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GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, November 30, 2004

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HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours ago..)
The Sine Function Patent of the Day goes to
Nokia Corporation of Finland for a
Method and system for distributing geographical addresses across the surface of the earth

The Living Motion Emulator Patent of the Day goes to
an Independent Inventor from Virginia for a
Method for producing natural motions
    Index
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NEWS
Sony Settles Patent Suit For $40 Million
http://www.rtoonline.com/Content/Article/Nov04/SonySettlesPatentCase112904.asp
Ampex Corporation announced that it has reached a settlement with Sony Corporation whereby Ampex will withdraw the patent litigation it initiated in July 2004 in the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware relating to digital still cameras manufactured and sold by Sony. Under the terms of the settlement, Sony will be licensed under several Ampex patents to manufacture and sell various products, including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras. In return for a payment of $40.0 million, Sony will be permitted to use Ampex patents in any of its products for the period through April 2006. After that time, the licenses provide for running royalties based on sales of products including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras to the extent that they utilize Ampex patents. The licenses provide that their terms are confidential.
    Index
FANUC Robotics America Files Lawsuit Against Four Companies for Infringing Patented Robot Technology
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041129/dem034_1.html
FANUC Robotics America today filed a lawsuit against four companies, claiming patent infringement of three of FANUC Robotics' patents related to the safe, efficient, and economical use of robots in hazardous environments. The defendants named in FANUC Robotics' lawsuit are Behr Systems, Inc., its parent company Durr AG of Germany, Motoman, Inc., and its parent company Yaskawa Electric Corporation of Japan. FANUC Robotics' lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, claims that the defendants have manufactured and sold products that incorporate FANUC Robotics' patented technology and that are being used in a variety of industrial robot systems, including those used throughout the automotive manufacturing industry for painting applications.
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3Com and PCTEL Settle Intellectual Property Dispute
http://www.masshightech.com/displayarticledetail.asp?Art_ID=67235
3Com and PCTEL this week said they have settled an intellectual property dispute relating to wireless technology modem patents, in litigation since March 2003. As part of the terms of the settlement Marlborough-based 3Com and Chicago, Ill.-based PCTEL would each receive a license to the other company’s model technology patents. More specifically, 3Com has agreed to business arrangements with PCTEL regarding certain wireless software and antennas. PCTEL, meanwhile, has agreed to reverse $3.2 million of accrued royalties related to 3Com’s patent infringement claims, to be recorded during its current fiscal quarter.
    Index
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PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,826,385

Method and system for distributing geographical addresses across the surface of the earth

Abstract: A method and system for increasing the number of geographical addresses for mobile devices in regions of the Earth nearer to the equator than those regions closer to the North and South poles and without significantly increasing the size (number of bits) of the addresses is provided. Typically, regions nearer to the equator have higher populations and a greater need for large amounts of geographical addresses than those regions found closer to the South and North poles. By using the sine of a latitude coordinate for a particular location instead of the actual latitude coordinate, the range of available geographical addresses for mobile devices in the most densely populated regions on Earth can be significantly increased while decreasing the number of addresses available in regions closer to the South or North poles.

Index

6,826,449

Method for producing natural motions

Abstract: A method to produce natural motions, or self-motion, of animate or inanimate bodies or their parts by the application of pulses at two or more locations on the surface, or inside, of the bodies or their parts. Here, energy is converted into motion in one step. Turn on the pulses, and motion results instantly. The mechanism can emulate living motions, and as living motions can take on infinite gaits and forms, so can the mechanism produce infinite forms of motion. Smooth, repeatable, controllable or random motions can be induced. Just as living muscles convert the pulses from the nervous system into natural motion in one step, so will the mechanism convert artificially generated pulse-trains into motion in one step. The dynamic coupling or modulation of waves which travel within a body, and which are caused by artificially generated pulse-trains, produces the desired motions in directions perpendicular to the plane of the pulses. Changing the number of pulse-trains, the frequency and/or the amplitude of the pulses, or other parameters, can vary the speed, gait or form of the motion induced by the pulsing method. The moving bodies can be made to turn sideways, at 90 degrees, or at any other angle.