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Apple

Submission + - Nokia gambles with a Lumina release in the week before the new iPhone (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "Smartphones aren’t for everyone, and Nokia’s "dumbphone" sales are steady. Selling off about a million a day is no small revenue stream, even if they aren’t turning Apple-esque margins. The emerging markets around the world will continue to demand economic phones for the near future, barring technological breakthroughs. This should contribute significantly to keeping Nokia afloat.
The second strength is their patent portfolio. For two reasons. The first is that Nokia IP alone has a monetary value in the billions, though precision in assessing exactly how much is guesswork at best. This translates well into the second strength Nokia holds, and that is an annual licensing revenue hovering around $600 million. This is a critical component in offsetting some struggling financials following the 2008 meltdown."
Patents

Submission + - Next year the USPTO will adopt a "first-to-file" patent system (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "The US currently operates on a "first to invent" patent system. The first person to demonstrate inventorship is the one who has priority. In a "first to file" system, the first entity to file for a patent application has priority, regardless of prior publications detailing an invention. America will switch to the first to file system next year, and the consequences on innovation will be noticeable"
Google

Submission + - Apple beats down walls leading to Google (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "Someone following the patent wars closely might say that with the recent Apple win over Samsung, things are coming to a head. This victory wasn't maonetarily much of a win for Apple, the largest tech company in the world, but could mark a significant first step in Apple's litigious march towards Google and the Android OS."
United States

Submission + - GOP opposes net neutrality, internet piracy (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "While GOP candidates won't stop publicly disavowing it, all eyes are on the Republican platform. The convention, which closed Thursday, inserted a number of controversial planks regarding abortion, English-only laws and a committee to examine the possibility of returning to the gold standard. Receiving considerably less attention was the downright Orwellian naming of the "Internet freedom plank," which opposes net neutrality."
Medicine

Submission + - Moffitt Cancer Center researchers investigate a potential new tumor suppressor (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "A tumor suppressor gene acts as a molecular guardian against cancer by protecting the cell from various forms of damage. "p53" is a tumor-supressing protein that functions as an anti-cancer gene in several ways. Early this week researchers reported the identification of a transcription factor that regulates p53, an important step towards better cancer treatments."

Submission + - Nanocrystalline Algorithm Means More Alloys to Come (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "One graduate student, Tongjai Chookajorn, put these projections to the test using tungsten. Through synthesizing tungsten and titanium, Chookajorn demonstrated that Murdoch’s equation can be executed successfully. This particular alloy held up to an enormous amount of heat (about 1,100 degrees Celsius) over the course of 7 days. The application of tungsten and titanium in particular would be useful in militaristic applications, but what makes this discover so interesting is what other combinations of alloys might be quickly discovered and produced as a result of the effectiveness of the algorithm. Some speculation as to which companies might capture the most value if specific alloys are found are likely semiconductor companies (microprocessors in particular) and military equipment developers."
Robotics

Submission + - Do robot automation help or hurt the job prospects of Americans? (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "If every robot replaces ten jobs and creates only two, it seems obvious that increasing automation will mean fewer jobs. But this may not be the case. Rory Crump argues that the competitive advantage offered by robot manufacturing will allow US companies to grow enough to counteract these initial job cuts."
Patents

Submission + - Voice Control Patent Should be Buried in Potter's Field (patexia.com)

Submitted by
ericjones12398
ericjones12398 writes: "In 2004, research and design company SRI International filed for a patent on "Accessing network-based electronic information through scripted online interfaces using spoken input", citing the '569 patent. Three years later, SRI spun off this development as a separate consumer focused company called Siri, which in another three years was acquired by Apple. We all know the rest; Siri became the high-profile centerpiece of the iPhone 4S, crystallizing the voice trend among mobile device companies.
SRI's citation may be a critical element in Potter's case, in that it's virtually the only evidence that the '569 patent played any role whatsoever in the long quest for the holy grail of voice-integrated computing."
Robotics

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."
Security

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."
Google

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."
Mars

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."
Patents

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."
Google

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

Submitted by
ericjones12398
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."

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The biggest difference between time and space is that you can't reuse time. -- Merrick Furst

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