When you think of companies that specialize in deodorant, names like Old Spice, Suave, Axe, Dove and maybe Febreze spring to mind. But according to recently awarded patents, there’s a surprise player with a nose for the odor-removing business: Google. [More]
patents
Hobbyist Photo-Sharing Site Defends Itself Against Company With A Patent On Online Voting
By 2.17.15
Patents are intended to protect the developers of specific concepts. That’s why you don’t see a patent for “thing that can treat diseases,” but for individual medicines and devices. Last summer, the Supreme Court confirmed you can’t simply patent a generic idea just because you apply it to a computer. But a small photo-sharing site is being sued for infringing on a patent that arguably covers a vast range of vote-for-your-favorite competitions. [More]
BlackBerry Suing Makers Of Slip-On iPhone Keyboard Again, Claiming New Version Is Infringement
By 2.17.15
BlackBerry has a bone to pick with Typo, the makers of a slip-on iPhone keyboard that the mobile phone company already sued once with claims that the case infringes on its patents, and it’s not ready to let that bone go anytime soon. A new lawsuit against Typo is now on the books, this time aimed at the company’s second iteration of slip-on accessories [More]
Apple’s Future iPhones Might Be Bendy On Purpose
By 1.8.15
The iPhone 6 caught a lot of heat for being a bit more prone to bending than other phones before it. But in the future, iPhones might be super flexible on purpose. The Apple Insider blog reports that this week, Apple won a patent for “a flexible electronic device” that can fold up like a trifold wallet. In the future, perhaps bendiness will be a feature, not a bug. [Apple Insider] [More]
U.S. Patent Office To Decide Whether Patent Troll Company Actually Owns Podcasting
By 12.15.14
Podcasts are simply the done thing, in 2014: everyone’s taking their modern update on the radio show with them on the go. One company out there, seeing all the dollar signs, now claims that they invented and patented podcasting 18 years ago, and is suing anyone not paying them license fees. But consumer tech advocates are fighting back, and hoping to get regulators to make the patent trolls crawl back under their bridge. [More]
Apple Patents System To Prevent Dropped iPhones From Landing Face-Down
By 12.2.14
Most of us have been there, watching in horror as a pricey smartphone falls toward the ground, doomed to be dented, cracked and damaged by the force of impact. A newly awarded Apple patent details how a small vibrating motor could possibly be used to minimize the damage when that device goes into freefall. [More]
FTC Takes First Action Against Patent Trolls For Deceptive Sales, Phony Legal Threats
By 11.6.14
For the first time in its history, the Federal Trade Commission has brought action against a patent assertion company that allegedly used nefarious tactics in trying to pry money from other companies accused of violating patents it owned. [More]
Disney’s Search Engine Patent Lumps Movie Piracy In With Child Porn
By 10.31.14
The folks at Disney have patented a search engine that ranks and filters out results based on “authenticity” metrics, allowing it to exclude “undesirable” results, which it describes only as “results referencing piracy websites, child pornography websites, and/or the like,” lumping in people trying to watch Finding Nemo for free with dangerous sexual predators. [More]
Inflatable Sock Patented By eBay Could Change How Consumers Shop For Shoes Online
By 7.7.14
Have you ever ordered a pair of shoes online only to receive them and they don’t fit? Well, to rid consumers of the hassle that is ordering, returning and reordering, eBay has invented an inflatable sock to fit every shoe shape. [More]
Airbus: Pilots Don’t Need Windows In Cockpit, Or Even A Cockpit
By 7.3.14
All those windows in the cockpit of your jumbo jet? They’re expensive to maintain and just slow the plane down, but they’re necessary for the whole “seeing” thing. The folks at Airbus disagree. [More]
You Can’t Just Patent An Idea — You Actually Have To Make A Thing, Supreme Court Rules
By 6.19.14
The Supreme Court today issued rulings on a handful of cases. One was about two companies nobody’s ever really heard of, arguing over patents for software to manage banking transactions. The details of the patents themselves, and the transactions they deal with, are kind of complicated and insidery — but they’re also not necessarily that important. The broader implications of the ruling, and the legal precedent the Court set with it, though, will have an impact for years to come. [More]
Tesla Opens Patents For Rivals To Use In Attempt To Speed Up Electric Car Adoption
By 6.12.14
For the most part inventors hold their patents near and dear to their hearts, not allowing others to cash in on their ideas. That’s not the case for Tesla CEO Elon Musk. [More]
Amazon Snags Patent For Taking Photographs Of Stuff Against A White Background
By 5.9.14
You there, with the camera, the seamless white background and the subject you’re prepared to shoot — halt! Or at least stop to ponder the reality that Amazon has apparently been granted a patent for taking photos of stuff against a white background. [More]
New Apple Patent Seeks To Prevent Drivers From Texting While Behind The Wheel
By 4.22.14
Apple’s already got a patent in the works for technology to keep distracted pedestrians from hurting themselves while texting and walking, and now the company’s got its eyes on the road. Because you should too, instead of texting and driving. [More]
AT&T Patents System That Could Charge File-Sharers Extra For Data
By 1.31.14
While the Six Strikes alert system, in which Internet service providers send a series of notices to suspected illegal file-sharers before finally penalizing their accounts, is primarily a way for ISPs to placate Hollywood studios and the recording industry, it doesn’t do much to aid the ISPs in their ongoing war against consumers who use huge amounts of data, and doesn’t deal with wireless file-sharing. That must be why AT&T has filed a patent application for a system that would prevent what it deems “bandwidth abuse” by charging supposed data hogs more money. [More]
Amazon Patents Method For Shipping You Things Before You Order Them
By 1.21.14
Regular Amazon shoppers are probably quite familiar with the e-tailer’s e-mail blasts that highlight things you might want based on previous purchases and the things you’ve searched for on the site. But what if Amazon went one step further and actually predicted the things you will buy and shipped them in advance? [More]
Lawmakers Aim To Stop Patent Trolls From Shaking Down Businesses For Using Basic Office Equipment
By 11.8.13
We’ve written before about the lowest level of patent troll, the kind that claims to have a patent on some widely used technology — like photocopying or scanning — and instead of targeting the companies that make products that allegedly violate those patents, they try to bully small businesses into paying thousands of dollars for the use of basic office equipment. [More]
PepsiCo Thinks Its Drinks Aren’t Smelly Enough, Wants To Add Scent Capsules
By 9.17.13
Have you ever cracked open a bottle of Tropicana orange juice and thought to yourself, “I would drink so much more of this juice if it smelled even more orange-y”? Probably not, but the folks at PepsiCo are seeking to patent technology that would arouse the customer’s sense of smell from the moment the container is opened. [More]
