Posts in Technology & Innovation

The study looked at groups of patients receiving various levels of the PD01A vaccine and evaluated them over a 12-month period. Patients receiving the vaccine were given PD01A subcutaneously in four vaccinations, either in doses of 15 micrograms or 75 micrograms… Of those who were immunized, 15 patients out of every 24 saw an increase in alpha-synuclein-specific antibodies. Interestingly, the antibody response was greater in the group of patients receiving the lower 15 microgram dose as compared to the group receiving the 75 micrograms of PD01A per vaccination. Also important was the fact that the vaccination was tolerated at the dosage levels administered and that there were no signs of a negative autoimmune response…

Judge Michel: “[I]t’s bad news at least for the reason that it will create total chaos. No one will know what is eligible and what is not eligible so there will be no predictability, no consistency, and that by itself will create delays and costs and discourage progress that the Constitution was trying to promote by encouraging Congress to create the patent system. Consider the decision makers. You’ve got 9,000 patent examiners, 250 or so board members, approximately 1,000 district judges, and a few other people, the International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit, and so on. So you’re talking about 10,000 decision makers. I don’t see any way they can apply the Alice standard in a way that’s fair or consistent or predictable. And all the other people who are involved in advising economic actors and business leaders are similarly faced with chaos and uncertainty, delay and extra costs.”

Today, we’ve explored a couple of patent applications related to improved methods for businesses that are trying to reach mobile users within a close proximity, including one technology for directly communicating proximity-based services to mobile device owners as well as methods for communicating those proximity-based services to groups. Another patent application discusses an improved LED lighting apparatus for better diffusion of light on an LCD screen. We also noticed a patent application related to an improved method of manufacturing solar cells… we’ve delved into a trio of patents which protect improvements to digital content broadcasting systems, including one patent describing more secure methods of setting parental controls on children viewing habits. Another patent we’ve explored discloses an improved voice recognition technology for controlling television units. Finally, LG has patented a component for a drying machine which can heat a small space for items which are difficult to dry, like shoes.

From a patent challenger’s perspective, Alice further reinforces the need to evaluate whether an early dispositive motion under § 101 can end the litigation. In crafting such motions, it is important to clearly define the abstract idea and to demonstrate how it is merely well-understood, routine, conventional activity. Additionally, it may be helpful to articulate how the claims do not recite any technological improvement. Another strategy is to petition the PTO to institute a covered business method (CBM) patent review. A CBM proceeding may be preferred as the evidentiary burden is lower compared to district court litigation. Currently, the PTO has taken the position that § 101 is an available basis for challenging claims in a CBM proceeding. However, please note that the availability of §101 is being challenged at the Federal Circuit.

Publication of a patent application does not mean that a patent will be issued for the technology, but looking through them, we have our best chances of learning about a company’s most recent research and development goals. To judge from what we saw today, Whirlpool is very hard at work creating improvements to the various ice making assemblies manufactured for the company’s refrigerators or other appliances. We were also intrigued by one patent application which may protect a cooking method for a home oven that provides for the steam cooking of fish and vegetables. A company’s patent portfolio expresses that entity’s true strength in intellectual properties, and some novel additions have been made to Whirlpool’s holdings in recent weeks. We’ve shared a couple of recently issued patents below which protect improved dishwasher assemblies, including one which can aid a dishwasher’s spray arm when an object is blocking its normal operating path. Another patent protects a removable beverage rack for a refrigerator that can store a variety of bottled or canned drinks in many configurations. We also noticed a couple of patented inventions related to communication networks for home appliances.

General Electric has been awash in recently issued patents pertaining to medical technologies, and we discuss an intriguing collection of these inventions. One patent protects an improved anaesthesia delivery system that monitors oxygen levels in patients undergoing anaesthesia. Another protects a system for recognizing family relationships among patients for better tracking of medical histories. Finally, we look at a couple of patents protecting technologies for energy generation systems, including one protecting a method of monitoring communication networks in wind farms to quickly identify network issues which need to be fixed for accurate energy production reporting.

A troubling aspect of the analysis in the Alice opinion is the suggestion that an invention, once patent eligible, can become patent ineligible simply based on the passage of time and public adoption. Dialogue in the oral argument as well as statements in the Court’s opinion suggest this line of reasoning, which arguably originated in Bilski, has become an accepted principal . . . An invention may initially be susceptible to patenting but may later become ineligible for patenting (as opposed to becoming unpatentable due to lack of novelty or obviousness) as it becomes more adopted, ubiquitous, successful or commonplace. Ubiquity, it would seem, is now the touchstone not only for patentability but for patent eligibility too.

The patent applications published in recent weeks by the USPTO and assigned to Nikon include a couple of filings pertaining to camera accessories which we explored for today’s column. One of these accessories provides a continuous light for the better detection of light exposure conditions for a digital camera. Other patent applications are directed at improved configurations for interchangeable camera lenses and lens barrels. Another intriguing patent application discusses a method of displaying two-dimensional and three-dimensional images on the same screen without degrading the quality of either version. Nikon has enjoyed a fairly steady stream of patents issued by the USPTO in recent weeks, including a trio which we’ve shared with our readers that discuss novel improvements to digital image capture and camera devices. One of these patents protects a digital camera with enhanced capabilities for performing image editing functions directly on the camera. Another patent we’re sharing today protects a mount for interchangeable lenses which makes older generations of lenses compatible with newly-designed lens mounts.

A worldwide leader in the development of camcorders, cameras, photocopiers and other imaging and printing devices, Canon Inc. of Tokyo, Japan, is one of the most active developers of new intellectual properties in the world. Although this article published by Tom’s Guide erroneously reports it as patented, Canon has developed and filed a patent application recently for camera imaging technologies which can better recreate human skin tones in captured images…. Issued patents are the true measure of any company’s intellectual property strength, and Canon’s patenting activities are among the strongest of any corporation operating in today’s world. Digital camera innovations are protected in a couple of patents we explore, including a flash device camera accessory which offers a much longer service life than previous models. We noticed an interesting foray into the world of business documentation services, including one method for allowing multiple clients to interact with a document without being required to install a reader application.

The Xerox Corporation Ltd. of Norwalk, CT, is a major American multinational corporation, which offers one of the world’s most extensive line of printing products, both for business and personal uses… We start today’s column with an exploration of our featured patent application, which would protect a method of better compensating remote workers who contribute to tasks assigned through project crowdsourcing programs. The system it describes would analyze the work returned by those contributing to the crowdsourced project, judging the quality of the work returned against certain thresholds to create a fairer system of compensation. Other patent applications would protect means for storing handwritten marks made by digital pens as well as a system for encouraging more efficient printing techniques among users of a printing network.

Whether innovation benefits the masses or just the elites has major policy ramifications. If the later, shouldn’t government insure a fair division of the economic pie? And is the patent system critical for economic growth or a tool for the powerful to plunder the helpless? — How to create a prosperous economy– and the appropriate role of government– is a pivotal issue of our time… The Wright brothers disdained government funds because of the bureaucratic micromanagement that came with it. Langley blamed his failure on inadequate government funding— still the favored excuse when federal programs flop.

Over the last several days I have heard of an alarming trend from the United States Patent and Trademark Office — Patent Examiners are canceling Notices of Allowance and yanking previously granted claims back into prosecution while citing the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank. In some instances granted claims are being pulled back into prosecution only to be rejected as lacking patent eligible subject matter even after the issue fee has been paid. This is an alarming trend that seems to be building steam as virtually everyone who operates in this space is now seeing this happen and/or they are seeing supplemental office actions issued where the pending office action never rejected claims based on patent eligibility grounds.

With the Supreme Court’s most recent foray into the patent-eligibility world in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, we now have a complete and utter disaster as to what data processing claims can (or more unfortunately cannot) survive scrutiny by Our Judicial Mount Olympus under 35 U.S.C. § 101. I once had respect for Justice Thomas’ view on patent law jurisprudence, having considered his substandard opinion in Myriad on the patent-eligibility of certain “isolated” DNA claims to be an “isolated” aberration. But having now read his mind-boggling Opinion for the Court in Alice Corp., I’ve now thrown my previously “cheery” view of Thomas’ understanding of patent law jurisprudence completely into the toilet. I have even less kind words to say about the three Justices that signed onto Justice Sotomayor’s disingenuous concurring opinion that accepts retired Justice Steven’s equally disingenuous suggestion in Bilski that 35 U.S.C. § 273 (in which Congress acknowledged implicitly, if not explicitly the patent-eligibility of “business methods” under 35 U.S.C. § 101) is a mere “red herring.” See Section 273 is NOT a Red Herring: Steven’s Disingenuous Concurrence in Bilski.

Our survey of the patent applications assigned to Intel and published recently by the USPTO showed us a variety of intriguing multimedia and data services for electronic device owners. A couple of patent applications discuss means for sharing of content across devices, both between multiple devices with a single owner and across peer-to-peer networks. Another patent application discloses a technology meant to protect sensitive data on corporate networks which are accessed by a plurality of users with various levels of data access rights. We also share one patent application filed to protect a method of improving navigational systems designed for guiding people walking through indoor environments. Today, we get really in-depth into our analysis of Intel’s recent additions to its patent portfolio. We were intrigued by a trio of patents related to methods and techniques of better discovery of digital services, including one method of discovering television content which was awarded more than one decade after the original patent application was filed. Another interesting patent protects means for laptop owners to retrieve a lost or stolen device. We also discuss a patent aimed at analyzing the audience for a digital sign displaying an advertisement, as well as another system designed for more energy-efficient means of awaking a computer from a sleep mode.