Pattoo - general

Forums and Idea Banks

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:58:13 -0400

In a previous iteration of this blog, there was a post regarding idea banks. A gentleman apparently stumbled on this post and ask an excellent question, which I've added and answered to the best of my knowledge in the forums. I invite all to the forums, and if you know the answer to the idea bank question feel free to post a comment. Of course if you have any questions or any other topics you would like to discuss, feel free to post those comments there as well. Also available in the Pattoo website is a Directory that has been recently updated to include a list of Idea Banks on the Web.

RFID Patents are Pursued and Popular

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:00:00 -0500

Personally, I'm not thrilled about the RFID (radio frequency identification) trends. Maybe, it is that whole big brother, tracking people, easy access to medical information, "666" thing. I must confess. I do like my speedpass, though. Anyway, this is a blog about patents and apparently Walmart and other companies do not feel the same way I do about RFIDs. According to this article, the maker of Kleenex and Huggies is pursuing the same technology as Walmart.

From perusing the list of radio frequency identification (RFID) patents granted by the U.S.

read more

MPEG Lawyers Accused Of Stealing Patents

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 02:13:00 -0500

Primary patent reviewer for MPEG (and a former IBM patent counsel) are accused of stealing patents from small inventors when they were acting as patent counsel for them.

Peer to Patent Project

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 11:00:00 -0500

Apparently, the IBM involvement of the Community Patent Initiative is much larger and more established than I originally realized. There is a Peer to Patent Project website, blog and proposal.

Earlier this year, Professor Beth Noveck, an intellectual-property lawyer at New York Law School, wrote a blog post about the need for the patent office to tap into the collective intelligence online in helping vet prior art. What was needed, she wrote, was something like a wiki, where people could contribute their expertise on various matters. "We're at a critical moment," said Noveck. "We have the social software available with collaborative filtering, social reputation systems, so that we can do online peer review. There is so much dissatisfaction with the patent process; this is a ripe opportunity to move to peer review."

The above quote is from the article The Patent Office's Fix.

FAT Microsoft Patent

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:00:00 -0500

Who ever thought patents and the patent system could be so exciting. First, yesterday's news about IBM working with the USPTO. Now, Microsoft's patent on one the most widely used file storage system was still considered valid after a re-examination.

In their latest action, filed last week, the examiners concluded that the company's File Allocation Table (FAT) file system is, in fact, "novel and non-obvious," entitling it to patentability. Now the office is in the process of issuing a "patent re-examination certificate," which signals the finality of the decision, a Microsoft representative said.

As, the News.com article reported this has big implication for flash memory and Linux operating system.

IBM and USPTO to Improve Patent Quality

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 05:23:00 -0500

An interesting twist on Patent Reform is in the works. ZDNet is reporting that IBM, who perennial receives the most patents each year, will work with the U.S. Patent Office to improve quality.

Although the contents of patent applications are public record and available to anyone, IBM has worked with the Patent Office to develop the Open Patent Review, a program to allow people, including academics and corporate technologists, to easily view the contents of filed patents and provide feedback to patent examiners.

This idea certainly is not new, but it is surprising that the Patent Office is seeking this as an option to improve quality.

New patent suggests Apple Dashboard Widgets to run on iPod

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:34:19 -0500

Apple has filed a patent for Dashboard widget authoring that seems to suggest some widgets will work on iPods. The patent titled "Widget authoring and editing environment," filed on January 5th, relates to Apple's Mac OS X Dashboard feature.

Proper Patent Perspective

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 11:00:00 -0500

Peter Detkin is attributed to coming up with the now infamous term "Patent Troll". In a CIOInsight article he suggests, which I would agree with, that the term Patent Troll is often times misapplied:

My concern is that the term has now been used so broadly as to mean any plaintiff you don't like.

As should others, he has the right perspective about patents, which is evidenced by the following statement:

We think there is a good business model around invention, and that's what we're focusing on.

read more

Happy 120th birthday automobile!

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 11:00:00 -0500

The automobile celebrates its 120th birthday on January 29, 2006! The anniversary of the date in 1886 on which Karl Benz applied for a patent for his motorized vehicle.

Cool pics!

Patents are Here to Stay!

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:47:00 -0500

Game Industry News has an excellent editorial dispelling 6 patent myths as related to videogames. This article, however, is certainly applicable to the software industry, as well as, all inventions that deserve a patent. Myth #5 is definitely worth noting.

Myth #5. The "spirit of innovation" works best when there is a free market of ideas, and consumers are better off if video games are not patented.

A classic argument among those who feel that the entire patent system should be abolished. You might want to make that argument to your representative in Congress, because unless the Constitution is amended to do away with patents, they're here to stay. In drafting the Constitution, our founding fathers recognized that the best way to promote progress in the "useful arts" was to reward inventors who come forward and share their inventions with the public by granting them a limited period of exclusivity in which they can exploit the fruits of their labor. In other words, discouraging slavish copying encourages innovation.

read more