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GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, February 10,
2004
================================================== 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 Related
Opportunities
Printer Friendly Version ================================================== 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 ================================================== 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. Index 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. Index 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.
Index ================================================== 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.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week06/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed
Reissue Applications Filed
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.
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