Posts Tagged: "patent"

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced that the USPTO’s draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years (FY) 2014-2018 is posted for public review and comment on the USPTO website. The draft plan sets out the USPTO’s mission-focused strategic goals: to optimize patent quality and timeliness; to optimize trademark quality and timeliness; and to provide global and domestic leadership to improve intellectual property (IP) policy, protection, and enforcement worldwide.

We noticed a great deal of patent applications and issued patents pertaining to medical technologies. Today, we feature one application that discusses an improved system for detecting the location of surgical instruments during a medical procedure. This improvement over image-guided surgery, which relies on video feeds from surgical instruments, informs medical professionals of the exact location of an instrument within a patient. We also look at an application for an improved pulse oximeter that provides a higher degree of portability over current devices, which are largely tethered to hospital settings. We also look at applications discussing systems of predicting cloud movement and an eco-friendly dishwasher that cuts down on current water and energy usage by half. A number of medical patents have also been issued recently to General Electric from the USPTO. Of the ones we noticed, we feature a trio of patents that protect more accurate systems of completing a medical transaction through billing software, improved predictive models for identifying risks of age-related disease and a more accurate pulse oximeter for the finger. Other patents give GE the right to protect smart home energy usage systems and improved analysis of natural gas streams to determine levels of moisture.

Innovation provides new therapies and breakthrough treatments that extend and enhance life. The scientific and financial resources required for these advances are an investment worth making and an important precedent for global health. Patents encourage those innovations, making cutting-edge treatments a reality. Patents give innovation life. Current efforts to amend existing intellectual property legislation to “fix” the patent system will only undermine the incentives that encourage innovation. All innovation, both breakthrough discoveries and incremental improvements, is valuable and should be protected and rewarded. India, Brazil, South Africa and other emerging economies should take note. Their proposed changes, aimed at weakening intellectual property rights protections, are misguided and potentially very damaging to public health.

Oracle is interested in improving graphic user interface layouts for web pages and other software programs. This application describes methods of analyzing user viewing patterns to help companies develop a product that has a more intuitive layout. Other intriguing patent applications relate to the collection of traffic data for non-GPS vehicle communications systems and quick methods of deploying enterprise software to authorized users within a business network. A number of U.S. patents related to databasing and other computer system improvements are also explored in today’s column. Two patents recently issued to Oracle protect methods of interacting with database files to provide accurate automatic updates and improve the process of merging documents. Another patent helps businesses with websites keep their content updated regularly to protect against publishing outdated information. Business will also be intrigued by an issued patent protecting methods of building knowledge profiles for corporate employees to aid human resources operations.

Not all of Eli Lilly and Company’s developments are strictly related to human health. Today’s featured patent application discusses a form of dietary additive for animals that can reduce the chances of insect populations thriving on manure. The new dietary additive formula is much safer to animals and the environment than previous additives. Other patent applications include a few inhibitor treatments to reduce the progression of cancer, as well as an application that discusses improvements to medication dose delivery devices. We also look at a few issued patents that improve the portfolio of Eli Lilly’s patent holdings. Three of these patents protect improved methods of treating various diseases, including diabetes, tumors and hyperlipidemias. Another patent protects a method of creating a vaccine for the infectious viral disease SARS. Finally, we look at a patent that discusses a method of healing wounds that utilizes naturally occurring, low-toxicity spinosyns.

I recently received an e-mail from a colleague who is embarking on an interesting research project. This colleague, who would like to remain publicly anonymous for the time being so as to be able to conduct the underlying research privately and without influence. The researcher is seeking to interview a number of different industry participants for a research study on patent assertion entities.

Today, we feature one patent application that has a number of intriguing implications for visual care, especially related to corrective contact lenses. An application filed recently by Johnson & Johnson discusses a method of creating electronic contact lenses that are capable of hosting a semiconductor for boosting optical power and other functions. Other patent applications discuss improved manufacturing methods for more comfortable for contact lenses and a pair of eyeglasses that can deliver light therapy to treat emotional disorders. We’ve also taken a look at a number of notable patents that we feel have very interesting implications for Johnson & Johnson’s intellectual property holdings. We look at two patents that provide protections to J&J for improved contact lens designs, including a patent that protects a rigid center capable of housing a semiconductor. We also feature a couple of patents that protect a handheld skin exfoliator device as well as an easier method for opening liquid containers that have been heat sealed for sterilization.

When the question “What is the future of BlackBerry?” was entered into the virtual Magic 8 Ball the response was: “Don’t count on it.” Hardly scientific, only mildly amusing, but as far as predictions it is certainly within the envelope of possibilities. Still, the company continues amassing a portfolio of US patents. But this all begs the question about the direction the company will follow with new private ownership. Will they morph into a licensing juggernaut? Might they give up being a manufacturing company altogether and turn their considerable portfolio on the industry? Will the patent portfolio be auctioned off to the highest bidder?

Today, we feature a very interesting patent application from Qualcomm that would protect a system of determining whether a device is being transported in a vehicle. This system could detect multiple modes of transportation and adjust a device’s functionality in response. Other patent applications discuss improvements to covering network holes for better connectivity among device users, as well as a more responsive system of detecting malware before receiving a notification about potential malware from a central service. We’re also exploring a number of issued patents that pose a number of intriguing benefits for mobile devices and other computer systems. One issued patent discusses a system of storing audio samples to aid speech recognition software on an electronic device. Another patent allows a network to determine if a user is spoofing the system in order to trick a server into treating the user as though they’re in a different geographical region. Also, we look at an issued patent that describes improvements to systems of wireless charging for mobile devices.

We’re taking a really close look at one intriguing patent application published recently by the USPTO that enables a production studio and consumers to earn money off of content sales. In this system, purchasers of digital content can register to sell the content to others, supporting a company’s marketing and enabling those users to earn some money. Other patent applications that pique our interest include improved stereoscopic 3D glasses for use in conjunction with normal eyewear, as well as a more secure system of digital rights management for online media streams. We’ve also pulled up a number of issued patents that have specifically given Sony the rights to a number of improvements in entertainment systems. One patent protects a headphone appliance that reduces unnatural sounds during telephone calls. Another patent protects a system of quickening the startup time for television sets. Sony has also received a patent to protect a method of reducing light leakage and flickering in movie projector sets for theaters.

But there are no doubt some bizarre patent applications that have published over the years, such as a method of walking through walls like a ghost. See Knowing When You Have Too Much Time on Your Hands. So you never know quite what you will get with a patent application, although the jokesters are typically kept at a minimum given the expense of filing a patent application… The real problem is that the failure to include claims or realistic breadth means that there will be no meaningful examination provided by the examiner in the first of two substantives reviews. If such obviously overbroad claims are the ones that are in the file at the time of first examination it will be virtually impossible to obtain a patent without at least one, perhaps multiple, additional filings and amendments, all of which cost time and money for the inventor/applicant. The old saying “garbage in, garbage out” comes to mind.

EDITOR’S NOTE: What follows is a summary of the Goodlatte patent bill created by American Continental Group, which is a government affairs and strategic consulting firm in Washington, DC. Manus Cooney, a former Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee is one of the partners at ACG, and is also frequent guest contributor on IPWatchdog.com. Cooney and his partners and associates worked to prepare this summary, which was described as a team effort. It is republished here with permission.

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