IHA

For those of you with long commutes, here are some additional free audio sources for IP.  Try not to fall asleep while listening

CAFC oral arguments for selected cases:

http://oralarguments.cafc.uscourts.gov/searchscript.asp .

IP ThinkTank has podcasts of international IP issues:

 http://duncanbucknell.com/

IHA

Real estate agents tell me that the value of property is driven by location.  I guess the same could be said of IP.

According to the Washington Post, Activision and Linden Labs the makers of virtual worlds World of Warcraft and Second Life are being sued by Worlds.com for alleged infringement of a patent related large scale multiuser technology.  Read the full story here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/11/AR2009031103650.html

IHA

Xconomy is reporting that a suit filed by SkinMedica against Histogen caused Histogen to layoff all of its employees.  The suit was filed just prior to Histogen closing a round of financing with an investor group.

One issue with this case is that Histogen is not marketing a product.  However, a patent gives the holder the right to prevent others from making, using or selling the patented invention.  Here, SkinMedica can argue that Histogen is making or using, so it looks like the suit is proper.  But the wierd part is that there will be virtually no damages.  SkinMedica has not lost any sales.  They are going to spend a lot of money and then get an injunction against a company that is no longer in business.  That’s a wise use of shareholder capital (hint: sarcasm).

IHA

One of my resolutions for this year was to blog more and focus the writing on patent and IP related news and commentary.  The goal is to blog five times per week with a stretch goal of writing every day.  This is tough to do and remain focused on IP matters as sometimes there is nothing interesting going on.  Here’s today’s highlights from the news scanner:

Robert Bosche & Healthways announce a joint licensing program for remote health monitoring (CNN Money.com)

Pfizer receives favorable rulin from USPTO in reissue patent.  Patent to expire in 2011 with term extension intact (Associated Press)

Not exactly the most thrilling of topics to discuss.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow will have something juicy

Also, the link to IP Colloquium in Monday’s post has now been fixed.

IHA

If you are looking for some high quality continuing legal education credits (CLE) in CA or NY or just want to learn more about intellectual property, check out the Intellectual Property Colloquium.  Episodes 2 and 3 were fantastic (Episode 1 was ok too, but more law schoolish than practical)

I haven’t listened to it yet, but this month’s episode is an interview with Judge Mitchel Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (The appeals court for patent matters).

Did I mention this is free????

IHA

A pretty slow news day in the patent world (it is a Saturday after all).

The big news in the blogosphere is that Apple has filed a patent application (US 20090000010) for gloves that can be used with the iPhone, or as Ars Technica called it the “iGlove”.  The USPTO has not yet initiated a substantive examination of the application.

On problem with touch screen devices is that you, well, need to touch the screen with a finger.  Usually, touch screens operate based on a change in resistance, or other electrical change son the surface of the screen.  This is caused by the conductivity of the users skin.  Unfortunately, the phone will not measure contact from a glove.

The iGlove has a specially designed fingertip that allows for electrical contact through the fabric.  I may not like Steve Jobs, but at least he keeps his company innovative and focused on problems that solve customers needs.

IHA

ps. For those that are curious, the first patent application to be published in 2009 is entitled “Welding Helmet with Protection Cover for Cartridge“

Here’s a little secret we can keep between us…I’m a patent data junkie.  Ok, I’ve admitted it, now maybe there is a ten step program that I can join.

In the mean time, Japan Today reported a new analysis tool for researching large volumes of patent data.  The tool, called XLUS (pronounced “Kai-lus”), is produced by a company called So-Ti, Inc and is based in Japan.

XLUS is similar to another product I’ve used called Themescape Maps (now owned by Thomson Reuters).  XLUS does a linguistic analysis of large groups of documents and provides a graphical representation similar to this:

While this looks like a mess, what happens is that like patents are grouped together radially, and those closer to the center are more closely related to your search terms.  This tool could be used many ways, one technique that I’ve used on similar tools is to identify a patent closely related to my topic.  Then run a broad search to encompass as many related documents as possible.  Then, using a tool like XLUS, you can see where your previously identified patent lies.  At least in theory, the patents that lie around it on the map should also be similar.

The major difference between XLUS and Themescape is that Themescape creates a topographical map representation while XLUS is a 2-D radar plot.  The topo-map looks cool for clients, but it is also computationally intensive and sometimes the number crunching can take a long time (caveat, I haven’t used Themescape on a production basis in many years and they may have improved on this).  In any case, competition is good, and XLUS looks to be a good addition to the marketplace.

IHA

Happy New Year everyone.

The beginning of the year is a time to look forward and think about what the future will look like. Fortunately, patents provide a glimpse of what some companies think the future holds. Last week a Microsoft patent application published for a system related to the providing of computer services on a pay as you go basis. Basically, similar to a cell phone, you would pay a monthly fee and receive your computer for little or no cost.The application (published as US 20080319910A1) is still pending but has received a nonfinal rejection. This means that Microsoft will have the opportunity to make changes to overcome the rejections.

Unfortunately, the press (once again) has gotten this part wrong. Scientific American reported that the application was rejected and contemplated whether Microsoft may “refile”. Don’t reporters ask credible sources before they make statements? There is nothing to refile. The Office Action containing the rejections and objections is a normal part of the patent process and occurs in almost all patent applications. What worries me is that I love Scientific American and clearly they didn’tfact check the article.

If they make simple mistakes like this, what kind of errors are in the stories in areas that I’m not as familiar. Maybe that should be Scientific American’s new years resolution…be accurate.

Happy New Year.

IHA

The Copyright Office has published in the Federal Register a proposed rulemaking to consider proposed classes of works that would be exempted from the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.  In lay-terms, if you are using the copyrighted work for the exempted class/purpose, you can disable the anticopying technology or software.

Here are the current classes:

1. Audiovisual works included in the educational library of a college or university’s film or media studies department…
2. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access…
3. Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete.
4. Literary works distributed in ebook format that prevent read-a-loud programs (protection for the visually impaired)
5. Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network…
6. Sound recordings, and audiovisual works … protected by technological protection measures that control access … when circumvention is … for the purpose of … testing, investigating, or correcting such security flaws or vulnerabilities.

The proposed rules include 25 categories, including many of the above.  It is unlikely that all, or even most of the proposed categories will wind up in the final rule especially since many of the proposed categories can be combined.

The Copyright Office is now accepting comments on the proposed classes.  Here’s your chance to be heard.  Your next opportunity will be in three years.

IHA

There is some rumblings in the blogosphere about Apple filing a patent application on the technology behind making swipe gestures on devices, such as the iPhone.

The application published as US20080316183 on Christmas day.

A quick search shows that Apple has 75 patent applications pending that relate to making gestures on a device.

A number of years ago, we used to estimate that a company spent $1.0 MM to $1.5 MM on research and development for each patent application filed. For the patent filings by Apple on its iPhone user interface, this would indicate that Apple spent about $75MM to $110MM on development of the user interface. Quite and investment, however, these numbers are probably a bit high, given Apples aggressive patenting philosphy.

IHA