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GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, December 7,
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 Interactive Dilemma Patent of the Day
goes to Microsoft of Redmond for a Social dilemma
software for evaluating online interactive societies
The
Disappearing Money Patent of the Day goes to Brink's France of Paris
for a Treatment process which makes possible the chemical destruction of
securities or paper documents
Index ================================================== NEWS Bankrupt Commerce One
patents fetch $15.5M http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/12/06/bankrupt_commerce_one_patents_fetch_155m/ Bankrupt
Internet software maker Commerce One Inc. auctioned off dozens of prized online
patents for $15.5 million in a sale that could provoke a legal scuffle over
whether the new owner is entitled to collect royalties from a long list of
technology heavyweights. A secretive company called JGR Acquisition Inc. wrested
the patents from two other bidders with ties to former Microsoft Corp. chief
technology officer Nathan Mhyrvold, who is now running a startup that hopes to
accumulate a treasure chest of valuable patents. JRG attorney Mark Mullion of
the Dallas law firm Haynes and Boone declined to discuss the company or its
plans for the patents sold in a liquidation of Commerce One, a former dot-com
darling that collapsed into bankruptcy two months ago. The bidding war
highlights the rising value of intellectual property rights as the world becomes
more dependent on computers. The wrangling involved obscure patents covering a
wide range of administrative tasks conducted online throughout corporate
America. Commerce One, now based in Santa Clara, patented a series of techniques
that are widely used by big and small companies to pay bills and buy supplies
online. Hoping to build a bustling marketplace for its own software products,
Commerce One allowed companies to use the patents without paying royalties.
Although the strategy didn't pay off, many companies took advantage of the
royalty waiver to shift more of their operations online. Index Energizer Wins
Gillette Patent Lawsuit http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2004/12/02/ap1688301.html Battery
and razor maker Energizer Holdings Inc. on Thursday said it won a patent
infringement case filed by competitor Gillette Co. in a German court. The court
ruled that the four-bladed Quattro razor made by Energizer's German business
Wilkinson Sword GmBH does not infringe Gillette's European patent regarding
three-bladed progressive exposure. The court also ordered Boston-based Gillette
to reimburse Energizer's court costs. The company said the decision follows a
similar ruling earlier this year by a judge in the U.S. District Court of
Massachusetts that denied Gillette's request for a preliminary injunction in the
United States. "Gillette has been very aggressive at attempting to impede the
launch and sale of Quattro around the globe," Schick-Wilkinson Sword president
Joe Lynch said in a statement. Index Synopsys Acquires Nassda
for $192M http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA484453.html?industryid=21370 Nassda
Corp. is following the old saying, "if you can't beat them join them," in regard
to its patent suit with Synopsys Inc. Synopsys today announced it has signed
agreements to acquire Nassda in an all-cash transaction at $7 per share and,
subject to the closing of the acquisition, to settle all outstanding litigation
by Synopsys against Nassda and certain Nassda officers, directors and employees.
Litigation had begun in June and a January trial was recently postponed because
of further disputes. In the end, Synopsys will face an aggregate purchase price
of about $192 million, or approximately $92 million net of Nassda's estimated
cash at closing. In addition, upon closing, the Nassda officers, directors and
employees who are defendants in the litigation between Synopsys and Nassda will
make $61.6 million in settlement payments to Synopsys, the EDA kingpin said. "We
believe value we are getting is very significant in regards to amount we are
spending," said Rex Jackson, Synopsys VP and general counsel. "First and
foremost this is a product that was at its origination derived from our
products, but not a direct copy of them. It's complimentary to products we
already have."
Index ================================================== PATENTS OF THE DAY
6,829,569
Social dilemma software for
evaluating online interactive societies
Abstract: Social
dilemma virtual world environment (VWE) software facilitates creation and usage
of social dilemma tests or exercises for measuring and analyzing online
interactive societies. An online interactive society arises whenever two or more
people interact through a computer-based communication medium, which may include
text or written communication, audio communication, still or motion video
communication, or any combination of these communication formats. The social
dilemma VWE software and the methodology of the present invention are capable of
distinguishing the levels of cooperation and trust that are created by various
interface and social factors within online interactive societies. Evaluating
with social dilemma VWE software the effects of such social and interface
factors on the degree of online cooperation allows such factors to be
incorporated into the design and functionality of online interactive societies.
Index
6,827,967
Treatment process which makes
possible the chemical destruction of securities or paper documents
Abstract: The
present invention relates to a chemical treatment process which makes it
possible to modify the chemical structure of securities, bank notes or paper
documents during their transportation or their storage, either in a vehicle or
by a man on foot, thus making it impossible for criminals to be able to reuse
them.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week49/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Requests for Inter Partes Reexamination
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination
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
Patent Related Jobs from www.IntelPropLaw.com
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