GEN-ERIC Patent News

RETURN to News Archive
==================================================
Copyright(c) 1998-2004 GEN-ERIC Channel. All rights reserved.

GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, November 2, 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 No School Left Behind Patent of the Day goes to
eChalk: L.L.C. of New York City for a
System and method for creating, processing and managing educational content within and between schools

The Head Dunk Patent of the Day goes to
Intercraft Company of North Carolina for a
Bobblehead photograph frame
    Index
==================================================
NEWS
Constar Receives $25.1 Million in Settlement of Oxbar Infringement Action
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041101005999&newsLang=en
Constar International Inc. announced today that it has settled its Oxbar(R) patent infringement action against Continental PET Technologies, Inc. Constar was paid $25.1 million, which will be applied to Constar's revolving loan facility. In addition, Constar has granted Continental PET Technologies, Inc. and its former parent company, Owens-Illinois, Inc., global licenses to multilayer applications of the Oxbar(R) patents. Constar also announced the settlement of its related litigation with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP. The parties have entered into a new license going forward that grants Chevron Phillips Chemical rights to practice the Oxbar(R) patents, but not for rigid polyester packages such as PET containers.
    Index
Patent Suit Alleges Disney Stole fastPass Idea
http://www.patentlyobviousblog.com/2004/10/patent_suit_all.html
Disney's patented fastPass system allows customers to reserve a time to ride an attraction, rather than waiting in line. (U.S. Patent No. 6,173,209). According to a report by Sean Mussenden at the Sun Sentinel, a Tennessee man has sued Disney for stealing his idea for the line management system. After Robert Keyes watched a man pass out in a ride queue at Disney-MGM Studios, he had an epiphany, he said: Theme park visitors do not have to stand in line. So, according to a patent lawsuit Keyes filed this month in federal court in Orlando, he sent a letter to Disney executives in 1991 describing a system that would allow some theme-park visitors to wait in a "standby" line but give others a ticket to return later and avoid the wait. A top Disney executive sent him a letter back a month later, telling him the idea wouldn't work and would result in "more guest inconvenience," according to Keyes' lawsuit. Now, Keyes has sued Disney for "stealing his idea." In the complaint, he has requested correction of inventorship and damages for unjust enrichment.
    Index
Foundry Networks to Pay Nortel $35 Million to End Patent Suits
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a3.i5kdksVEI&refer=canada
Foundry Networks Inc., a maker of equipment to link computers, agreed to pay $35 million to Nortel Networks Corp. to end patent-infringement lawsuits. In return, Nortel will grant Foundry a four-year license for certain patents, the companies said in a joint statement. Nortel, based in Brampton, Ontario, is North America's biggest maker of phone equipment. Foundry is based in San Jose, California.
    Index
==================================================
PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,813,474

System and method for creating, processing and managing educational content within and between schools

Abstract: An educational content communications system that provides a system and method for creating, processing and managing educational content so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators (including staff) can better access, share, create, input, manage, store and/or deliver educational content. The educational content communication system is designed with the capability to create, process and manage educational content within a school, within and between a system of schools, within and between a community of schools, and within and between third-party providers of educational content.

Index

6,810,611

Bobblehead photograph frame

Abstract: A bobblehead has a body and head. The body and head are configured to represent a characteristic identified with people or animals. The characteristic, for example, may represent an occupation, an occasion, a hobby, or a fictional or other character. The head is configured to receive a photograph of a subject matching the characteristic.