Posts Tagged: "LIDAR"

Is an Autonomous Vehicle Patent War Revving Up?

Autonomous vehicles are paving the way as the next big innovation in personal transportation. With new technology, first comes the excitement of breakthroughs in any industry. Then comes the patent litigation arguments over who owns the technology and who can profit off the patents related to the technology. We are seeing this pattern again and perhaps the beginning of the self-driving cars patent wars. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the patentability of all challenged claims in a patent held by Velodyne LiDAR, Inc., one of just a handful of companies that makes LiDAR (light detection and ranging) systems for self-driving cars.

Celebrating Innovation: IP Laws Encourage Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Without intellectual property protections it makes it impossible for an innovator to compete, raise money, and succeed in business. That was a story told by Joe Kiani, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Masimo, who receive the IPO Education Foundation’s first IP Champion Award. “While the IP laws are still better than any other country, they aren’t as good as they used to be,” Kiani said on the video introducing himself before receiving the IP Champion Award. Kiani would explain that he doesn’t think of what IP laws mean to Massimo today, but what they would mean for Massimo back in 1980. IP laws encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, he explained.

Waymo Patent Asserted Against Uber Suffers Setback in Reexamination

he U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a final office action in an ex parte reexamination of a patent owned by Google self-driving car development subsidiary Waymo. As a result of the reexamination, Waymo stands to lose 53 of 56 claims, including all 20 of the patent claims originally issued. The patent in question had been asserted as part of the company’s well-known infringement suit filed against Uber.

Mount St. Helens sees increased seismic activity as anniversary of eruption nears

This year, May 18th will mark the 36th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, an active stratovolcano situated in Washington State’s Skamania County and part of the Cascade Range of mountains. The upcoming anniversary looks like it’s shaping up to be a special one for this major volcano, which is no longer dormant. A recent weekly update on seismic activity measured at the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO), produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), reports a “continued pattern of slightly elevated seismicity” at Mount St. Helens. This seismic activity has been going on for about two months. More than 130 earthquakes ranging in depth from 1.2 miles to 4 miles have been detected in the region since March 13th by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN). Most of the earthquakes measure a magnitude of 0.5 or less but their frequency has been stunning, with as many as 40 earthquakes per week, which has led scientists to believe that the volcano may be recharging even if it won’t erupt any day soon.