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02/27/07

7,184,907 Apparatus and method to detect an intrusion point along a security fence
  Issued: February 27, 2007
  Filed: November 17, 2003
  U.S. Class: 702/69
Abstract:  
A monitoring system evaluates the integrity of a fiber optic cable, having a weave pattern and being attached to a security fence. To establish and calibrate the monitoring system, the present invention provides a system and method for establishing a look-up table to be stored in a memory. Any breakage in, bending of, or stress on the fiber optic cable is noted by the monitoring system by an alarm, and a length of cable between the monitoring system and the affected portion of the fiber optic cable is determined. The look-up table is indexed to determine a zone of potential breach. Further, an average weave density of the affected zone is computed, so that an approximate location of the potential breach within the affected zone, in terms of ground distance, can be accurately determined and displayed.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:22:10 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/27/07

7,184,032 Tactile overlays for screens
  Issued: February 27, 2007
  Filed: September 13, 2004
  U.S. Class: 345/173
Abstract:  
An overlay for use with a display screen, comprising at least one first tactilely readable area, wherein the display screen includes a first feature thereon, wherein the tactilely readable area includes information in a tactilely readable format, and wherein the information identifies a first feature displayed on the screen.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:21:40 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/27/07

7,184,580 Fingerprint scar recognition method and apparatus
  Issued: February 27, 2007
  Filed: July 8, 2002
  U.S. Class: 382/124
Abstract:  
A method of recognizing an injury pattern on a fingerprint is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing biometric information to a contact imager; imaging and characterizing the biometric information; comparing an image of the biometric information against previously stored templates; upon a comparison result of the comparison, determining an injury pattern; wherein upon an injury pattern determination, performing a comparison against a stored template based on features extracted from the biometric data and the damage data.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:21:11 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/27/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 10:04:38 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/27/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 10:04:04 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/27/07

A U.S. court has ruled that IT giant Microsoft has breached Alcatel-Lucent's patents for converting audio files to MP3. Microsoft was ordered to pay out $1.52 billion to French phone equipment firm, Alcatel-Lucent in what has been called the largest patent award in history. At the heart of the case is the issue whether Alcatel should be paid for the technology when Microsoft says it has already paid who it thought was the licensee, Germany's Fraunhofer Institute and Bell Labs. Alcatel, however, claims it was not paid its fair share of the patent since 2003 when the firm bought Bell. Analysts are now saying this verdict could have a wider impact with impact on hundreds of companies utilizing the format, which includes the likes of Apple, and RealNetworks.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 12:06:18 am into the following categories: In The News


02/27/07

Wireless technology rivals Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Corp. said Friday they have agreed to end two court disputes over patents. The deal was the latest twist in a ferocious legal battle between the two companies over licensing agreements, which has spawned a web of suits and countersuits from California to Europe relating to technologies that power cell phones, Bluetooth devices and wireless Internet equipment. Neither company disclosed financial terms or details of the agreement. The settlement eliminates two of several jury trials scheduled for this year between the rivals -- one involving Broadcom claims that Qualcomm infringed two of its patents and another in which Qualcomm claimed its competitor violated two of its patents.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 12:05:06 am into the following categories: In The News


02/27/07

Vonage Holdings Corp., a pioneer in placing phone calls over the Internet, was in federal court last week defending itself against a nearly $200 million patent-infringement suit filed by Verizon Communications, the second-largest phone company in the U.S. Although Vonage made a name for itself as an innovator in digital voice communications, Verizon claims that Vonage has been illegally using patented Verizon technologies at the core of voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, including signaling interconnectivity, authorization, authentication, billing and fraud prevention. Verizon, defending five patents in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., is seeking $197 million in damages, equal to about 25% of Vonage's current market value.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 12:04:18 am into the following categories: In The News


02/27/07

Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc. said on Friday it had won a suit against Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. to prevent the Indian drug maker from releasing an early generic version of its Flomax prostate drug. Astellas, Japan's third-largest drug maker and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, which jointly market the drug in the United States, had filed the suit at the U.S. District Court of New Jersey. The U.S. patent on Flomax, used to treat enlarged prostates, expires in Oct. 2009

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 12:03:04 am into the following categories: In The News


02/20/07

7,181,498 Community-based green list for antispam
  Issued: February 20, 2007
  Filed: March 1, 2004
  U.S. Class: 709/206
Abstract:  
A community-based "green list" (CGL) message filter for mail service providers. The CGL filtering enables trusted messages to be delivered directly into a user's inbox folder and other messages to be delivered to other folders associated with the user. The CGL filtering indicates which messages are sent from those message addresses listed as friends in the user's personal address book. Also, the scope of CGL filtering includes more than those message addresses that the user interacts with directly (one degree of separation). For example, the CGL filtering also evaluates message addresses that are connected more remotely to the user through other nodes (users) in the online community that are located multiple degrees of separation away from the user.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:34:33 pm into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/20/07

7,180,418 Active threat detection and elimination while in transit
  Issued: February 20, 2007
  Filed: December 27, 2004
  U.S. Class: 340/568.1
Abstract:  
A method of active detection of at least one threat to the homeland security. Each such threat is either hidden inside at least one cargo container before transit, or is placed inside at least one cargo container while in transit; each such threat while interacting with its surrounding generates a unique threat signature. The method comprises the following steps: (A) substantially continuously probing each cargo container; (B) detecting at least one threat signature; (C) processing each detected threat signature to determine a likelihood of at least one threat to become a threat to the homeland security; (D) identifying at least one container that includes such threat to the homeland security; and (E) eliminating such threat to the homeland security.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:33:58 pm into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/20/07

7,179,980 Automatic extraction of musical portions of an audio stream
  Issued: February 20, 2007
  Filed: December 12, 2003
  U.S. Class: 84/600
Abstract:  
Music and non-music portions in an audio stream are identified. The audio stream is digitized and segmented into frames. Selected frames are passed through a filter bank which includes filters having bandwidths approximately proportional to their center frequencies. The spectral flux for each selected frame is calculated and smoothed. Frames having a smoothed spectral flux below a threshold value are associated with music, and frames having a smoothed spectral flux above a threshold value are associated with non-music.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:33:25 pm into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/20/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:32:04 pm into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/20/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:29:49 pm into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/20/07

California software company VirnetX Inc. has files suit against Microsoft Corporation, alleging the software giant's VPN technologies infringe on two VirnetX patents, one of which describes a method for establishing a secure communications link, and the other describes transparently creating a virtual private network. VirnetX's suit seeks both injunctive relief and damages; the suit was filed in the patent holder-friendly United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:27:19 am into the following categories: In The News


02/20/07

Genencor International Inc.’s parent Danisco A/S is liable to pay damages of $8.2 million in a patent infringement case related to an enzyme product, according to a Delaware court ruling in favor of Novozymes A/S. The Danish firm said that, under the ruling, the damages would be paid in the form of royalty, plus interest and a share of the opposing party’s legal fees. The parties have 10 days to agree on a form of the judgment reflecting the decision, and either party may appeal 30 days after the final judgment. Danisco officials said it will assess the legal reasoning of the decisions with regard to liability and damages.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:26:19 am into the following categories: In The News


02/20/07

Reunion.com, Inc., its subsidiary GoodContacts, Ltd. and Plaxo, Inc. today announced that they have reached an agreement to resolve their current legal dispute. The companies are dismissing all claims and counterclaims in their pending lawsuit and releasing each other from claims related to the suit. The companies have agreed to cross-license patented technology. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:25:02 am into the following categories: In The News


02/20/07

Newport Beach’s Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth won a not-so generic trial earlier this month. The law firm defended generic drug maker Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga in a patent infringement suit brought by France’s Sanofi-Aventis. A federal judge invalidated Sanofi’s patent for Lovenox, a blood thinner used to fight blood clotting and heart attacks. Sanofi committed “inequitable conduct” to get its patent, the judge said. Lovenox does about $2 billion in U.S. sales a year and an additional $750 million abroad. Its patent was set to expire in 2012. Sanofi plans to appeal.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:23:57 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

7,177,829 Tax refund system
  Issued: February 13, 2007
  Filed: July 16, 1999
  U.S. Class: 705/31
Abstract:  
A tax refund system is disclosed in which in exchange for a taxpayer assigning all or a portion of his or her tax refund, a participating provider provides to the taxpayer a spending vehicle with buying power at participating outlets. Tax return data for an individual's tax return is processed by the IRS. A taxpayer consents to using a portion of the tax return data to acquire a spending vehicle from a financial institution of the taxpayer's choosing. Using a portion of the tax return data, the IRS arranges to electronically transfer an amount related to the taxpayer's refund to an account at the financial institution selected by the taxpayer. A taxpayer then receives a spending vehicle such as a credit, debit, or cash card, spending account, coupon, or rebate from a financial institution or other spending vehicle provider such as a retailer, service provider, wholesaler, distributor, or entertainment entity.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:25:59 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/13/07

7,176,367 Pen instrument with controllable whistle
  Issued: February 13, 2007
  Filed: November 1, 2004
  U.S. Class: 84/380R
Abstract:  
A pen instrument is provided with a controllable whistle. The whistle includes a tubular body; a sleeve connected at a rear end to a first open end of the tubular body and at a front end to a rear end of the pen instrument to connect the whistle to the pen instrument; a whistle-producing reed structure fixedly provided in an inner space of the tubular body and including a reed; and a cut-off device provided at a predetermined position on the tubular body and operable by a user to allow or cut off flowing of air through the inner space of the tubular body. A balloon is connected to a second open end of the tubular body and inflated when the cut-off device is in a position allowing air to flow through the tubular body into the balloon.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:25:31 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/13/07

7,177,623 Localized cellular awareness and tracking of emergencies
  Issued: February 13, 2007
  Filed: July 1, 2004
  U.S. Class: 455/404.2
Abstract:  
A method of initiating a telecommunication connection between a wireless 911 caller, an emergency 911 dispatcher, and at least one emergency personnel, including identifying a geographical location of a wireless 911 caller; identifying at least one emergency personnel located proximal to the geographical location of the wireless 911 caller; and initiating a telecommunication connection between each of the wireless 911 caller, an emergency 911 dispatcher, and the at least one emergency personnel.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:24:58 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/13/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 08:28:02 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/13/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 08:25:45 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/13/07

Flies, like airplanes, have gyroscopes to control their flight patterns. Now a collaborative group of researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Washington have found for the first time that a moth's antennae can act like an airplane's gyroscope to stabilize its flight. Sanjay Sane, a biologist from the University of Washington and lead author of this week's Science article, "Antennal Mechanosensors Mediate Flight Control in Moths," collaborated with Case biologist Mark Willis, in studying the large moth Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm moth) to unravel how it controls it flight in an effort to build a new generation of flying robots.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:21:06 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

Sanofi-Aventis SA, France's biggest pharmaceutical company, and Canadian drugmaker QLT Inc. agreed to pay a total of $157.5 million to end a patent suit so they can continue to sell the prostate cancer drug Eligard. TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., a joint venture of Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., sued QLT and Sanofi in 2003, claiming that Eligard infringed a TAP patent. QLT will pay $112.5 million and Sanofi will pay $45 million, according to a statement issued today by QLT. U.S. sales from 2002, when the drug was approved by regulators, to April 2006, when the TAP patent expired, were more than $170 million, QLT Chief Executive Officer Bob Butchofsky said. Sanofi sells the drug and QLT gets royalties of up to 20 percent. The settlement covers that patent and any future patents TAP might own that claims to cover the drug.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:05:37 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

Progressive Gaming International Corp. (PGIC.O: Quote, Profile , Research), a supplier of slot machines and other casino games, said on Friday it plans to seek a reversal of a $39 million award in a lawsuit accusing it of attempted monopolization in 1998 and 1999. The Las Vegas-based company, once known as Mikohn Gaming Corp., said a jury awarded the plaintiff $13 million for his claims and that the amount will be tripled under applicable law. It said the case was filed in 2002 in response to a patent infringement case the company filed four years earlier. Progressive said it will try to have the verdict set aside, and, if necessary, appeal. It does not expect the award to hurt its cash position in fiscal 2007 and does not expect the case to end until at least 2008.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:04:30 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline will pay $35 million to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit over its antidepressant Wellbutrin. Drugmaker Watson Pharmaceuticals said Monday that GSK has agreed to pay $35 million up front in exchange for a royalty-bearing license for a patent covering Wellbutrin. In December 2005, Andrx Corp. filed a patent infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court against GSK that alleged the company's Wellbutrin antidepressant infringed on a patent owned by Andrx.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:03:35 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

Royal Philips Electronics (AEX:PHI; NYSE:PHG) announced today that in a patent infringement case between Philips Electronics and CD-Recordable and CD-Re-writable disc manufacturers including Princo and Gigastorage, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled positively in granting a general exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed importation into the United States of recordable and rewritable compact discs that infringe any of the six patents asserted by Philips. Philips welcomes this positive step in its continuous effort to stop the import of illegal CD-R/RW discs into the US, which creates unfair competition in the recordable disc market. Philips filed this case with the ITC in 2002 seeking to prevent unlicensed CD-R and CD-RW discs from entering the United States. The ITC had found in March 2004 that six Philips patents were valid and infringed by the manufacturers, but also determined that the patents were unenforceable because of patent misuse. After Philips appealed the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) held that the ITC's legal analysis was incorrect and remanded the case to the ITC for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:01:46 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the dismissal of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Medtronic against BrainLAB AG in 1998.
The appellate court affirmed a previous district court ruling that BrainLAB image-guided surgery and radiotherapy products do not infringe any of the patents in suit. In February 2006, the US District Court in Denver, Colorado, dismissed Medtronic's patent infringement lawsuit, finding that BrainLAB products do not infringe any of Medtronic's patents in suit. The district court concluded that a September 2005 jury verdict, where the jury found that BrainLAB infringed four patents held or licensed by Medtronic and awarded Medtronic US$51 million, was in error and not supported by the evidence. Medtronic has the possibility to appeal to the US Supreme Court. "We are pleased that the Court of Appeals has affirmed the district court ruling in this case. The court has confirmed that BrainLAB imaging technology does not infringe the patents in suit and we look forward to further developing our surgical navigation business," commented Stefan Vilsmeier, founder and CEO of BrainLAB.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:52:40 am into the following categories: In The News


02/13/07

The U.S. District Court of Massachusetts has ruled in favor of Genlyte Thomas Group LLC, a subsidiary of The Genlyte Group Inc., in a patent infringement suit against Arch Lighting Group Inc. and its Arch Lighting Systems division. A jury decided that a line of Taunton, Mass.-based Arch Lighting Systems' hospital-room lighting products infringed on one of Genlyte Thomas Group's patents, according to a news release from Louisville-based Genlyte (NASDAQ: GLYT), which manufactures lighting fixtures and related products for the commercial, industrial and residential markets. The court awarded damages of $238,000 and required Arch Lighting Systems to pay Genlyte a per-fixture royalty of $67 for every product sold since Sept. 30, 2006.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:50:52 am into the following categories: In The News


02/06/07

7,172,487 Rigid helium balloons
  Issued: February 6, 2007
  Filed: November 12, 2003
  U.S. Class: 446/220
Abstract:  
The rigid helium balloon has a helium compartment and a separate, channel portion. Helium gas is filled into the helium compartment through a valve in the balloon. Fiberglass rod members are inserted into the channel portion to help retain the desired shape of the balloon. The rod members also provide a counterbalancing weight which prevents the balloon from floating upward. Thus, the balloon, once released into the air, will retain its shape and remain floating at the height from which it was released unless repositioned. No additional weights or tethering devices are required to prevent the balloon from floating upwards.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:43:49 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/06/07

7,174,191 Processing of telephone numbers in audio streams
  Issued: February 6, 2007
  Filed: September 10, 2002
  U.S. Class: 455/563
Abstract:  
Occurrences of at least one of a plurality of telephone number-related speech patterns are identified in an audio stream using speech analysis techniques. At least one number pattern corresponding to the occurrences are thereafter identified and stored for later presentation to a user of a mobile device. The occurrences and corresponding number pattern(s) may be filtered to reduce the likelihood of false detections. Furthermore, the detected number pattern(s) may be augmented to ensure completeness. Users may edit and persistently store the resulting number pattern(s). In one embodiment, a portion of the audio stream may be stored and subsequently subjected to the speech analysis process. The stored portion of the audio stream may be reproduced at substantially the same time that at least one number pattern detected therein is provided to the user. In this manner, telephone numbers in audio streams may be captured safely and conveniently.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:43:15 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/06/07

7,172,283 Magnetic eyeglass device
  Issued: February 6, 2007
  Filed: April 11, 2006
  U.S. Class: 351/112
Abstract:  
A magnetic device enables user to affix eyeglasses to articles of clothing worn by the user. The device comprises a strong pair of magnets, covered in a non-ferrous shell of various material compositions, each shell being fitted with two pliable, flexible rings for attachment to the eyeglass frames. The rings are made of flexible material so that they can be repeatedly bent or stretched, without fracturing, while the device is being fitted or removed form the eyeglass frames. The shells, when attached to each arm or temple support of the eyeglass frame, magnetically connect together when the eyeglass frames are in the closed position, forming a tight hold whenever the glasses are clasped together. The closed eyeglasses, in combination with the invention of the present invention, can then be easily and securely attached or retained to a belt, pocket, purse, or to an article of clothing.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 11:42:39 am into the following categories: Patents of the Day


02/06/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 08:49:41 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/06/07
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 08:49:08 am into the following categories: OG Notice Links


02/06/07

Asyst Technologies Inc. was awarded $74.7 million in damages after a lengthy patent lawsuit, attorneys connected to the case said this week. Fremont-based Asyst sued the German company Jenoptik AG and affiliated companies in connection with a patent relating to its Smart Traveler technology. A federal jury sitting in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose returned the verdict of $74.7 million for infringement including price erosion damages on an entire market value theory. "This is a terrific outcome for our client Asyst, which has steadfastly asserted the validity of this patent for almost a decade," said Mountain View-based Fenwick & West's Darryl Woo, who has represented Asyst since 1998.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:36:03 am into the following categories: In The News


02/06/07

Overstock.com Inc. has sued Applied Interact LLC in a patent dispute over online sweepstakes on the discount retailer's Web site. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan late Friday, Overstock alleges that Applied Interact wrongly claims the online closeout retailer has infringed on two of its patents and is demanded a lump sum license fee. If Overstock doesn't pay the fee, Applied Interact has threatened to file its own patent infringement lawsuit, the Salt Lake City retailer alleges. In its lawsuit, Overstock claims Applied Interact has no ongoing business other than demanding payment of license fees for alleged patent infringement.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:34:42 am into the following categories: In The News


02/06/07

Third Wave Technologies Inc. will receive $10.75 million from rival Stratagene Corp. under an out-of-court settlement of patent litigation, the firms said Tuesday. The settlement resolves Third Wave's case against Stratagene, a La Jolla, Calif., biotechnology company. Both firms provide diagnostic testing products. Last January, Stratagene posted a $21 million appeal bond in federal court in Madison to cover $15.9 million in damages awarded in the case in December 2005 by U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Stratagene appealed the case in federal court.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:33:38 am into the following categories: In The News


02/06/07

Irvine-based laser maker Newport Corp. said Monday it has settled a patent infringement suit lodged by a subsidiary against Oxford, Mass.-based IPG Photonics Corp. Spectra-Physics Inc., which was bought by Newport in 2004, claimed last June that IPG infringed on a patent for an optical fiber laser and amplifier. Terms of the settlement weren't revealed. IPG, which had purchased equipment from Newport in the past, said the settlement would have no impact on its financials.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:32:34 am into the following categories: In The News


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