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GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, June 10,
2003
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to Access any Area of Interest Headlines News Patents of the Day Access Official Gazette and
Notices Patents Available for Licensing Patent Employment
Opportunities
Printer Friendly Version ================================================== HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours
ago..) The Dilated Pupil Patent of the Day goes to
International Business Machines Corporation of New York for an Eye prosthesis
The Dream Alert Patent of the
Day goes to an Inventor from Chicago for an Apparatus for facilitating
analysis of dream activity
Index ================================================== NEWS TiVo, Gemstar settle lawsuit http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/6053782.htm Gemstar
accused TiVo of patent infringement in 2000 in a dispute over its on-screen
guide technology. TiVo countersued. The legal battle ended Monday between TiVo,
the San Jose pioneer of digital video recording, and Gemstar-TV Guide, a
supplier of electronic TV guides to cable and satellite providers. The two
companies dismissed their lawsuits and became partners on a licensing deal. TiVo
will license a patent from Gemstar, which will provide content for the TiVo
service. TiVo said it hopes the agreement will open the door to future deals
with makers of consumer products such as DVD players. Index Patent battle
may cost Guidant $425 million http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/0/048698-5100-031.html Guidant
Corp. has been ordered to pay a whopping $425 million in damages to rival
Johnson & Johnson for infringing on its heart stent patents. The huge award
amounts to 66 percent of Guidant's earnings last year -- 10 percent of its total
revenues from heart stents since it entered the market in the mid-1990s. Still,
the Indianapolis medical device maker hastened to reassure investors Thursday.
"While the award is large, it will not significantly alter the financial
position of the company," Guidant spokesman Steve Tragash said. "We have a large
net cash flow to handle this," amounting to about $1 billion, he said.
Index Inverness settles suit with Pfizer http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/local_regional/inverness06102003.htm Inverness
Medical Innovations Inc., a maker of women's health products, yesterday said it
settled a patent infringement suit with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. The two
companies had been at odds over Pfizer's e.p.t. pregnancy test kit, which
currently represents about 30 percent of the market. In March, a New Jersey
court ordered Pfizer to halt e.p.t. shipments due to a "likely" patent violation
of Inverness' Clearblue Easy home pregnancy test, which controls about 7 percent
of the market. Under the settlement, Inverness, through its subsidiary Unipath
Ltd., will now be Pfizer's exclusive manufacturer and supplier of the e.p.t. In
addition, Pfizer will make "certain payments" to Inverness over the next year,
as both companies agreed to drop all pending litigation.
Index ================================================== PATENTS OF THE DAY
6,576,013
Eye prosthesis
Background: Eye
prosthesis devices simulate the appearance of a natural eye and therefore
provide a better facial appearance to someone who has lost one or both eyes. In
the past a spherical or globe shaped device having an eye image on the surface
was inserted in the vacant socket from which the natural eye was removed. A much
better appearance is provided, however if the artificial eye moves in tandem
with a natural eye. Various methods have therefore been developed for attaching
the eye movement muscle tendons to a ball shaped eye socket insert. The ball
will then move in tandem with a natural eye through a well known process of
sympathetic muscle action. Typically, a sclera, iris, and pupil matching the
natural eye are painted on the ball or removable front section during
manufacture by a professional person known as an ocularist. However, once
painting is complete, the size of the pupil is fixed on the artificial eye. The
natural eye will have a changing pupil size depending on ambient light as is
well known. The ocularist therefore selects an intermediate size for the painted
pupil as a best match.
In accordance with the teachings of the present
invention there is presented a new apparatus and method for adjusting pupil size
in an ocular prosthesis. It is believed that such a device constitutes a
significant advancement in the art. Even though eye prosthesis are primarily
intended for human use, it will be obvious to those of skill in the art that
application will also extend to use in animals, dolls, mannequins, robots or any
other objects having an eye.
Main Claim: An adjustable
iris image for an artificial eye, comprising; a color liquid
crystal display positioned within said artificial eye; a memory
chip coupled to said color liquid crystal display having a plurality of patterns
corresponding to a plurality of iris images to be shown on said color liquid
crystal display; a light sensor coupled to said memory chip;
and means for sending in response to said light sensor, one of
said plurality of patterns to said color liquid crystal display.
Index
6,575,895
Apparatus for facilitating
analysis of dream activity
Background: The
lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming while remaining
in the dream state. This arcane condition is often the focus of sleep labs and
research institutes. Such facilities have developed devices to sense a sleeper's
dreaming or non-dreaming state. Many experiments have been performed to awaken
test subjects during the so-called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) periods of sleep. It
has been determined that these periods usually correspond with dream activity.
When a test subject is awakened during a REM event, the subject is usually able
to remember the dream which was occurring at the time he or she was awakened. If
the test subject is not awakened, the dream is more likely to be forgotten
during the intervening periods of deeper, dreamless sleep. Thus, for those
individuals who are interested in investigating the subjects of their dreams it
is desirable that they occasionally be woken up either during or shortly after a
REM event.
Abstract: A programmable dream analyzer
apparatus for assisting the user in recording his or her dreams, comprising a
microcontroller for receiving input defining the user's sleep period, and
calculating the time and playing an alert for each REM event predicted to occur
during the user's sleep period. The strength of each alert may be user adjusted,
such that it is sufficient to wake the user during a REM event, but not during
non-REM sleep. The dream analyzer further incorporates a voice activated
recording device to allow the user to record a description of his or her dream
upon awaking from a REM event without moving.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week23/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed
Certificates of Correction
Index ================================================== PATENTS AVAILABLE FOR
LICENSING
to Learn More or to List a Patent
Plug-and-play smart data
cable The invention includes a smart, plug-and-play cable capable of
transparently translating between two different communication protocols. The
cables are "plug-and-play" such that two devices can be coupled together for
communication without the requirement that the user perform any special set-up
steps in order for it to work. To implement this plug-and-play functionality,
the smart cable of the present invention determines which communication
protocols are required at each of its ports, and selects, activates, enables, or
downloads the appropriate communication protocol drivers to enable proper
operation.
Implantable fuel cell This invention makes use of
an electrostrictive material to increase the efficiency of a fuel cell as
used for the production of power within a human.
Powder conveying
and dispensing method and apparatus using traveling wave
transport This invention is a major advance in printing technology by
resolving a problem with "toner clouds".
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