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GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, June 29,
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 Tele-IM Patent of the Day goes
to Tellme Networks, Inc. of California for a Instant
messaging via telephone interfaces
The URL Channel Patent
of the Day goes to America Online, Inc. of Virginia for a Displayed
complementary content sources in a web-based TV system
Index ================================================== NEWS Halliburton awarded $24M in
patent infringement suit http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/06/28/daily3.html A
Houston jury has awarded Halliburton Co. $24 million in damages in a patent
infringement lawsuit against Smith International Inc. Security DBS,
Halliburton's drill bit business, filed the lawsuit in September 2002 seeking
damages for Smith's alleged infringement of the patented technology. The jury
found that Smith's competing bits, known as IDEAS, including Twist and Shout
bits, willfully infringed three of Halliburton's patents. Halliburton said the
jury also rejected Smith's claims that the patents are invalid.
Index Microsoft gets under your skin - patently! http://www.in-sourced.com/article/articleview/1948/1/1/ Software
giant Microsoft has gone one step nearer global domination by patenting a new
kind of network - human skin. US Patent No. 6,754,472 - just awarded - is a
"method and apparatus for transmitting power and data using the human body." The
idea is to link together multiple devices, like watches, displays and keyboards,
using the skin. Microsoft cites speakers as an example: why have separate
speakers for a watch, a PDA and a radio, when one will do? One connected by
skin! A number of different devices could be powered from a single power source
strapped to the skin. Each would be driven by multiple power supply signals
working at different frequencies, according to the patent abstract. Data and
audio signals could be transmitted over that same power signal. The power source
and devices would be connected to the body via electrodes. Other research has
gone along similar lines. The New York Times has reported research into tiny
fuel cells that convert the body's glucose into power. Such sugar-powered fuel
cells have been inserted into and powered by grapes. It also gave an example of
where the technology could go: plugged into a soldier who could eat a banana to
power up his radio.
Index Patent Wars Go Wireless http://channelzone.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,1759,1618071,00.asp A
Canadian company with patents on core wireless technologies is engaged in a
litigious crusade to sign up licensees. Is that any way to court partners? It's
tempting to look at the patent infringement suit that Wi-LAN slapped against
Cisco Systems last week, wring our hands and lament, "Here we go again." On the
face of it, this one has the makings of high drama—a classic David and Goliath
battle, as a small, Canadian firm takes on the heavyweight champion of the
networking world. But a key interest here isn't the players or the fight itself;
it's what inspired the battle in the first place. At the heart of the issue is
OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), the modulation technique
behind the high-speed data transfers enabled by the 802.11g and 802.11a Wi-Fi
standards, as well as the 802.16 WiMax standard and short-distance ultrawideband
technologies.
Index ================================================== PATENTS OF THE DAY
6,757,365
Instant messaging via telephone
interfaces
Abstract: A method
and apparatus for enabling users of a phone based speech activated system such
as a voice portal to communicate with users of an Internet based instant
messenger (IM) service is described. Phone based users are able to send and
receive IMs. Incoming messages can cause an asynchronous notification in the
user's current voice application and the user can (if they desire) switch
contexts to hear the IM and respond. Sent messages may be expeditiously sent to
users of the GUI as a hypertext link to a recorded audio. Other sending formats
are also possible; similarly, buddy lists can be supported.
Index
6,757,707
Displayed complementary content
sources in a web-based TV system
Abstract: Featured
Tuning includes a computer-implemented method of displaying related sources of
viewing content. The method includes receiving a user input specifying a URL
address corresponding to a web page, determining a corresponding television
channel and displaying the corresponding television channel.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week26/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Elimination of P.O. Box for Patent Correspondence
Postage for Oversized Postcards
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 ================================================== EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
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Patent Related Jobs from Monster
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