ericjones12398 - Slashdot User

Submission + - DARPA's color-changing "Chameleon" robot disappears right before your eyes (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Friday August 24, 2012 @11:44AM

ericjones12398 writes: "DARPA, responsible for advanced research for the DoD, recently engaged a team of Harvard-led researchers to explore the feasibility of creating “soft” chameleon robots that utilize microfluidic channels. These robots, composed of silicone-based materials, are being developed through grants issued by DARPA under their Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program. According to DARPA program manager Gill Pratt, “DARPA is developing a suite of robots that draw inspiration from the ingenuity and efficiency of nature.”
Because of the unique nature of this request, the academics involved are not specialists in computer science, ergonomics, human-computer-interaction or even industrial engineering. They are associated with Harvard University’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering."

Submission + - RFID: Time is the key to increased chip security with TARDIS (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Wednesday August 22, 2012 @03:59PM

ericjones12398 writes: "Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher, once said, “time is a created thing.” Interestingly, this 2,500 year old saying — which was initially said in response to an observation regarding the shortcomings of the human perspective on time management — is still relevant today, especially when discussing new technological developments as related to radio-frequency identification (RFID).
RFID chips, essentially small artificial homing beacons, are embedded in a variety of products and used to both actively and passively track everything from military firearms to government issued passports, to bank sponsored credit cards to electronics equipment, including the computer you are using to read this article."

Submission + - Google's algorithm changes in piracy crackdown (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Wednesday August 22, 2012 @02:08PM

ericjones12398 writes: "Google isn't specifically targeting any site. It's changed it's search engine algorithm to penalize piracy. The algorithm is what Google uses to find you what you're looking for, the thing that knows that "brass polish" and "Polish brass" are two completely different things. The company is always perfecting its algorithm, including the notorious Panda 2 update that some argue crippled the so-called "content farms." The latest update merely introduces a penalty for successful copyright takedown requests."

Submission + - Curiosity: NASA's overly optimistic future? (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Tuesday August 21, 2012 @04:14AM

ericjones12398 writes: "NASA’s Curiosity rover is a major achievement for the agency, advancing both its scientific and public relations abilities. Between 1 million twitter followers, iOS and Android apps, a series of minor memes around “Mohawk Guy” Bobak Ferdowski, the “We’re NASA and We Know It” viral video, and the Curiosity team heading to Reddit, NASA’s Curiosity publicity campaign has successfully improved the public perception of NASA, science, math, technology, and engineering in unprecedented ways."

Submission + - Lawsuit against generic lidocaine patches (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Thursday August 16, 2012 @11:09AM

ericjones12398 writes: "ACTION: Infringement of U.S. Patent 5,827,529 (referred to as “529 Patent) by Noven Therapeutics/Noven Pharmaceuticals, makers of products such as the ADHD drug Daytrana, at a considerable harm to the transdermal drug delivery technology company Teikoku Seiyaku, Co., Ltd., holders of the patent, and Endo Pharmaceuticals, manufacturers of a 5% lidocaine patch that relieves pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia utilizing technology covered by the patent."

Submission + - Google named intervenor in HTC-Nokia case (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Wednesday August 15, 2012 @10:28AM

ericjones12398 writes: "Interestingly, the patent suit isn’t just about those vague patents that every tech firm seems to have, yet no one can understand why a company would be allowed to patent such a thing. While there are such patents in the suit (“synchronization of databases using filters” and “calendar-display apparatus, and associated method, for a mobile terminal” being two notable examples), the suit is heavy on more specific examples such as a “method for attenuating spurious signals and receiver.”
Nokia launched an extensive patent infringement lawsuit, involving more than 40 patents, in May.

Google doesn’t make a terribly strong case that it will actually be affected. In fact, in filings, the company argues merely that proprietary Android apps are part of the investigation, so Google might be adversely affected."

Submission + - Amazon's winding course through the patent jungle (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Monday August 13, 2012 @09:10AM

ericjones12398 writes: "On one hand, Amazon is not exactly short on patents themselves. The "non-exhaustive list" on the company's site is a tidy little bundle of e-commerce IP, with a few questionable software patents — including a 1-click buying method, a Lodsys-baiting in-app purchasing method and a social networking patent, all of which have achieved a somewhat notorious reputation. Indeed, the last fiscal year was as significant for Amazon's litigation as for the company's behind-closed-doors acquisitions."

Submission + - A spoonful of sugar (and a sensor) makes the medicine go down (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Friday August 10, 2012 @11:13AM

ericjones12398 writes: "Ever forget to take your morning pills? Or can’t remember if you have to take the blue pill today or the yellow one? Suddenly, life just got a lot easier. Proteus Digital Health announced this week that they had received FDA approval for an ingestible sensor inside of a pill. The interactive ‘digital pill,’ which is approximately the size of a grain of sand and mostly made up of highly ingestible silicon, is meant to help patients adhere to their medication plans by sending a signal to a patch that the patient wears on their skin, which then transmits information to a smartphone application that can be shared with physicians, family members and other care givers. Formally referred to as an Ingestion Event Marker (IEM), the pill sensor is just one part of the Proteus Digital Health System, a complete end-to-end personal health system meant to improve personal health habits and foster connections to and communications with caregivers."

Submission + - Innovator or troll, Intellectual Ventures remains a mystery (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Thursday August 09, 2012 @08:27AM

ericjones12398 writes: "Intellectual Ventures paints itself a champion of innovation and a liberator of inventors. More and more detractors consider the patent private equity firm steered by polymath Nathan Myhrvold a giant patent troll. Not long ago, Intellectual Ventures was being viewed as something different, something curious and in between, an oasis where inventors get paid and inventions are equity. A magical place where labs, lawyers and licenses form a collective and share in the riches of something called invention capital. But with the patent wars reaching a fever pitch, and patent reform debates raging harder, Myhrvold’s vision of a new asset class for intellectual property is starting to fade behind Texas and Delaware courthouses filled with specious claims of infringement."

Submission + - Software patents: more a matter of time (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @03:14PM

ericjones12398 writes: "As if Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook don’t have enough problems, Facebook’s being sued.

The patent infringement suit filed by Software Rights Archives LLC (SRA) puts Facebook among the ranks of Twitter, Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft as a company SRA has filed suit against in the past two years. The three patents in question are software patents derivative of each other and entitled “Method and apparatus for indexing, searching and displaying data.”"

Submission + - Patent wars flare up in Taiwan (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Monday August 06, 2012 @03:55PM

ericjones12398 writes: "All eyes are fixed on the Apple v. Samsung trial currently playing out in the courts. For those following patent law, this is perhaps the latest “Trial of the Century.” Two of the world’s biggest computing and consumer electronics giants are going at one another. So it’s not much of a surprise that a lower profile case between Apple and a Taiwanese university has flown under the radar. This time it’s Apple that’s on the defense. Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University alleges that Apple infringes on its patents with the Siri voice assistant. In particular, Apple is accused of infringing on patents relating to voice recognition software. The lawsuit is curious. Typically, it is American firms accusing Asian ones of stealing their intellectual property. For example, Apple was famously able to delay shipments of HTC smartphones to the United States due to patent wars between Cupertino and the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer. For its part, the university sees itself as leading a charge for all of Taiwan, rather than just protecting its own IP. Chen Xisan, director of the school’s legal department was quoted as saying that “We want to protect Taiwan’s patents from being infringed upon” and “we want to help the local industry.” Apple has remained mum, but the university’s concerns seem to have some merit."

Submission + - Even trucks and trailers can't dodge patent suits (patexia.com)

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ericjones12398

on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @03:39PM

ericjones12398 writes: "Based on recent patent infringement filings in the District Court of Delaware, trucking yards must be the next cradle of innovation. Mobile Logistics LLC, a faceless NPE, launched a sweeping attack on a notable mix of companies employing PINC Solution’s Yard Hound management system. Aimed at Fortune 500 companies operating in the retail, manufacturing, logistics and transportation sectors, Yard Hound is a real-time location system (RTLS) used to monitor and locate trailers stored in large truck yards mapped across a company supply chain. The NPE strategy is familiar, and the complaint is vague, but yard management must be the new patent battleground placing North America’s entire supply chain at risk. Or is it?"

Submission + - RIM ordered to pay mobile device management company $147 mil in IP dispute (patexia.com)

Submitted by

ericjones12398

on Monday July 30, 2012 @09:43AM

ericjones12398 writes: "A few years ago, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) Express. The free software works with existing servers, such as Microsoft Exchange Server and IBM Lotus Domino, to allow businesses to centrally manage the smartphones they provide to employees. Among the features are the ability to shutdown and wipe clean stolen devices, control security settings and reset passwords.

Considering all the ways that individuals can customize their personal-use smartphones, it makes sense that companies providing their employees with such phones could take advantage of wireless technologies to regulate them. It seems that for Canada-based RIM, providing employers with this option on BlackBerry devices, and offering the BES Express software for free, was an opportunity to keep sales of the struggling BlackBerry — once dubbed the ‘CrackBerry’ because of how addicting and necessary it was to its possessors — up, while also marketing it as a more professional alternative to the other brands that dominate."

Submission + - Mobile apps: exit and acquisition strategies (patexia.com)

Submitted by

ericjones12398

on Thursday July 26, 2012 @03:21PM

ericjones12398 writes: "Recently, Google and Facebook continued their ongoing efforts to shore up acknowledged deficiencies in their respective lines of business as related to mobile technologies. Both companies have weaknesses in their infrastructures and, based on insights gained from recent acquisitions, this appears to be an admission that they need some help in the mobile department. Interestingly, these acquisitions also provide strategic insights into two critical trends which will most likely continue into the immediate future."

Submission + - Keeping America Innovative: STEM Education (patexia.com)

Submitted by

ericjones12398

on Wednesday July 25, 2012 @06:30AM

ericjones12398 writes: "It is officially election season in the United States again and Politicians are talking about the economy and jobs. The buzz word “innovation” has let politicians put a new spin on education, which has been “hot topic” for the past decade.
As a sign of how far behind American students are, both Democrats and Republicans, who agree on nothing, agree that that overhauling America’s lagging Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is paramount to the United States’ long term economic success. However, due to changes in what it means to innovate and the burgeoning technological superpowers of India and China, this is not just another “sputnik moment” as Politicians like to spin it, and improving proficiency in mathematics and science will not be enough to keep the United States innovative and on the cutting edge."

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