In yet another example of Walmart’s effort to increase its online presence and best rival Amazon, the big box retailer has filed a patent for an automatic home ordering subscription system similar to Amazon’s “Dash” buttons. [More]
patent
Feds Say Invention Marketing Firm Used Bogus Testimonials, Threatened To Sue Clients
By 3.14.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Getting your awesome invention from scribble to prototype to store shelves is often no simple task, but one company that promised to help amateur inventors patent and market their creation has been shut down by a federal court after being accused of bilking millions of dollars from its clients. [More]
Apple Sues Qualcomm For $1B Over Alleged Antitrust Violations
By 1.20.17
Days after federal regulators sued smartphone and device chip maker Qualcomm accusing it of antitrust violations, one of the company’s largest customers, Apple, is following suit, seeking $1 billion in damages. [More]
Qualcomm Faces Anti-Trust Lawsuit Over Patents, Licensing
By 1.17.17
Your phone might say “Apple” or “Samsung” or “LG” on the outside, but inside there are parts from dozens of companies, including Qualcomm, which now stands accused by federal regulators of using anticompetitive tactics to maintain an alleged monopoly on one important cell phone component. [More]
Apple: 90% Of “Apple” Power Accessories Sold On Amazon Are Fake
By 10.19.16 — Updated: 10.20.16
For years, Amazon and Apple have fought their own battles when it comes to counterfeit products: third-party retailers selling lookalike Apple accessories and companies hawking fake name-brand products on the e-commerce site. Now, the two issues have come together, with a lawsuit claiming that 90% of the supposed Apple power accessories listed on the site are fake. [More]
Amazon Patents Way To Turn Lampposts, Church Steeples Into Drone Perches
By 7.19.16
For the past few years, Amazon has been working on plans that would unleash a fleet of drones to handle some deliveries – from unveiling a prototype that acts more like a “horse than a car” and a patent for propellers that tell bystanders to “look out.” Now, another recently released patent shows what those little flying machines might be doing while they aren’t ferrying your Prime deliveries: sitting on a lamppost. [More]
Snapchat Wants To Send You Ads By Identifying Objects In Your Selfies
By 7.18.16
Try to remember the last photo you took on Snapchat: did it include a recognizable tourist spot? Perhaps a cup of coffee? The next time you take a similar photo, you might find a handful of ad-heavy filters waiting to be applied to the scene as Snapchat recently received a patent that would allow it to use image recognition technology to send users ads and other filters related to the picture content. [More]
Google Patents Pedestrian “Glue” For Self-Driving Cars
By 5.20.16
While Google’s self-driving vehicles have been cruising around the streets, the company’s engineers have been working on a way to ensure pedestrians that may come into contact with the bumper of one of those autonomous vehicles are left relatively unscathed. Their apparent solution: an adhesive that makes people stick to the car’s hood. [More]
Amazon Files Patent For Pay-By-Selfie System
By 3.14.16
MasterCard may have rolled out its new “selfie” verification system last month, but it’s not the only company to take consumers’ love of self portraits and turn it into a way to make money. To that end, Amazon recently filed a patent for a so-called selfie pay system. [More]
Just Looking At This Airplane Seat Design Patent Makes Us Uncomfortable
By 7.9.15
Airlines and aircraft manufactures are continuously looking for new ways to pack passengers into planes like sardines. From installing narrower seats to exploring the idea of bicycle-like perches , there appears to be no end to what might be considered to maximize capacity on flights. The latest concept: a seating design that takes the already awful experience of being stuck in the middle seat and makes it worse… so much worse. [More]
New Google Glass Could Reportedly Have Larger Display, Hand-Triggered Photo Capabilities
By 7.8.15
Citing the need for a redesign – and slow sales for its Explorers program – Google stopped selling the most recent version of its Google Glass back in January. While the company declined to provide any specifics on its next version of the device at the time, a newly awarded patent – and sources close to the device’s creation – give a few hints of what might be in store for the high-tech gadget. [More]
Creative Sues Apple, Claims They Created MP3 Menus
By 5.16.06
Could patent law be any more absurd? Perhaps we’re on the wrong end of it, but it seems that the only tangible result of modern patent law is a string of nuisance lawsuits in which one company attempts to rob consumers of a product they enjoy by suing a company that has made an ostensibly similar competing device. Re: Blackberry. But now, Creative vs. Apple.
