Posts Tagged: "patent"

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.

RealD Inc. (NYSE: RLD) filed separate patent lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against MasterImage 3D and Volfoni. The lawsuits allege that both the MasterImage 3D MI-Horizon3D products and the Volfoni SmartCrystal Diamond product infringes four patents owned by RealD. The lawsuits seek monetary damages as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. While the intellectual property dates back to 2006, the RealD XL Cinema System was introduced in 2008 and today is the world’s most widely used 3D cinema projection technology with more than 15,000 units installed around the world.

The Federal Trade Commission testified on consumer protection issues involving patent demand letters, patent assertion entities (PAEs), and proposed legislation to prohibit deceptive patent demand letters. Delivering testimony before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Lois Greisman, Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices at the Federal Trade Commission, provided lawmakers with comments on a draft bill regarding deceptive patent demand letters, and recognized that demand letters raise broader issues about patents and the U.S. patent system.

What we’re seeing today is a preponderance of research and development in the fields of skin and optical care. Our featured patent application today describes a system meant to enable consumers to better find skin care products and assess the probable results of use. This Internet-based recommendation system involves multiple filtering methods for helping the system more accurately provide product recommendation based on consumer needs. We’ve also explored some intriguing innovations in contact lenses and skin care products, including multiple skin treatments for oily skin that reduce skin dehydration. Of the many patents issued recently to Johnson & Johnson, most have been assigned to its visual care subsidiary to protect more improvements to visual aids. A trio of patents we cover today involve various contact lens upgrades, including one patent protecting a more comfortable contact lens which incorporates electronic elements. A system for detecting and treating pre-emerging pimples, as well as a one-piece housing with inserts for various personal care treatments, are also protected in other patents that we discuss below.

While Senator Leahy said that he hopes to be able to return to patent reform this year, the legislative calendar does not look good. Now removed from the Committee calendar patent reform seems to dead for this Congress. No vote will be taken on the Senate version of patent reform until the next draft is released and voted on by the Judiciary Committee, which doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon. Then if the Senate does pass patent reform it is guaranteed to be different than the version passed by the House of Representatives. Ordinarily one might suspect that would lead to a Conference between the House and Senate, but Judiciary bills are rarely, if ever, sent to Conference. That means even if the Senate passes patent reform the bill would bounce back to the House, and we could see an ensuing game of ping-pong, with greatly intensified lobbying by both sides. All the while legislative days are dwindling, and useful legislative days in advance of the November election are even more limited. Indeed, with this announcement today it seems that patent reform is now dead for 2014. The only hope proponents have is that patent reform will sneak back in a lame duck session of Congress, but I believe that hope to be somewhat far-fetched.

As the Supreme Court contemplates the patent eligibility of computer systems, the National Inventors Hall of Fame will induct three IBM (NYSE: IBM) engineers for their invention of the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), which was developed more than 70 years ago to rapidly and accurately perform complex mathematical calculations. The ASCC was a precursor to today’s cognitive computing systems like IBM Watson, which rapidly analyze data and learn and interact naturally with people. The ASCC ushered in the programmable computing era, which would ultimately provide the ability to put a man on the moon and to make the Internet a reality.

We begin with an extended look at one patent application development to comply with strict guidelines in the field of disinfecting solutions for public health concerns. Procter & Gamble has developed a cleaning solution designed to meet tough standards in the field of sanitation developed by the European Union. Products for incontinence and tooth whitening, along with some aesthetic improvements to sanitary paper products, are at the core of a few other patent applications that we noticed. Interestingly enough, in light of the above article from The Hill, we found a patent recently issued to P&G from the USPTO that protects a chemical test kit meant to determine the authenticity of consumer products. It would allow a manufacturer to determine that a counterfeit is being sold under a brand’s name. Other issued patents include a couple protecting methods of improving taste and odor in an array of home and personal care products from toothpastes to heated air wicks.

On May 20, 1873, an icon American fashion was born, or at least patented, when the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 139,121, titled Fastening Pocket-Openings. The ’121 patent, which was granted to Jacob W. Davis and jointly assigned to himself and to Levi Strauss & Company, ushered in the era of denim blue jeans. The ’121 patent specifically related to copper rivet fasteners for denim trousers, which proved to be extremely desirable and durable.

This system is able to monitor various pieces of data to inform system decisions on whether on-board entertainment, safety or navigational systems should be operated in a low-power state. Another patent we discuss features similar methods of determining whether a device should stop running certain applications… Digital security is a major focus among technology developers, and our coverage of Broadcom’s recently issued patents features a trio of systems in this field, including methods of securing the authorization to access multimedia access based on GPS information. We also found a couple of additional patents protecting inventions related to multimedia systems, including systems for listening to audio clandestinely in public environments as well as methods for reducing blurring or other rendering problems in three-dimensional video.

Although the IBM news release did not contain any specific reference to a patent or patent family that represents this innovation, IBM acknowledges that the company holds 1,560 cloud patents. A quick patent search for patents that may relate to the described innovation uncovered U.S. Patent No. 8,429,659 (“the ‘659 patent”), which is titled Scheduling jobs within a cloud computing environment. The innovation described in the ‘659 patent provides an approach to prioritizing jobs within a cloud computing environment so as to maximize positive financial impacts (or to minimize negative financial impacts) for cloud service providers, while not exceeding processing capacity or failing to meet terms of applicable service agreements.

This No-Fault licensing system will price its license products based on the likelihood that a company is using a patented technology rather than on a legal standard of absolute certainty… In order to accomplish the ultimate goal, the Patent Utility will select statistically relevant patents for No-Fault licensing by using sophisticated software. The software compares the terms and concepts in millions patent claims in currently unexpired patents against the terms and concepts in the specifications of a company’s specific product line or service. It then scores all 2.1 million unexpired U.S. patents on a scale from 1-100 depending on their statistical relevance to the product or service.