Posts in Technology & Innovation

The value of such innovation is best measured through the improved health outcomes for patients. In this context, a few examples from the developing world are even more illustrative. Given that those who most vehemently oppose protection for incremental innovations frequently cite the need for treatments for neglected diseases and maladies of the developing world, it is important to note that many of the treatments that do exist for the world’s most vulnerable populations are themselves incremental innovations. Numerous incremental innovations have resulted in improvements that have specific application to neglected diseases and the maladies of the developing world.

Evidence about man’s attempts to provide some sort of cooling technology to beat the heat in warmer climates extends back almost 2,000 years. Early air conditioning systems from 2nd century China, for example, involved a manually-powered rotary fan designed to force air through a room. In 3rd century Rome, a system was developed for the importing of ice from the mountain regions via donkey train to cool the garden of Emperor Elagabalus… Another attempt at improving air conditioning technology arose in response to one of the sadder days in the history of the United States. On July 2nd, 1881, U.S. President James Garfield was shot by an assassin and passed away more than two months later, on September 19th of that year. In order to provide comfort to the commander in chief during his final weeks, engineers from the U.S. Navy constructed a cooling unit that blows hot air over a water-soaked cloth, forcing cool air to travel underneath the hot air.

On Thursday, june 19, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Alice v. CLS Bank. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Thomas the Supreme Court Court held that because the claims are drawn to a patent-ineligible abstract idea, they are not eligible for a patent under Section 101. In what can only be described as an intellectually bankrupt opinion, the Supreme Court never once used the word “software” in its decision.

The Samsung Group is one of the most active patent-seeking organizations in the world, and it has added hundreds of patents to its intellectual property portfolio in the past few weeks alone. A couple of patents we discuss today focus on the corporation’s home appliance offerings, including one for a removable cutlery basket within a dishwasher which allows for easier removal of knives, forks and more. Another patent protects a method for allowing a user to easily select the proper format for 3D image display corresponding to their stereoscopic glasses. We were also intrigued by a recently issued patent that improves upon Samsung’s previous activities in the field of robotics, which relates to a method of generating human-like motion in a humanoid robot.

As always, we start with a close look at one featured patent application, and we were intrigued by one technology designed to encourage group completion of fitness activities. This lifestyle companion system can also suggest fitness activities to users based on personal interviews conducted by the system. Other inventions directed at personalized services, including a method of creating avatars reflecting a user’s current emotional state, are also described in a series of patent applications discussed in today’s column. Apple’s patent filing activities always result in a great deal of patent grants from the USPTO, and recently the company was issued many patents protecting improvements to various software and device hardware products. Improvements to media editing programs for recording voice-overs, a smarter progress bar for conveying project completion information and a processing system for determining that a person’s shoes have become worn out and should be replaced are also protected by recently issued patents.

Other patent applications describe some fairly unique innovations which stirred our imaginations, including an electronic blackboard as well as a method of simulating boomerang flight paths through a mobile device. Hon Hai Precision is constantly patenting new technologies and our search of patents recently issued to this corporation from the USPTO rendered up a number of patents protecting some useful improvements to various electronics systems. A couple of patents are directed at components for dissipating heat from electronic devices. Container data centers, which house servers and other advanced computing electronics, are also the focus of a couple of issued patents, one of which focuses on heat dissipation while the other is directed at a system for reducing corrosion near areas with high atmospheric salinity.

We begin our look at Toshiba’s recent inventions with a thorough look at today’s featured patent application, which describes a system designed to increase the speed with which transactions via check can be reconciled with a financial institution. This system creates a digital image of a check which can be analyzed for quick financial reporting, reducing typical delays in processing checks. An apparatus for aiding people attempting to write in a foreign language and a system for scanning produce items without barcodes are also discussed. Toshiba is issued a great amount of U.S. patents week after week from the USPTO, and we’ve found some recent patents which protect improvements for systems involving public utilities. A couple of patents are directed at technologies for energy generation and transmission, including a device that would allow home customers to more easily switch between forms of energy being used, such as solar or natural gas. Another patent protects a system for improving the ultraviolet treatment of water for public use. We also noticed an invention aimed at helping to identify counterfeit bank notes through detection of magnetic elements within the currency.

IBM is renowned for its development of supercomputing programs, which is the focus of today’s featured patent application. This filed application describes a system of analyzing digital content in various forms in order to automatically determine the appropriate security level for that content, eliminating the need for network users to manually apply security measures on their own. We also found a couple of technologies for migrating consumer services to cloud-based environments, and a unique method of determining broken lamps in public lighting systems by utilizing satellite images. Dozens of patents have been issued to IBM by the USPTO just this past week, and in them we found an interesting assortment of useful technologies for consumers. One patent protects a computerized system for adaptive speech responses which can more closely approximate a user’s speaking style. Another patent describes a system which better protects businesses from barcode fraud committed by customers at self-checkout aisles. We also found a couple of patents directed at vehicular technologies, including one system of recommending driving routes based on pollution scores for various areas.

We start today’s check into Yahoo!’s innovations with an in-depth look at one patent application describing an online marketplace for advertising services which can be bought for business purposes. This marketplace enables advertising services to bid for rates and can analyze consumer interactions with a business website to suggest effecting online marketing tools. Other patent applications describe various other software tools for business purposes, including one system for providing advertisements which are optimized for mobile device screens. Yahoo!’s recently patented technologies cover a wide variety of novel Internet technologies. One patent we discuss establishes a new method of ranking search engine results based on how interesting some content may be for a user. A sidebar for community updates within online networks comprising many members, and a method for recommending e-mails for others to read, are also discussed below.

Written by David J. Kappos, former Director of the USPTO: “The language of the Myriad decision did not on its face mandate drastic, innovation-dampening action. The Supreme Court chose to narrowly decide the Myriad case, stating that a DNA segment merely “found” from nature without further human innovative intervention is not patentable subject matter… Indeed, the stakes are high – the decision and the USPTO’s interpretation may impact a number of industries that depend on patent protection to provide products, goods and services to the market and jobs to Americans, not to mention the future of life-saving medical discoveries. Of the over 300 drugs on the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List, fewer than a dozen were brought to market without having received patent protection. From the ibuprofen ubiquitous in the world’s medicine cabinets to breakthrough treatments for epidemics like the HIV-inhibitor AZT, the patent system has long played a pivotal role in global health.”

A specialized type of content management system for brokering knowledge between experts and individuals who need various kinds of technical help is the focus of today’s featured patent application. Google is trying to protect a system for requesting know-how from an expert in return for virtual credits. Other patent applications have been filed to protect systems for better ranking of news stories as well as methods for providing contextual definitions of selected text within a document. Google is one of America’s top patent assignees over the past few years, and in recent weeks the company has been issued patents for technologies ranging from music recommendation services to routing systems incorporation public transit options. We were very intrigued by one patent protecting a method of providing advertisements to local devices seeking to drive those browsing the Internet into actual retail stores. Another patent protects methods of applying more relevant ads to web pages using content inferences made from analysis of links contained on the web page.

Rather than profile a single company we looked at patents and patent applications from the likes of Bank of America, American Express, Capital One and more. Our recent review of the sector continues to show us some astonishing inventions. Today’s featured patent application comes from Capital One and protects an attachment to mobile devices which establishes a network for handing digital transactions. This attachment would enable a user’s device to be retrofitted so that it can be easily operated as a digital wallet. Methods of tracking online payments through mobile devices, as well as a system for quickly processing loans for online auto sales, are discussed in other patent applications we discuss.

There are those who argue against the patentability of software as a whole – never mind finding a test as to what software (or computer-implemented) claims should be patentable. We disagree. Why? Well, the notion that software should not be patentable necessarily indicates that the software industry itself is not capable of innovation worthy of patent protection! Yet, in a country where patent rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, should not all fields of innovation be treated equally under the law? Should we not avoid becoming a country where one field of endeavor (e.g., pharmaceuticals or electronics) is deemed more “patent worthy” than other fields (i.e., computer science and information technology)!? To answer these questions in the negative seems silly to us.

Today we take our first in-depth look at the inventions which have lately sprung from the minds of researchers and developers working at Xerox. We start with an extensive look at one patent application filed by Xerox that would protect a method for less intrusive monitoring of a patient’s respiratory functions. This system uses 2D video in conjunction with a distortion pattern worn on the subject’s chest to determine lung volume and activity. Other patent applications we feature today discuss a variety of environmentally-friendly and sustainable inks as well as one innovation that would allow copy machines to detect that a human operator is nearby and enter normal operating mode. Our look at Xerox’s recently issued patents show a much wider scope of innovation, including a couple of patents protecting technologies to improve public transportation and intelligent transport systems (ITS). Another intriguing patent protects a method for embedding infrared marks on a document to prevent against forgery. Sentiment analysis of informal language found on social media networks is the focus of another patent which we discuss below.