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GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, June 3, 2003

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HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours ago..)
The Dude, Where's my Skis Patent of the Day goes to Performance Media Industries, Ltd. of California
for a Apparatus for locating skis beneath snow

The Tongue Tied Patent of the Day goes to an Inventor from California
for an Erotic stimulation device
    Index
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NEWS
Jury tells eBay to pay $35 million for patent infringement
http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=jurytellsebaytop1054205777&area=news
A jury has decided that eBay wilfully infringed patents belonging to Thomas Woolston of MercExchange and ordered the on-line auction leader to pay $35 million in damages. EBay intends to appeal Tuesday's US court decision. The dispute between eBay and MercExchange has been running since October 2001, and hinges on an auction site patent application that was filed a few months before eBay was launched in 1995. The patent dispute related to the “Buy it now” service on the eBay site, which deals with fixed price sales, and a facility to search other on-line auction houses. The case will now go back to the trial judge who can, if he sees fit, increase the damages awarded, up to three times the current award. He may also issue a permanent injunction against the company, preventing eBay from using the patented technology.
    Index
Honda Says It Won Patent Lawsuit in China
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/5996371.htm
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. has won a lawsuit in Beijing against the Chinese government to restore the company's motor scooter design patent, a company spokeswoman said Monday. Honda's patent for its popular Chinese-made Stream scooter was canceled in September when a court backed the decision a year earlier by China's State Intellectual Property Office to revoke a patent awarded in 1994. The Beijing High People's Court overturned the lower court's ruling on Friday, company spokeswoman Yuriko Yabe said.
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VIA files lawsuit against Mediatek for patent infringement
http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article1.asp?datePublish=2003/06/03&pages=PR&seq=206
Taiwan-based IC designer VIA Technologies has filed a lawsuit against MediaTek for patent infringement by its optical storage controllers, VIA said in a statement today. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division), alleges that MediaTek breached VIA’s US patent 6,459,665 with its DVD-ROM, CD-RW and combo controller products. The patent relates to an apparatus and operating method that increases the bandwidth of high-speed optical storage devices, according to VIA. VIA will seek a preliminary injunction on the sale, display and import of these products into the US. It may also ask for the destruction of inventory held in the US and an unspecified level of compensation, VIA said.
    Index
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PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,573,834

Apparatus for locating skis beneath snow

Background: Alpine skiing is a popular sport. When a snow skier falls and any stress (above an adjustable, predetermined level) is applied to the boot-to-ski binding system, the bindings are designed to release so that the ski and binding detach from the boot. This avoids injury to the skier by preventing excessive torque to the skier's leg. Under normal groomed snow conditions a ski braking system engages upon release of the binding, and the ski comes to a stop. It is relatively easy for the skier to then recover the ski and reattach it to the ski boot. Under conditions of un-groomed powder snow, after release of the safety binding system (and when retainer straps are not used by the skier), the ski will typically sink down into the powder snow, and it can be difficult or impossible for the skier to find the lost ski. Skiers usually poke through the snow with a ski pole hoping to strike the ski to locate and recover it. This exercise can be difficult and very time-consuming, since the skier has no information on the general location of the ski.

Summary: The apparatus for locating skis beneath snow of this invention provides an improved system to assist a skier in locating an unattached ski in powder snow after a fall. The inventive apparatus includes an audible alarm member which is placed on the ski, preferably releasably, and a remote hand-held trigger or activator member held by the skier. The skier can trigger the alarm member by operating a switch on the remote activator member. The sound emitted by the alarm will allow the skier to locate the direction and position of the lost ski after a fall.

Index

6,572,569

Erotic stimulation device

Background: There exist a number of devices designed to enhance the quality of sexual activity between partners. Their use is accepted and even promoted by marriage counselors, sexual educators, physicians and the like as an aid in maintaining a healthy and satisfying sexual relationship. That the demand for these devices is substantial is evidenced by the existence of the well-established commercial industry that manufactures and sells them. Many sexual devices incorporate an electric vibrator to enhance sexual sensation. A technique, piercing, exists for attaching jewelry to the tongue. An object with an attached post is fastened to the tongue by inserting the post through a previously pierced hole then attaching another object to the other end of the post to prevent the post from slipping back out. The assembled object has roughly the shape of a dumbbell. However, this technique has never, to the inventor's knowledge, been used to attach any electrically powered device, such as a vibrator, to the tongue.

Summary: The sexual aid device of this invention comprises a battery powered electric vibrator which attaches to the user's tongue. The first embodiment attaches to the tongue using a post which is inserted through a hole previously pierced in the tongue. The assembled device is shaped roughly like a dumbbell. It consists of a post with retainers mounted at either end. The post has a diameter narrow enough to fit through the tongue hole, but the retainers have larger diameter and cannot slip through the hole. At least one of the retainers have larger diameter and cannot slip through the hole. At least one of the retainers must be removable to allow device insertion. An electric vibration generator is incorporated into one of the retainers. An electric battery may be mounted in the same retainer as the vibration generator or in the other retainer.