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GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, February 10, 2004

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HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours ago..)
The Not there Yet Patent of the Day goes to
International Business Machines Corporation of New York for a
System and method for automatically generating a third party notification when a traveler is overdue

The Portable Crowd Patent of the Day goes to
an Inventor from California for
Inflatable humanoid forms
    Index
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NEWS
PayByTouch Hit with $20 Million Patent Infringement Lawsuit
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/sfm101_1.html
PayByTouch of San Francisco, CA has been sued by Excel Innovations, Inc. of San Jose, CA, for patent infringement. PayByTouch (formerly Solidus and Indivos) lost its motion to dismiss, and the case is expected to reach trial in late 2004 or early 2005. The lawsuit cites PayByTouch for infringing 18 United States Patents and seeks damages in excess of $20 Million. The lawsuit is being closely watched by the financial and retail industries, as consumers have shown growing interest in the "tokenless biometric payment system" at issue in the case. The patents cover financial transactions by which customers can pay for products and services using only their biometric, such as a fingerprint or voiceprint, to authorize a purchase or financial exchange, without the need for a token, such as a smart card or magnetic stripe card.
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AstraZeneca files suit against Andrx
http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2004/02/05/rtr1244233.html
AstraZeneca on Thursday said it filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against generic drugmaker Andrx for patent infringement. The British drugmaker said it filed the suit after Andrx submitted a letter indicating its intention to manufacture and sell metoprolol succinate in the 50 mg dose form in the United States. Metoprolol succinate is marketed as TOPROL-XL in the United States by AstraZeneca. In 2003, TOPROL-XL had U.S. sales of $909 million, 45 percent of which were in the 50 mg dosage.
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Microsoft wards off voice-data lawsuit
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5153929.html
Microsoft has successfully fended off a lawsuit over a set of controversial voice digitization patents, in a case that could have roiled the computer and Internet telephony industries if the patents had been upheld as valid. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday that Multi-Tech Systems' patents were not violated and "we conclude that the district court did not err" in its earlier ruling that sided with Microsoft. In February 2000, Multi-Tech Systems, a Mounds View, Minn.-based company that sells modems, routers and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, began to file a flurry of patent lawsuits. At first, it targeted Compaq Computer, Dell and Gateway; and then, a week later, it filed suit against 10 Internet telephony companies, including Net2Phone and Vocaltec Communications.
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PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,691,029

System and method for automatically generating a third party notification when a traveler is overdue

Abstract: A method and system for generating a notification for a third party when a traveler is overdue at one or more waypoints. A traveler or other person specifies waypoints the traveler will pass during a trip. In response to the traveler beginning the trip, a latest arrival time is determined for the first waypoint. If the traveler has not arrived at a waypoint by the determined latest arrival time, a notification is generated for a third party. Conversely, if the traveler reaches the waypoint before the determined latest arrival time, no notification is generated. In either case, if there are remaining waypoints, a latest arrival time is determined for the next waypoint and the process continues.

Index

6,688,940

Inflatable humanoid forms

Background: This invention provides inflatable three-dimensional humanoid figures for use in background scenes associated with still photography, motion pictures and video productions which are low in cost, lightweight, easy to use, easy to store, easy to transport and provides a greater range of viewing angles. It is also envisioned that this invention can be used for corporate conventions requiring the illusion of a large number of participants, in advertising and other functions where the illusion of large numbers of people enhance the overall objective of the functions.