RETURN to News
Archive ================================================== Copyright(c)
1998-2003 GEN-ERIC Channel. All rights reserved.
GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, July 8,
2003
================================================== Use Quick Links
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 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 ================================================== 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PC maker Tulip has withdrawn its patent infringement law suit against Dell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.
Index 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 ================================================== 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.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week27/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Reissue Applications Filed
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination
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.
Electric shaver having orbitally moving blades An
electric shaver includes blades which while rotating around their own centers
also orbit around another axis, thus providing that the blades sweep a large
area.
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.
Index ================================================== PATENT EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
to List a Job
Patent Related Jobs from Monster
Patent Related Jobs from www.IntelPropLaw.com
Index ================================================== GEN-ERIC
Channel
