Inventors Hall of Fame announces 2007 inductees The National Inventors Hall of Fame has announced this year’s inductees. In all, 16 inventors were inducted, 7 living and 9 posthumously. Those honored include: Paul Baran and Donald Davies for digital packet switching Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Emmett Chappelle for Bioluminescence techniques Leroy Hood for the automated DNA […] Continue Reading →
Are wedding receptions full of copyright infringers? Maybe, if you ask Richard Silver. Mr. Silver claims to have invented the dance known as the “Electric Slide” at a disco in 1976. He registered a copyright on his performance of the dance in 2004. While Mr. Silver’s claims may seem dubious (such as, for example, his claims on his website that he also […] Continue Reading →
Bush proposes 8% increase in USPTO funding for fiscal 2008 In his proposed budget released on Monday, President Bush proposed $1.9 billion in funding for the USPTO in fiscal year 2008. In addition to this amount, USPTO fees would also not be diverted to cover other government programs, instead permitting the USPTO to use the full amount of collected fees for operating expenses, including hiring […] Continue Reading →
Federal jury finds H.264 video compression standard does not infringe patent A federal jury in San Diego recently found that Broadcom, a company that produces chips used in everything from mobile phones to next-generation DVD players, does not infringe two patents held by Qualcomm on video compression technology. Why is this finding important? Qualcomm asserted its patents covered the H.264 video compression standard, which is the […] Continue Reading →
On this date: 1886 Karl Benz patents his "Motorwagen," the first automobile. Below are figures from the patent: The full patent (in German) is available here. Continue Reading →
Cisco’s General Counsel blogs about dispute with Apple over iPhone trademark In an interesting PR move, Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Cisco Systems, has posted an informative description of the Apple-Cisco iPhone trademark lawsuit on one of Cisco's blogs. Commentary on the blog, while mixed, appears to be predominantly positive, particularly by those who did not understand Cisco's legal position when the […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit proposes revised circuit rules The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has proposed changes to its Circuit Rules. The revised rules would require parties, in addition to filing paper copies of briefs and appendices, to also file the briefs and appendices in electronic form unless counsel certifies that filing an electronic copy would not be practical or constitute hardship. The […] Continue Reading →
Ketchup makers battle over rights to “red zone” Ketchup giant Heinz and rival ketchup maker Red Gold are embroiled in a trademark dispute over the right to use “Red Zone” in promotions associated with football games. In football, the red zone is the common name of the area between the 20-yard line and the end zone, and a team’s offense is often measured […] Continue Reading →
University of Texas sues over use of “sawed-off” horns logo The University of Texas has sued Aggieland Outfitters, a retailer in College Station, Texas (home of rival university Texas A&M) over its use of a modified version of the Texas Longhorns logo. The original logo and the modified version appear below: The retailer has been selling merchandise bearing the "sawed off" logo since 1997, but […] Continue Reading →
Starbucks loses Korean appeal, Starpreya can continue to use name there The Korean Supreme Court today denied an appeal by Starbucks to cancel a rival's trademark there. Specifically, the Court noted that Starbucks was not well-known in Korea when the rival coffee provider (who uses a similar logo) registered its trademark. MVS previously blogged about the appeal here. This case, along with the ongoing saga between […] Continue Reading →