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GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, July 8, 2003

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HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours ago..)
The Firearm Safety Patent of the Day goes to Safety First Devices, Inc. of Atlanta
for a Safety holster for preventing access to a firearm by unauthorized users

The Wireless MEMS Tool Patent of the Day goes to Technology Innovations, LLC of New York
for a Wireless technique for microactivation
    Index
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NEWS
Dell reaches $50 million settlement with Tulip
http://www.neowin.net/comments.php?id=12451&category=main
Dutch PC maker Tulip has withdrawn its patent infringement law suit against Dell following an out-of-court settlement from which the Texan hardware giant emerges as the de facto winner. The two companies last week agreed to a deal under which Tulip will receive $49.5 million - significantly less than the $17 billion in actual and punitive damages it was originally seeking. Dell will only have to pay $10 million toward that $49.5 million - it's not clear where the rest is coming from; presumably its motherboard suppliers will have to cough up the rest - and is able to say that it didn't infringe Tulip's patent. Dell also gets a non-exclusive licence to the patent at the heart of the case: number 5,594,621, entitled 'Motherboard for a computer of the AT type, and a computer of the AT type comprising such motherboard' and which describes a way to connect PCI and ISA cards to an AT motherboard.
    Index
Sony to sue Chinese battery maker for patent infringement
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/07/08/japan.sony.reut/
Sony Corp says it will file a lawsuit against China's biggest rechargeable battery maker, BYD Co, accusing it of violating Sony's patents on lithium-ion batteries. Sony will file a complaint at the Tokyo District Court later on Tuesday, seeking an injunction prohibiting BYD from selling its lithium-ion batteries in Japan, a Sony spokesman said. No one at BYD Battery Japan Co Ltd, the Chinese company's Tokyo branch, could be reached for comment. Sanyo Electric Co filed a similar patent infringement suit against the Chinese company in the United States last September.
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Medinol wins patent infringement suit against Cordis
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=703736&fid=942
Israeli stent maker Medinol said a court in the Netherlands found that a Johnson & Johnson unit infringed its intellectual stent property in a preliminary judgment. Consequently, Johnson & Johnson's Cordis division must stop all infringement activity, including sales and distribution, of its BX-Velocity stent 48 hours after it receives the latest court decision and after Medinol posts bond. In a press release Monday, Medinol said the injunction will remain in effect until the final judgment in the case. As part of the preliminary decision, Medinol would get about $45,900 per breach or $4,600 for every infringing stent.
    Index
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PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,588,635

Safety holster for preventing access to a firearm by unauthorized users

Abstract: A safety holster for a firearm, including a pivotally mounted retaining member for engaging the trigger guard of the firearm and preventing withdrawal of the firearm from the holster by anyone other than an authorized user of the firearm. The holster includes a fingerprint sensor for scanning fingerprint information of a perspective user of the firearm, and a processor for comparing the scanned fingerprint information with stored fingerprint information of an authorized user and releasing the retaining member only if the scanned fingerprint information matches that of the authorized user.

Index

6,588,208

Wireless technique for microactivation

Background: The present invention is directed to the operation of microactuators by focused beam energy. Whereas microactuators now require wires or tubes attached to get the energy and control signals down to them, this invention discloses a wireless technique for both control and energy, as well as the return path for observation and data. Current devices are fabricated as small as a few hundred microns using conventional microlithography. Shrinking this technology to sub-micron dimensions has raised at least two questions: (i) Will the shape memory property be preserved when the dimensions are as small or smaller than the crystal domains? And (ii) How can such small objects (sub-micron) be selectively heated to produce actuation? In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for driving a shape memory alloy actuator, including the steps of: pre-straining a shape memory alloy in its low-temperature state; and subsequently, heating the shape memory alloy above its phase transformation temperature using a focused beam.

Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus for achieving high work output per unit volume in micro-robotic actuators, and in particular TiNi actuators. Such actuators are attractive as a means of powering nano-robotic movement, and are being developed for manipulation of structures at near the molecular scale. In these very small devices (one micron scale), one means of delivery of energy is by electron beams. Movement of mechanical structures a few microns in extent has been demonstrated in a scanning electron microscope. Results of these and subsequent experiments will be described, with a description of potential structures for fabricating moving a microscopic x-y stage.