Welcome to weekly patent news, a show that provides quick updates on the recent activity in the patent world.
The US has seen a distinct trend toward legalization of marijuana use. The increasingly friendly legal environment for marijuana has attracted interests of inventors, who have filed patents for electronic cigarettes, cigars and pipes.So inventors are getting high on IP.
Patent litigation filings declined significantly in 2014, falling 29 percent from the previous year.
But non-practicing entities (NPEs) continued to be responsible for a huge percentage of that litigation, according to report published by Unified Patents.
The overall decline in patent litigation is in part attributable to the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank. Which addressed issues related to the patentability of software.
Once again, IBM received more patents than any other company in the world over the past year,
marking the 22nd consecutive year that the company topped the annual list of U.S. patent recipients.
IBM inventors earned an average of more than 20 patents per day in 2014, propelling the company to become the first to surpass more than 7,000 patents in a single year. 40 percent of these patents covered cloud computing, analytics, mobile, social and security inventions.
Over the past year, Google’s tally increased by 38.6% and Apple’s patent holdings increased by nearly 13%.
Marathon Patent Group is one of the best performing NPEs. It was founded in late 2012 and spent its first few months acquiring patents. Its plan was to monetize these patents to generate 2-5x its original cost. They have achieved their goal by returning 5x in two years, rewarding shareholders with a 575% rally to its current market capitalization of $115 million.
LETS MOVE ON TO COURTROOM SECTION
GoPro shares plummeted 12 percent, after Apple was granted a patent for a remote-control camera system.
Investors are concerned that the patent will let Apple, the world’s largest company by market valuation, make products that are similar to what GoPro offers
Apple and Ericsson have ramped up their ongoing fight over royalties and patents.
Ericsson secured FRAND status on some of its patents related to LTE wireless technology that Apple uses in its iPhone smartphones. While the companies previously had an agreement in place, Apple has battled with Ericsson over the past two years, saying that the FRAND license extension it was expected to sign is unfair.
This week, Apple filed a lawsuit in US admitting that while it uses Ericsson’s LTE technology in its products, it does not believe that the patents related to that technology are essential to cellular operation and fetch too much in royalties
Gustav Brismark, Ericsson’s head of patent strategy said “We have offered Apple numerous times licensing offers”.
The Delhi high court on Friday restrained homegrown generic drug maker Cipla from making and selling Indacaterol, a drug claimed to be patented by Swiss pharma company Novartis AG.
The interim injunction has been granted till Cipla’s application for compulsory licensing of the drug is decided.
Liberty Ammunition, a manufacturer of lead-free ammunition has won more than $15 million in a patent infringement lawsuit against the federal government
Judge Charles F. Lettow found the federal government had infringed on Liberty’s patent for its copper-core, steel-tipped ammunition.
Here are statistics for patent litigations filed last week
MOVING ON TO THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India’s patent office has rejected an application from U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, paving the way for local drugmakers to launch cheaper generic versions of the $1,000-a-pill medicine.
The application had been opposed by Indian generic drugmaker Natco Pharma Ltd and New York-based Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) on the grounds that the drug, chemically called sofosbuvir, is not inventive enough compared with a previous formulation.
NEW PATENTS PUBLISHED THIS WEEK
Apple patented an advanced automated Instagram
Apple’s invention modifies images automatically based on audio events, motion events, and location events. There is no need for users to select specific effect each time as required with Instagram.
Once a user clicks a photo, water reflection effect is triggered by the background audio being played on the device. The audio also distorts the reflection.
Alternatively, the background audio triggers a zoom-in and zoom-out effect.
Motion of the device triggers image modification, such as spiral effect or brush strokes effect.
Further, the invention automatically applies image alteration effect based on location of the device, for example, at home, red color is overlayed on the photo and at office, blue color is overlayed on the photo.
Apple also patented a display that doubles as a speaker membrane.
Currently, the size of speakers in smartphones is limited. This severely impacts the quality of the sound produced.
Apple’s invention includes a display that acts as a speaker membrane. A stiffner that provides stiffness to the display and a magnet with coil, which vibrates the speaker membrane.
This improves the quality of sound considerably.
Google Patented Automatic Incognito Mode, which is often called the porn mode.
Microsoft invented inconspicuous mode that is better suited for an environments such as a theater.
Microsoft also patented three dimensional input sensor, which is basically a Kinect sensor for computers.
Further, Microsoft patented a unique heat management solution, that uses phase transition properties to maintain temperature. Basically, the patented heat sync includes a phase change material that absorbs latent heat and keeps the temperature constant for a longer duration.
IT IS TIME FOR THIS DAY IN PATENT HISTORY
On January 14, 1890 George Cooke received a patent for a matchless gas burner.
On January 15, 1861 E.G. Otis was issued a patent for elevators.
Thanks for liking and sharing the video.
Please subscribe to our channel by clicking the big red button to receive updates on new videos uploaded every week. If you are viewing this video on a mobile phone, please find the subscription link in the description below.
Until next time, Keep innovating and keep patenting!
It was Feast of the Ass day on January 14. we celebrate it by feasting on Donkey milk produced using this patented method.
