Posts Tagged: "best buy"

Best Buy patents focus on universal chargers, personalized gift cards

Thus far in 2015, Best Buy has earned 20 patents from the USPTO. Although most of the company’s research and development is in disparate fields, as the text cluster from Innography shows us at least some R&D focus in the fields of electronic devices, audiovisual content and television monitors… We came across a couple of Best Buy patent applications describing technologies intended to encourage consumers to make purchases or provide gift card value, such as the innovation at the center of U.S. Patent Application No. 20150077425, titled Stored Value Digital Picture Frame. It would protect a stored value digital picture frame having an electronic digital picture frame.

The first ever CES Asia highlights growing consumer base in China

The first ever CES Asia took place between May 25th and 27th in Shanghai, China. The inaugural industry event showcased the many different technologies that will be entering China’s consumer market in the coming months and years. The three-day exposition was the first Chinese technology trade show coordinated with the Consumer Electronics Association since 2012. More than 200 companies came from 15 countries to display emerging consumer technologies from knockoff versions of Google Glass to home cinema technologies. The forecasts for the Chinese consumer market for emerging technologies would give any technology developer reason to believe that nothing but fair weather awaits them in that country.

Best Buy quarterly earnings show signs of life for brick-and-mortar retail

Best Buy Co. recently released its financial earnings report for the first quarter of FY2015, which shows signs of life for the brick-and-mortar consumer electronics retailer. Indeed, financial analysts were stunned to see that Best Buy’s adjusted earnings from continuing operations actually rose from 35 cents per share in 2014’s first quarter to 37 cents per share; earnings estimates expected that figure to drop to 29 cents per share. Best Buy also posted a year-over-year increase in domestic revenues of about $100 million, an incredible feat during a year in which e-commerce continued to increase its take to 7 percent of all American retail sales.

Innovator pushed from market sues Apple, Best Buy for patent infringement

Once upon a time Comarco manufactured products, but the company was pushed from the industry by cheaper infringing products. That makes the Comarco story a prime example of the often overlooked reality facing small businesses in a global marketplace increasingly dominated by giant conglomerates. It would seem that the Comarco story is one about how large companies push original innovators out of the marketplace as the result of widespread infringement.

Wanted: Prior Art to Invalidate Lodsys Patents

Article One Partners is at it again, this time with four patents in the cross-hairs owned by the company suing Apple App Developers for patent infringement — Lodsys. Article One Partners has made a name for itself as the premiere crowd sourcing, prior art locating company in the world. Now they have three different studies aimed squarely at the four Lodsys patents, which were just used earlier this week to sue the New York Times and others, and earlier still against Best Buy, Adidas, CVS and others. Indeed, it seems that Lodsys is becoming quite a nuisance for defendants, which places them at or near the top of the patent troll most wanted.