Patent firm IPCom says to stop HTC German sales

By: Reuters
Source: www.ibnlive.in.co


Berlin: German patent firm IPCom plans to halt as quickly as possible the sale of all HTC smartphones in Germany, another blow to the Taiwanese firm just two days after it shocked markets by cutting its fourth-quarter outlook. IPCom said on Friday it would enforce an injunction based on a Mannheim court decision from February 2009 after HTC, the fourth largest smartphone vendor globally, withdrew its appeal, which was due to be decided on next week.

"IPCom now intends to execute this injunction in the shortest possible time," the company said in a statement. "We will use the right awarded by the courts, likely resulting in HTC devices disappearing from shops during the crucial Christmas season."

HTC confirmed it pulled the appeal on Friday and said it thought it was redundant as a German patent court has questioned the validity of the patent in question. Analysts and lawyers said the withdrawal gives HTC time to battle against two other patents which could have been decided upon next week, while it can still try to delay the original injunction.
Patent firm IPCom says to stop HTC German sales

"While HTC can try to oppose the enforcement of the injunction, my research shows that the odds are very long against HTC on this one," said German patent expert and blogger Florian Mueller.

Under fire

Possible sales halt in Germany, one of the largest smartphone markets in Europe, comes at a time when HTC struggles to hold on to its position on the smartphone market. "This represents an unwelcome distraction during an already difficult quarter for HTC," said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber.

Late last month, HTC warned that revenue would fall by up to 8 per cent in October-December from the third quarter, and this week it flagged a much bigger drop, citing tougher competition and the global downturn. The stock has fallen 30 per cent in eight straight trading days.

The popularity of Apple's iPhones and Samsung Electronics's Galaxy line-up, recession-weary shoppers and long-running lawsuits have taken the gloss off what was one of the industry's biggest success stories. IPCom has battled for years against HTC and Nokia in European courts.

IPCom had acquired Bosch's mobile telephony patent portfolio, created between the mid-1980s and 2000, which includes about 160 patent families worldwide, including some of the key patents in the wireless industry, such as patent 100, which standardises a cellphone's first connection to a network.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/patent-firm-ipcom-says-to-stop-htc-german-sales/206410-11.html

Patent firm IPCom says to stop HTC German sales

By: Tarmo Virki
Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com

German patent firm IPCom plans to halt as quickly as possible the sale of all HTC smartphones in Germany, another blow to the Taiwanese firm just two days after it shocked markets by cutting its fourth-quarter outlook.
IPCom said on Friday it would enforce an injunction based on a Mannheim court decision from February 2009 after HTC, the fourth largest smartphone vendor globally, withdrew its appeal, which was due to be decided on next week.
"IPCom now intends to execute this injunction in the shortest possible time," the company said in a statement.
"We will use the right awarded by the courts, likely resulting in HTC devices disappearing from shops during the crucial Christmas season."
HTC confirmed it pulled the appeal on Friday and said it thought it was redundant as a German patent court has questioned the validity of the patent in question.
Analysts and lawyers said the withdrawal gives HTC time to battle against two other patents which could have been decided upon next week, while it can still try to delay the original injunction.
"While HTC can try to oppose the enforcement of the injunction, my research shows that the odds are very long against HTC on this one," said German patent expert and blogger Florian Mueller.

UNDER FIRE
Possible sales halt in Germany, one of the largest smartphone markets in Europe, comes at a time when HTC struggles to hold on to its position on the smartphone market.
"This represents an unwelcome distraction during an already difficult quarter for HTC," said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber.
Late last month, HTC warned that revenue would fall by up to 8 percent in October-December from the third quarter, and this week it flagged a much bigger drop, citing tougher competition and the global downturn.
The stock has fallen 30 percent in eight straight trading days.
The popularity of Apple's iPhones and Samsung Electronics's Galaxy line-up, recession-weary shoppers and long-running lawsuits have taken the gloss off what was one of the industry's biggest success stories.
IPCom has battled for years against HTC and Nokia in European courts.
IPCom had acquired Bosch's [ROBG.UL] mobile telephony patent portfolio, created between the mid-1980s and 2000, which includes about 160 patent families worldwide, including some of the key patents in the wireless industry, such as patent 100, which standardises a cellphone's first connection to a network.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/patent-firm-ipcom-says-to-stop-htc-german-sales_625090.html

Smartphone sector in a patent arms race

By: JONATHAN NORWOOD
Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca


In recent times, an increasingly competitive and litigious smartphone industry has spawned a patent arms race, and the need for participants to bulk up their proprietary patent portfolios.
Specifically, an eruption of patent lawsuits has occurred between almost every major developer of smartphone hardware and software in the industry. In many respects, companies are buying insurance against future legal action, injunctions, etc.

Early in 2011, a consortium led by Apple and Microsoft paid an astounding $4.5 billion for more than 6,000 patents owned by the now defunct Nortel Networks.

For anyone without a calculator handy, that equates to roughly $750,000 per Nortel patent. To put the intensity of competition for Nortel’s patents into context, Google opened the bidding at just $900 million (Nortel’s creditors will be happy), and was ultimately shut out completely.

Not to be without a dance partner, Google recently purchased Motorola and its 17,000 patents for $12.5 billion in cash, as well as a thousand or so patents from IBM for an undisclosed sum. This may work to put a lid on the patent race/bidding frenzy in the near term, because Google was really the one driving it.

How much is at risk? Consider the lost sales associated with the EUs recent halt of Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab because the design was too much like the iPad. Similarly, Apple has sued HTC for infringement this year and HTC has in turn counter-sued, claiming the iPhone violates several of its patents. The list goes on.
The mindset has really become one of “if you sue me, I’ll sue you back,” because the odds are that if you hold enough patents, your competitor will be infringing upon one of them.

By the same token, if you don’t have a patent war chest of your own, you are without any leverage. The result has been an increase in demand for such patents, followed by a spike in their valuations.
Consequently, large, cash-rich companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft have been patent stockpiling, or buying up patents to protect themselves from being sued.

It is believed that at the crux of the war was Google’s relatively late entry into the smartphone space and the robust growth in its Android operating system.

Because it was largely without a wireless patent portfolio, it had to acquire one in order to protect itself against litigation and to put it on a more level playing field with other wireless giants.

In other words, Google may very well have a great future in the wireless space, but it was essentially without a past in terms of intellectual property.

The winners will ultimately be the lawyers, and the perennial dogs like Nortel, Motorola, and even Eastman Kodak that have seen their enterprise values resurrected by their underlying patent portfolios. Smartphone maker Research in Motion, with its languishing BlackBerry brand, has also been rumoured to be a takeover target, in large part because of its patent library.

Pure play patent companies or patent trolls such as Wilan and Mosaid (who hold patents but never actually plan to manufacture or sell related products) also stand to benefit from valuation lifts over time. They simply sue anyone else trying to manufacture devices that appear to be based on their patents, and may very well become takeover targets themselves.

However, it is ambiguous as to whether their competitive edge will be hurt by their traditional prey, now beefing up their own patent portfolios.

Some industry watchers have been critical of the patent race, suggesting that the resources being allocated toward the collecting of old patents will crowd out investment in new innovation and research and development.

While there may to be some truth to this, the move away from PCs to mobile devices is irrefutable, and too much is at stake, especially for those that are late to the game.

Most of the large players are also sitting on enormous cash balances, so they have plenty of powder dry and itchy trigger fingers.

Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/36321-smartphone-sector-patent-arms-race

Netgear, Merck & Co., Yahoo!, BMW, MBI: Intellectual Property

By Victoria Slind-Flor
Source: http://www.businessweek.com

(This is a daily report on global news about patents, trademarks, copyright and other intellectual property topics.)

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Harris Corp. a maker of communications-related electronic equipment, sued Netgear Inc. for allegedly infringing network-security patents.

According to the complaint filed Nov. 21 in federal court in Orlando, Florida, Netgear infringed six patents related to network security access control.

The complaint lists a number of products from San Jose, California-based Netgear that allegedly infringe the patents.

In dispute are patents 6,504,515, 7,916,684, 5,787,177, 5,974,149, 6,189,104, and 6,397,336.

Harris, based in Melbourne Florida, asked the court for an order barring further infringement and awards of money damages, attorney fees and litigation costs.

The case is Harris Corp. v. Netgear Inc, 6:11-cv-01866, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (Orlando).

Source:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5399137754124668671#editor/target=post;postID=5983106273294211412

EU Court Backs Longer Patent Protection for Combined Drugs

By: Stephanie Bodoni and Aoife White
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com

The European Union’s highest court backed extended patent protection for drugs and vaccines that are effective against multiple diseases.
“The fundamental objective” of the EU rules in question “is to ensure sufficient protection to encourage pharmaceutical research, which plays a decisive role in the continuing improvement in public health,” the EU Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, said in a ruling today.
The case seeks to provide the pharmaceutical industry with clarity on how to interpret EU rules on so-called supplementary protection certificates, or extended patent protection, for multidisease drugs or vaccines. The value of even a few months of extra protection for a blockbuster drug can’t be understated, said Jonathan Radcliffe, a lawyer at Mayer Brown LLP in London.
Extending patent protection would help drugmakers just as the competition from generic drugs reaches its peak. Through 2016, drug companies face loss of exclusivity on products with more than $170 billion of sales, according to Bloomberg Industries research. Next year drugs producing almost $50 billion in revenue face potential competition.

Medeva SPC

The extended patent protection, or SPC, can only be given to the company that owns the patent on a drug’s active ingredient. Today’s case arose after a unit of Medeva Holdings BV, which belongs to Celltech Pharma Europe Ltd., was refused such SPCs in the U.K. for multi-disease vaccines that consisted of patented and non-patented active ingredients. A judge in London sought the EU court’s guidance on how to interpret the region’s SPC rules.
The EU court adopted a narrower approach than many drug companies expected by reiterating that only one SPC can be given per patent, Radcliffe said in a phone interview.
“It could have a chilling effect on the strategies life- sciences companies will have to adopt, and on their revenues,” said Radcliffe, adding in some cases multiple SPCs have been granted per patent.
The cases are: C-322/10, Medeva BV v. Comptroller-General of Patents; C-422/10, Georgetown University, University of Rochester, Loyola University of Chicago v. Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-24/eu-court-backs-longer-patent-protection-on-medicines-for-multiple-diseases.html

Google getting out of the green energy business?

By:IP BIZ
Source: http://ipbiz.blogspot.com

From Reuters' Google quits plans to make cheap renewable energy :

In 2009, the company's so-called Green Energy Czar, Bill Weihl, told Reuters that he expected to demonstrate within a few years working technology that could produce renewable energy at a cheaper price than coal.

"It is even odds, more or less," Weihl said at the time. "In three years, we could have multiple megawatts of plants out there."

A Google spokesman said that Weihl had left Google earlier this month.

Before joining Google in early 2006, William E. Weihl was CTO at Akamai Technologies.

Source: http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2011/11/google-getting-out-of-green-energy.html

Europe Patent Reform Changes the Global Infringement Landscape

By: Scott M. Fulton, lll
Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com

What if a patent granted in the State of Texas were invalid in Delaware? If the United States were a loose federation of states, as originally envisioned by its Articles of Confederation (the forerunner to its current Constitution), the validity of an invention in one state may have been challenged by another. In the European Union - which is not officially bound by a federal government - inventors (including companies) may apply for a European patent. But then all 27 member states have to incorporate all those patents (or not) into their existing systems.

The principal agenda of Neelie Kroes since ascending to the vice presidency of the European Commission (the upper house of E.U. parliament) is to set forth the so-called "digital agenda" for the continent. But she's also the standard bearer for a movement called the single market, where Europe as a whole is recognized as a unified trading partner. Key to her agenda is the implementation of a unitary patent system, where a European patent applies to every member country without question. It's a slow march towards federalism, as well as a move to standardize the classifications of patents, including for software. But today, the pace of that march may have just sped up.

The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (the lower house) announced this morning it has completed work on a standard package of continental patent reform proposals, which will now be brought to 25 of the 27 member states. (Italy and Spain, for the moment, remain holdouts.) The three main components of this plan call for the following:

    A unitary patent system as an "adjunct" to existing methods. As the European Patent Office (EPO) describes it, inventors will still be able to apply for patents in their member countries, but through the authority of the EPO. From there, applicants will have the option of applying for "unitary effect" for the patent - meaning, to have it apply to all of Europe voluntarily. This option apparently addresses member states' concerns raised in previous years, that a pan-European patent system would rob states of legitimate sources of revenue (applications fees, royalties, etc.). Some countries actually have stakes in the licensing of patents such as those protecting standards such as MP3. Under this "adjunct" system, conceivably those revenue streams would remain untouched.

    Adoption of a standardized "language regime" once a translation matrix becomes operational. In other words, until machine translation makes it possible for an application in any language to be translated into English, and from there into a member state's language, an English-language translation of the application must be provided by the applicant whenever the language of the EPO office where the patent is being filed is French or German. This relieves the EPO, for the meantime, from the burden of translating every patent it receives into almost every other language there is.

    The creation of a single European patent court, which won't just be a system for determining the validity of patents and patent applications. It will also serve, as the EPO describes, as "a unified patent litigation system." The three parts of this litigation system would be a court of first instance, an appeals system, and a registry. But divisions of the first instance court will be scattered throughout the continent, with the effect being that patent infringement cases will take place on a Europe-wide level.

It may take several more years before a majority of E.U. member states adopt a unitary patent system. But once that happens, it may suddenly become economically feasible for software and intellectual property patent holders to challenge defendants in both the U.S. and Europe concurrently. With the perceived value of patents among stakeholders and holding companies alike often determined by their projected "take-home" value in future infringement suits, the question would become whether the European or American system would set the bar for the value of intellectual property worldwide.


Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/11/europe-patent-reform-changes-t.php

Nanya Files Patent Complaint

By: LORRAINE LUK
Source: http://online.wsj.com


TAIPEI—Nanya Technology Corp. filed on Tuesday a patent infringement complaint against Japanese chip rival Elpida Memory Inc., its U.S. unit and California-based Kingston Technology Co. after a similar action from Elpida last week against the Taiwanese memory chip maker.

Nanya said it has asked the International Trade Commission to halt the production and sales of Elpida's dynamic random access memory chips and products containing DRAM chips made by Elpida, claiming Elpida's products infringe four of its U.S. patents.

DRAM chips are widely use in personal computers and many electronic products to store data. The complaint comes as major DRAM makers world-wide are suffering from an industry supply glut, which has led to steep price declines and put many manufacturers in the red.

"Nanya is evaluating its other options, including the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. district court. We expect to be compensated for the sale of products that infringe our patents," Nanya Technology Vice President Pei-Lin Pai said in a statement.

Elpida said Tuesday the Japanese memory chip maker can't comment on issues involving lawsuits, while U.S.-based flash memory card maker Kingston, which uses Elpida's DRAM chips for its products, declined to comment.

Patent infringement claims are common in the high-tech industry as companies fiercely compete to set industry standards. Analysts say such disputes typically end in cross-licensing arrangements whereby both parties can benefit from sharing their respective patents. In many cases, companies use claims and lawsuits as weapons in getting the upper hand in negotiations.

Nanya's complaint comes after Elpida said last week it filed a complaint in the U.S. with the ITC, claiming Nanya's products infringe seven of its U.S. patents.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577053110242913468.html#ixzz1eQTWygUD

U.S. Trade Body Clears Apple in Patent Case

By: MATT JARZEMSKY AND PAUL MOZUR
Source: http://online.wsj.com


The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple Inc. products don't infringe on patents held by HTC Corp.'s recently acquired subsidiary S3 Graphics, a setback for the Android handset maker.

The news sent shares of the Taiwan-based smartphone maker down by more than 5% early Tuesday, as the decision called into question the rationale behind HTC's $300 million acquisition.

HTC Chief Financial Officer Winston Yung on Tuesday defended the purchase of S3 Graphics, a Freemont, Calif.-based company that supplies graphics and video capability for its portfolio of patents.


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577052900155171364.html#ixzz1eQSjyv7Q

Apple patent application aims to keep iPhones shatter-proof with shock mounted glass

By: Michael Gorman
Source: http://www.engadget.com

From 'smart' pens to a smarter Siri, Apple's always attempting to find new ways to improve the iPhone, and the company's latest patent application wants to keep its crack-prone glass blemish free. Aptly named a "shock mounting cover glass in consumer electronic devices," the invention claims a tunable shock mount sandwiched between the phone's glass and other hardware. There's also plans for a sensor that can distinguish a "drop event" from normal phone movements and an actuator to prepare the shock mount for impact. Given that it's only at the application stage, we won't be seeing bombproof iPhone displays any time soon, but here's hoping it'll become a product reality someday. Mostly so we can see just how much of a beating it can take.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/20/apple-patent-application-aims-to-keep-iphones-shatter-proof-with/

Fung Gin Da Energy Science and Technology Co Ltd Files Patent Application for Apparatus for Generating Electric Power Using Wind Energy

By: Power Eng
Source: http://www.power-eng.com


New Delhi, Nov. 17 -- Taiwan based Fung Gin Da Energy Science and Technology Co Ltd filed patent application for apparatus for generating electric power using wind energy. The inventor is Chun-Neng Chuxng.

Fung Gin Da Energy Science and Technology Co Ltd filed the patent application on Nov. 2, 2010. The patent application number is 3043/MUM/2010 A. The international classification number is F03D11/00.

According to the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, "An apparatus for generating electric power from wind energy includes a blade device rotatable relative to a base to convert wind energy into a mechanical rotary power output, and havingan upright rod connected with upright blades and coupled to a generator in the base to convert the mechanical rotary power output into electric power. Each blade has spaced windcollecting ribs extending vertically from a first side surface thereof, thereby defining a wind-collecting space between any two adjacent wind-collecting ribs. A wind-collecting unit includes upright plates mounted on the base, angularly equidistant and disposed around the blade device. Any two adjacent plates define an inwardly converging windguiding channel therebetween. The plates are non-flat so that wind is guided by the plat&s to blow onto the first side surfaces of the blades via the wind-guiding channels."


Source: http://www.power-eng.com/news/2011/11/1543611936/fung-gin-da-energy-science-and-technology-co-ltd-files-patent-application-for-apparatus-for-generati.html

Look out! Here comes Apple's killer location-services patent

By: Erik Sherman
Source: www.news.cnet.com


A reissue of a patent originally dating back to 1998 -- and that Apple got from Xerox -- has delivered into CEO Tim Cook's hands some serious, and scary, potential control over location-based services. If you thought that Google, Samsung, HTC, and others were already depressed over the legal success Apple has had in fighting Android, it's now officially worse.

Even more, it could bring some important activities of other companies, such as Facebook and Foursquare, under Apple's purview -- which is another way of saying that Apple might be able to tell these companies to pay up if they wanted to use location services. Given that location-based service is one key to the mobile ambitions of virtually everyone else in the industry, the patent could give Apple control over some hot parts of mobile technology, including location-based innovation in advertising, social networks, mapping, flash deals, and augmented reality. And Apple has proven that it's perfectly willing to use legal muscle to deal with competitors.

Location, location, location
The patent that issued yesterday, RE42,927, is actually a reissue of a patent that Xerox received in 2000 and filed for in 1998. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple received ownership of the patent on December 17, 2009. (Yes, once again Xerox came up with a cool idea only to see Apple do something with it, as it did with GUIs and mice.)

In other words, this patent is old enough to predate much of what is now happening in both mobile and social media. Even worse -- for Apple's competitors -- it's broad. Here's the all-important first independent claim that helps set the scope for what the patent might legally cover:
 
A location information system that displays location specific information, the location information system, comprising: a receiver that receives location identification information from at least one site specific object identifying a location.Iadd., where the at least one site specific object is a beacon.Iaddend.; and a transceiver that transmits the location identification information to a distributed network and that receives the location specific information about the specified location from the distributed network based on the location identification information, wherein the location specific information provides information corresponding to the location.

Don't let the odd Iadd/Iaddend text throw you. It seems to show the difference between this newest version of the patent and the previous one. Breaking it down, here's what the claim covers:

The system will display information that is specific to the location the device is in. That could mean text, video, sound, or images. There is no restriction on what the information conveys, so anything from something informative in a visual display to a two-for-one burger special would seem to be covered.
   
The device has a location information system that receives location information from at least one object that specifies the location of the site where the device user is. The patent description makes it clear that this could include GPS signals from space or a barcode plastered on a building. Because "receiver" is another broad term, you could include GPS radios in cell phones or a camera and software combo that would obtain a two-dimension QR barcode. Apple broadened the language to include GPS systems.
   
A transceiver (another general term) sends the location information over a distributed network like the Internet to some unspecified destination and, in return, gets location-specific information in return.

Once the information is back, the device can presumably do whatever it wants with it, whether display the data separately, incorporate it into something else, or even toss it.

This patent is so basic that it would be hard to get around it. Just about any location-based system at its heart has to transmit a local location and receive information in return. That leaves the question of what Apple will decide to do ... and to whom.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57326207-37/look-out-here-comes-apples-killer-location-services-patent/

New Apple Patent Hints at MacBook-Tablet Hybrid

By: John P. Mello Jr
Source: http://www.pcworld.com


You don't need to be a Steve Jobs to see that as laptops become ever thinner and tablets become more and more popular, convergence of the products is inevitable. As that day approaches, Apple is preparing to be ready for it.

The company received approval from the U.S. Patent Office this week for a patent for a MacBook with a cellular antenna and a rotating display. Such a MacBook could have the super thin qualities of the MacBook Air and the cellular connectivity and touchscreen versatility of the iPad.

It could also steel Apple against the onslaught of Ultrabooks that PC makers are readying to unleash on the world. "This officially announces to the Wintel camp that Apple now has the ability to match or beat the Ultrabook design that is to come to market in 2013 with the [Intel] Haswell processor," declared Jack Purcher, of Patently Apple.

Intel announced the Ultrabook category of PC laptops in May. The line is squarely aimed at the MacBook Air. The first wave of Ultrabooks, based on existing Intel processors, has already begun to hit the market. The units are supposed to be priced under $1000 and be super thin--0.78 inches--or in the case of the HP Folio announced today, even less--0.70 inches.

Next year, the platform is expected to be advanced further with the introduction of units based on Intel's Ivy Bridge processor. A third wave of Ultrabooks is planned for 2013. They would be based on the Haswell processor and consume half the power of today's laptops. Some of them also will sport Windows 8 with its touchscreen-enabled Metro interface.
Patent Details

According to Purcher, the new Apple patent calls for a hinge structure that would allow a MacBook to "rotate relative to the base of the laptop computer." He explained that structure is very much like the second or third generation Ultrabook design spec that allows it to transform into a tablet for simple reading, surfing and/or scribbling with a smart pen.

As for the antenna patent, Purcher said that Apple has been filing patents in that area for almost two years. "It's a forming trend that is certainly illustrating that Apple's industrial design team, lead by Jony Ive, is trying different approaches in creating the perfect Telephonic MacBook," he wrote.

Citing the recent biography of Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs, Purcher argues that the company is in the same situation it was in when it decided to introduce the iPhone. At that time, Jobs knew the iPhone would cannibalize iPod sales.

"The same is true for the future Ultrabook that will sport the Haswell processor and more importantly, support a rotatable display to allow a notebook to transform into a tablet for leisurely reading etc.," he wrote. "Likewise, Apple has to offer a notebook-tablet alternative product or risk having their iPad sales erode at an accelerated pace. With a combo unit, Apple will be able to justify dropping iPad sales if their MacBook-Tablet is the direct beneficiary."

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/244062/new_apple_patent_hints_at_macbooktablet_hybrid.html

Patent Trolls Cost Businesses $80 Billion Per Year, Study Finds

By: Katherine Noyes
Source: http://www.pcworld.com


This is particularly true in the mobile arena, where companies including Apple and Microsoft have been especially enthusiastic in their use of patents as leverage over their competitors.

Of course, it's one thing for a company with products to protect to begin asserting patents against others; it's quite another, however, for companies to buy and assert patents without producing any goods of their own.

“Patent troll” is the name typically given to firms in this latter category, and--according to a new study--they're depriving technology businesses of more than $80 billion per year, to the detriment of small inventors and society as a whole.

Half a Trillion Dollars

“Non-practicing entities” (NPEs) is the polite name given to patent trolls by Boston University School of Law researchers James Bessen, Jennifer Ford, and Michael Meurer, whose paper, “The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls” (PDF), will soon be published in the journal Regulation.

Whereas such firms once helped enable technology markets and boost the profits small inventors could earn from their inventions, that's no longer the case, the authors argue. Rather, today's NPEs assert patents “on an unprecedented scale,” they write, involving thousands of defendants every year in hundreds of lawsuits.

The researchers studied the effect of patent lawsuits on defendants' wealth by examining the stock price of those companies around the time the lawsuits in question were filed. After factoring out market trends and random factors, they found that between 1990 and 2010, NPE lawsuits are associated with half a trillion dollars in lost wealth to defendants.

'They Decrease Incentives for Innovation'

Over the past four years, in fact, that lost wealth averaged more than $80 billion per year--primarily at the expense of technology companies that invest heavily in R&D.

Such litigation typically focuses on software and related technologies, the authors note; most often, it targets firms that have already developed technology. Particularly telling is that “the loss of incentives to the defendant firms is not matched by an increase in incentives to other inventors,” they write.

The bottom line is that patent trolls are simply exploiting weaknesses in the patent system without adding value, the study concludes. In fact, they harm society by doing so: “While the lawsuits increase incentives to acquire vague, over-reaching patents, they decrease incentives for real innovation overall,” the researchers explain.

'Fuzzy Boundaries'

It's easy to lay blame at the feet of the patent trolls themselves, of course, but the authors of this study point squarely at the “fuzzy boundaries” and unclear scope of patents on software and business methods, in particular.

I couldn't agree more. We're all paying a heavy price for this broken patent system. It's long past time to abolish software patents, once and for all.


Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/243928/patent_trolls_cost_businesses_80_billion_per_year_study_finds.html

KMA Global Solutions International Announces New Application Equipment Development

By: Press Release
Source: www.marketwatch.com


TORONTO, ONTARIO, Nov 14, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- KMA Global Solutions International, Inc. KMAG +25.00% is pleased to announce its latest innovation for its Application equipment designed to apply the patented Dual tag. We are currently working very closely with a consumer packaging client that has various configurations in their packaging that has forced us to increase our capabilities to allow for application in a 360 degree environment. Applying the Dual tag on cylindrical surfaces that allow for RFID verification at high speed has challenged us and our automation partner Milestone Automation to keep ahead of our competition.

KMA has developed a suite of high speed application process that enables application and "RFID Read, Write and Verification" at the highest speeds in the industry.

Jeffrey D. Reid, Chief Executive Officer of KMA Global Solutions International, Inc., commented, "Working closely with innovative clients has challenged KMA and its partners to constantly advance our processes and technology." KMA is working with Milestone Automation to prepare a suite of products in this fast growing marketplace.

KMA's DUAL Tag(TM) provides theft protection through its innovative combination of two leading Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technologies in a single, high-speed application. Packaging companies that have adopted DUAL Tag(TM) consider it to be of great benefit to their operation. When compared to applying the two EAS technologies separately, production efficiencies increase substantially and overall costs are significantly reduced. DUAL Tag(TM) eliminates inventory costs associated with duplicate inventories that differ only by EAS technology and allows products to be sold through any retail channel.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kma-global-solutions-international-announces-new-application-equipment-development-2011-11-14-16280?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Patent Monopoly Hurts Innovation, Consumers

By : Christine Harbin
Source: http://www.policymic.com

Whenever a company like Apple or Motorola develops a new smart phone, it risks losing billions in lawsuits because it may be infringing on another company's intellectual property. To mitigate this risk, mobile-technology companies are buying up billions in patents.

Patents pull a high price-tag. Last June, Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola's U.S. smart phone business and its 17,000 patents. In July, a group of companies including Apple and Microsoft paid $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents from Nortel Networks, out-bidding Google.

Government is failing to help. Last September, President Barack Obama signed a patent reform bill that was "mostly pointless" because it didn't do much to solve the problem of over-broad patents.

Some say that the patent system is broken, but I’m skeptical of this claim. Mobile technology is an industry that remains in its infancy, and the same rules on intellectual property may be difficult to apply. I suspect, instead, that we are seeing a patent market bubble. Mobile technology companies currently face a high level of uncertainty in the legal climate, and they are responding by increasing their demand for intellectual property protection.

This begs the broad question: Are intellectual laws good for society?

Critics of intellectual property laws argue that people will invent less if they are distracted with litigation. From the perspective of consumers, a lower rate of innovation is certainly undesirable. However, Google's top patent lawyer says that ending patents won't cause innovation to stop and that historically innovation has happened in the absence of patents.

Supporters argue that intellectual property protections ensure that people get rewarded for their ideas and have an incentive to innovate. Although this sounds good in theory, it often doesn't play out in practice. Sometimes patent laws make competitors see the rewards. For example, Apple owns the patent for the “slide to unlock” feature that all Google Android phones use, so Apple is poised to get billions of dollars in royalties from Android, even though Google is unlikely to see a dime from it.

I haven't decided whether patent laws are good or bad for society, but I do think that the practice of hoarding patents is bad because it restricts competition. We are moving toward a world in which a small number of companies own most of the patents. If the mobile phone market became a monopoly or duopoly, it is likely that prices would rise and innovation would slow. That would be bad for consumers.

Source: http://www.policymic.com/articles/2363/patent-monopoly-hurts-innovation-consumers

Apple patent suggests new iPod features

By: Christina Bonnington
Source: http://edition.cnn.com

(WIRED) -- Passing earwax-tainted earbuds between friends is nobody's favorite way to share iPod tunes. An integrated speaker in the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle models could end that practice for good, and provide opportunity for a host of new iPod possibilities.

A newly published Apple patent describes how Apple could add a teeny speaker dome to the clip on the iPod shuffle or iPod nano. It's a sneaky way to add some extra functionality to Apple's smallest media players -- all without adding any extra bulk.

According to the patent, which was broken down by Patently Apple, the addition of a speaker would be a "natural evolutionary step for their media players."

The addition of a speaker -- along with Apple's embrace of the iPod nano as a wrist-worn device and the integration of Nike+ exercise software -- would also position Apple well for targeting the same fitness market that's home to the Motorola Motoactv, NPD analyst Ross Rubin says.

Over the past two years, several signs have pointed to one or more iPod lines being discontinued. Indicators include lackluster sales (last quarter, Apple sold 6.6 million iPods, a 27 percent decline from the same period in 2010), and a dearth of product refreshes for the shuffle and classic models. Nonetheless, Apple continues to support its beloved line of media players. And now it seems new energy may be breathed into the line.


CEO Tim Cook said iPod is a "large and important product" for the company at Apple's 2011 iPhone event. And Apple recently dropped the prices of its nano and touch iPod models, making them more competitive and more accessible to a wider market. Current iterations of the nano and shuffle have no external speaker, but the larger iPod touch does have one.

The iPod nano-like Motoactv, a wearable fitness-tracking music player.

Rubin sees the addition of a speaker to, say, an iPod nano as a gateway to a slew of new use-case scenarios.

"One thing it might point to is the nano being used to interface with an iOS device," Rubin says, much the way the Motoactv can sync with an Android device, and be used to relay the arrival of calls or text messages on its small screen.

Rubin says future nanos could be worn on your wrist, displaying social media updates relayed from an iPad stowed away in your backpack or messenger bag. A nano with a small speaker could also feature an audible alarm, making timed work-out tracking all the more convenient -- useful when you want to use Nike+ without earbuds.

Rubin also points out that you could activate Siri requests using the small screen on your wrist and have answers relayed to you through the speaker.

If the speaker only ended up being used as a music playback mechanism, Rubin says, "It wouldn't make a radical difference" in how we use or perceive iPods. True, but not needing to share earbuds anymore? Still a plus.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/11/tech/innovation/apple-nano-ipod-features/

Apple Patent Suggests Clever New iPod Features

By: Christina Bonnington
Source: http://www.wired.com

Passing earwax-tainted earbuds between friends is nobody’s favorite way to share iPod tunes. An integrated speaker in the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle models could end that practice for good, and provide opportunity for a host of new iPod possibilities.

A newly published Apple patent describes how Apple could add a teeny speaker dome to the clip on the iPod shuffle or iPod nano. It’s a sneaky way to add some extra functionality to Apple’s smallest media players — all without adding any extra bulk.

According to the patent, which was broken down by Patently Apple, the addition of a speaker would be a “natural evolutionary step for their media players.”

The addition of a speaker — along with Apple’s embrace of the iPod nano as a wrist-worn device and the integration of Nike+ exercise software — would also position Apple well for targeting the same fitness market that’s home to the Motorola Motoactv, NPD analyst Ross Rubin says.

Over the past two years, several signs have pointed to one or more iPod lines being discontinued. Indicators include lackluster sales (last quarter, Apple sold 6.6 million iPods, a 27 percent decline from the same period in 2010), and a dearth of product refreshes for the shuffle and classic models. Nonetheless, Apple continues to support its beloved line of media players. And now it seems new energy may be breathed into the line.

CEO Tim Cook said iPod is a “large and important product” for the company at Apple’s 2011 iPhone event. And Apple recently dropped the prices of its nano and touch iPod models, making them more competitive and more accessible to a wider market. Current iterations of the nano and shuffle have no external speaker, but the larger iPod touch does have one.

Rubin sees the addition of a speaker to, say, an iPod nano as a gateway to a slew of new use-case scenarios.

“One thing it might point to is the nano being used to interface with an iOS device,” Rubin says, much the way the Motoactv can sync with an Android device, and be used to relay the arrival of calls or text messages on its small screen.

Rubin says future nanos could be worn on your wrist, displaying social media updates relayed from an iPad stowed away in your backpack or messenger bag. A nano with a small speaker could also feature an audible alarm, making timed work-out tracking all the more convenient — useful when you want to use Nike+ without earbuds.

Rubin also points out that you could activate Siri requests using the small screen on your wrist and have answers relayed to you through the speaker.

If the speaker only ended up being used as a music playback mechanism, Rubin says, “It wouldn’t make a radical difference” in how we use or perceive iPods. True, but not needing to share earbuds anymore? Still a plus.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/author/christinab/

Barnes & Noble Wants Microsoft's Patents Probed

By: Kevin Parrish
Source : www.tomsguide.com


Barnes & Noble wants U.S. regulators to investigate Microsoft and its portfolio of patents, fearing a monopoly.

Facing a February trial stemming around Microsoft's Android patent claims, Barnes & Noble alleges that Microsoft is attempting to raise its rivals' costs by using "trivial and outmoded patents" in order to drive out competition and to deter innovation in mobile devices. The book retailer is now asking U.S. regulators to investigate whether Microsoft is trying to monopolize the mobile sector by demanding Android-related patent royalties.

"Microsoft is embarking on a campaign of asserting trivial and outmoded patents against manufacturers of Android devices," Barnes & Noble said in an Oct. 17 letter to Gene Kimmelman, the Justice Department’s chief counsel for competition policy.

The upcoming trial slated for February 2012 is based on accusations presented by Microsoft that claim Barnes & Noble infringes on five patents. Microsoft previously filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking to block imports of the NOOK readers. Microsoft insists that the underlying NOOK OS -- naturally Google's Android -- uses its patented inventions. Microsoft has already landed licensing deals with HTC and Samsung.

"All modern operating systems include many patented technologies," Microsoft said in a statement. "Microsoft has taken licenses to patents for Windows and we make our patents available on reasonable terms for other operating systems, like Android. We would be pleased to extend a license to Barnes & Noble."

Barnes & Noble said that part of Microsoft's tactics to to raise rivals’ costs included the participation in a group of companies to buy Novell patents. Microsoft has also reportedly participated in a three-way licensing agreement with Nokia and Mosaid Technologies. These two specific actions are supposedly intended to "prevent Android- based devices from taking away sales of Microsoft’s Windows operating system."

Although actual figures were not provided, Barnes & Noble said that Microsoft is demanding the same amount in patent fees that the Redmond company charges users of its Windows Phone platform.


Source: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/nook-barnes-noble-patents-outmoded-royalties,news-13136.html

B&N Sought Microsoft Inquiry

By: THOMAS CATAN
Source: http://online.wsj.com


WASHINGTON—Barnes & Noble Inc. lobbied the Justice Department as recently as this summer to open an antitrust probe of Microsoft Corp., alleging that the software giant was trying to kill off handheld devices like B&N's Nook e-reader with a barrage of "frivolous" patent suits, court documents show.

In a series of letters and presentations to the department's antitrust division, the bookseller's lawyers accused Microsoft of trying to corner the market for handheld operating systems by threatening companies using Google Inc.'s Android software.

"Microsoft's willingness to bully small players with expensive litigation raises a substantial barrier to entry in any market in which it claims dominance," B&N's general counsel, Eugene DeFelice, wrote in a March letter to the department's then-antitrust chief, Christine Varney.

"Microsoft's exorbitant licenses for its patents entrench the dominant players in the relevant markets because those players can afford to take a license, while small players cannot," Mr. DeFelice wrote.

B&N didn't say how much Microsoft was seeking for a licensing deal, but said it was more than the company could afford.

A spokeswoman for B&N declined to comment.

B&N filed the documents at the International Trade Commission, where the company is defending itself against a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by Microsoft. One of the documents shows that B&N gave a presentation to Justice Department lawyers in July in which it called for the government to investigate Microsoft's allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Microsoft has said Android infringes a number of its patents, and it has struck licensing deals with several makers of Android devices, including Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Acer Inc.

"All modern operating systems include many patented technologies," a Microsoft spokesman said Tuesday. "Microsoft has taken licenses to patents for Windows, and we make our patents available on reasonable terms for other operating systems, like Android. We would be pleased to extend a license to Barnes & Noble," he said.

The fight between Microsoft and B&N is a skirmish in a wider battle between manufacturers of smartphones, which draw on a multitude of patented technologies spanning the fields of wireless telephony and personal computing.

Several of the largest manufacturers, including Apple Inc., Samsung and Motorola Mobility Inc., are locked in patent suits in different countries to try to block each other's devices or extract a license fee. In an effort to bolster their own armories of technology patents, many of them also are spending billions of dollars buying up troves of patents from defunct companies or trading them among themselves in alliances.

The Justice Department is taking a keen interest in whether technology companies are abusing patent rights to thwart competition. It is investigating the $4.5 billion purchase of thousands of patents from Nortel Networks Corp., a bankrupt Canadian telecom-gear maker, according to people familiar with the matter. It is also conducting an antitrust review of Google's proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

Google said it sought the company largely because it needed its collection of patents to help fend off further patent suits by Microsoft, Apple and others against the cellphone makers that use Android.

Google is particularly vulnerable to patent-infringement suits. Its size and wealth give it plenty to lose if anyone were to secure a court injunction against one of its key technologies. But because it is a relatively young company, it has relatively few patents of its ownwith which to deter suits by competitors.

In April, the Justice Department forced a group of companies including Microsoft and Apple to promise it wouldn't use a portfolio of patents it was acquiring from Novell Inc. to unfairly hurt other companies. As part of the deal, Microsoft was forced to give up the patents it was buying and license them instead.

The consent decree that governed Microsoft's behavior following the Justice Department's landmark antitrust case against it expired earlier this year.

B&N lawyers said in the court documents that "Unlike for the past decade, Microsoft's current anticompetitive behavior is unchecked by any government agency."


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577026481717261566.html#ixzz1dCANUwQY