6572885
submission
patentpundit writes:
On April 18, 2008, Apple Computer applied for a patent relating to an "invention" that allows for the showing of advertisements within an operating system. The first named inventor on the patent application is none other than Steve Jobs, the CEO and co-founder. The patent application published and became available for public inspection on October 22, 2009. If implemented the invention would make it possible for advertisements to be displayed on a variety of devices, including a desktop computer, cell phones, PDAs and more. In one alarming aspect, the device could be disabled during the running of advertisements, thereby forcing users to not be able to use the device and be forced to let the advertisement run its course before the system would unlock and allow further use. In an even more invasive version explained in the patent application the user could be required to do something, such as click to continue, in order to verify that they are actively watching the advertisement and haven't simply walked away to let the ad run its course. Whether Apple would implement such an invention is unknown, but it is possible that they think there are others out there who might want to implement such invasive advertising. It is possible Apple wanted to get ahead of the curve and file this patent so that if an company is silly enough to engage in Big Brother advertising they will have to be paid a royalty. I sure hope this is not the future of advertising.
5632519
submission
patentpundit writes:
On Friday, August 21, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Microsoft an expedited appeal of its patent infringement loss to i4i Limited Partnership. On August 11, 2009, Microsoft lost a $300 million judgment for infringing the XML patents of i4i by selling Word. Microsoft was given 60 days to stop selling Word, or implement work arounds that did not utilize the infringed technology. Microsoft filed an emergency appeal with the Federal Circuit, and requested a stay of the permanent injunction that will force them to stop selling work 60 days from August 11, 2009. The Federal Circuit granted an expedited oral argument, which will take place on September 23, 2009. Microsoft requested an administrative stay of the permanent injunction, which was denied, and then filed a petition to stay the injunction pending appeal. i4i has until August 25, 2009, to respond to Microsoft's request to stay the injunction pending appeal. For more see http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/08/21/cafc-grants-microsoft-expedited-patent-appeal-in-word-case/id=5135/
3224717
submission
patentpundit writes:
BioArts International announced today that they have delivered the world's first commercially cloned dog, a 10-week old Labrador named Lancey, to Florida residents Edgar and Nina Otto. According to the press release issued by the company, "BioArts International is a biotech company focused on unique, untapped markets in the global companion animal, stem cell and human genomics industries. The Best Friends Again programis a collaboration between BioArts and the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea, home to the best and most experienced dog cloning team in the world." The technology that makes this animal cloning possible stems from the cloning patents developed at the Roslin Institute for the cloning of the now famous, or infamous depending on your view, Dolly the sheep. For more read: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/01/28/family-dog-cloned-thanks-to-dolly-patents/id=1829/
3212925
submission
patentpundit writes:
Word has started to circulate that President Barack Obama may be close to appointing John W. Thompson, the outgoing chief executive of network security firm Symantec Corp., to be the next Secretary of Commerce. According to the LA Times, over the last several days Thompson has spoken on the telephone and met with key senators, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a member of the commerce committee that would hold confirmation hearings for any appointed Secretary of Commerce, is "extremely supportive and hopeful he'll be the nominee." The appointment of Thompson to head the Department of Commerce would be an exceptionally interesting choice given that only days ago President Obama asked Scott McNealy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, to lead his open source charge and conduct a study and report back regarding the feasibility of the US government forgoing proprietary software and moving toward open source software solutions.
Read the full story at:
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/01/27/obama-looking-to-symantec-ceo-for-commerce/id=1822/
