment and coal transportation. They have been the centerpieces of some of the most famous theme parks in history. As millions of people lower their shoulder harnesses and strap in for the ride this summer, let’s take a quick look back at the intriguing story of the origins of the modern roller coaster and how it has changed over the years.

The two largest patent portfolios related to BLE technologies are owned by Irvine, CA-based fabless semiconductor company Broadcom and South Korean electronics giant Samsung. A market map view of the top innovators in the BLE space shows that not only does Broadcom have a slightly larger portfolio than Samsung, it has also dealt with far less litigation than the South Korean developer. The large collection of companies clustering in the lower-left quadrant of this market map represent companies with smaller patent portfolios and lower revenues. The dozens of companies dotting this portion of the map could be an indication that mergers and acquisitions in the IoT semiconductor chip space may be far from over this year.

The British legislation, aimed at curbing demand for cigarettes, requires that all cigarettes be sold in uniform packs with all branding, including colors, logos and other trademarks, removed. Companies are only permitted to print the brand’s name, in a uniform font, size, and location, on the pack, alongside health warnings and deterrent images. Tobacco companies have indicated that they will be left with no choice but to challenge the regulations.

The bikini is an invention of fashion design that so rocked the world that it was named for a nuclear event, latching on to a growing zeitgeist inspired by the atomic bomb. So why are we talking about bikini’s? Frequent readers know that for holidays we like to find an appropriate holiday theme that allows us to write about patents, innovation, technology, or intellectual property. When we recently saw the new Carl’s Jr. commercial for the All American Burger, with its over the top American imagery, our minds started racing. How could we use that as a hook for a patent related article? Easy. We return to our evolution series, this time looking at the innovative fashion design icon that is the bikini.

Wireless charging systems are also being designed for use inside the car so that passengers find it easier to keep their smartphones charged over the course of a long road trip. In 2013, the Toyota Avalon was the first vehicle to offer an in-car wireless charging system for mobile devices. Similar options are also available for new Toyota Priuses, Jeep Cherokees and Dodge Darts. The majority of these in-car wireless charging systems utilize the Qi standard developed by the WPC.

Global innovation continued to climb during 2014 but at the slowest pace seen since the global economic recession hit in 2009. The Reuters report didn’t draw any specific conclusions as to why the innovation slowdown had occurred but did draw a correlation between published scientific literature and patenting activities, noting that the former typically precedes the latter by three to five years. As graphs published in the Reuters study clearly show, scientific literature publications in 12 industries increased between 2008 and 2009 at a slower rate than prior years, mirroring the patenting slowdown experienced this year. Troublingly, a steep drop in published scientific literature was experienced in 2010, so if this model holds we may see a reduction in global patenting activity when the annual Reuters innovation study comes out next year.

In response to all of these body blows to McDonald’s, CEO Steve Easterbrook announced a number of changes that he hopes will set the corporation on a much more successful course. Easterbrook promised investors after the earnings report was published Wednesday that the company would be making meaningful changes to its menu within the month. Easterbrook has also proposed a major restructuring to the corporation’s global operations that would split the company into four segments: one focused on lead markets like Britain and Australia, a high growth division including Russia and China, a U.S. domestic division and one focused on McDonald’s activities in the 100 other countries where the fast food restaurant operates.

Marion Donovan invented a few products that made some everyday life tasks easier, the most important of which is the waterproof diaper cover. Donovan’s dedication to addressing problems posed by parenthood helped to sanitize one of the dirtiest jobs of parenting while helping to make her quite wealthy, a veritable American Dream of inventing. Donovan’s invention presaged the eventual development of disposable diapers, which now represent nine out of every ten diapers used in the developed world. Donovan will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 12, 2015.