Gizmodo
patents
Posts Tagged “
Patents
”
patents
oops
Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen.
More »
Legal Snafu Makes Thousands of Patent Rulings Since 2000 Invalid
Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen.
More »
brilliance
Wearable Chair is the Ultimate Invention
Seriously, how is it possible that the wearable chair isn't the hottest accessory around today when it was patented 30 whole years ago? Look at it! You strap it to the backs of your legs and you can just sit back and rest easy whenever you want! I wouldn't have to submit to the cruel tyranny of standing under my own volition any longer! It'd be perfect for concerts, the subway or the unemployment line, where you'd presumably run into the inventor of these things, Darcy Robert Bonner. Now that this thing has been rediscovered after being lost for so long, it's time to make the dream a reality. [Patent via Book of Joe]
patents
Microsoft Wearable Mouse Patent Should Be Named "The Surf N' Jerk"
Microsoft continues their quest to bring Minority Report to life with a recently published patent for a wearable mouse from 2006. Now you too can wave your hands around like Tom Cruise—jumping optional—to control the cursor on your computer screen. The mouse is placed around the palm and activated by making a fist. The cursor moves based on a gyroscope inside which tracks the X and Y coordinates of your hand, much like a Wiimote. The handheld style opens our eyes to some interesting possibilities. More »
apple
Apple Patents Laser Head-Mounted Display, Sharks Rejoice
Apple has applied for a patent for a laser-based headset to use with its iPod and iPhone. And, unlike most headset displays, which can be bulky due to the light source and optical elements, the Cupertino company has come up with a way of slimming the device down. Here's how. More »
monster cable
Blue Jeans Cable Calls BS on Monster Cable Patent Suit, Vows to Fight to Bloody Death
Bullshit patent suits are annoying when it's a do-nothing patent holder trying to extract cash from fat corporate wallets, but even more so when it's a bigger company trying to muscle over little ones. Like Monster Cable suing Blue Jeans Cable for having connectors that looked like theirs. Blue Jeans' CEO, a former evil lawyer, has issued a ripping rebuttal, pointing out that "the gross morphology of the RCA plug is pretty well dictated by function" before throwing down, "I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds." Here's the whole ballsy letter: More »
tivo
Tivo Defeats Echostar for Stealing DVR Patent in Epic Court Battle Once and For All
Two years after initially smacking down Echostar (now just Dish Network) in court for stepping on its patent for a "multimedia time warping system" (aka a DVR) Tivo has clinched
patents
Apple Patents Nike + iPod on Steroids: It Wants to Pump You Up
The standard rule of Apple patents applies: Just because it's on file, doesn't mean they're going to put it out. But I hope they do, America's fat ass needs this. It's an advanced fitness suite, like Nike + iPod cranked up to 1100. There's hardware that keeps tabs on your heart rate and other vitals, a rewards tracker, and a component for syncing up groups. All of it's connected by an iTunes-like app that tracks your current fitness level, goals, schedule and a whole mess of other stats—it'll even make a workout for you—which it syncs to your iPod or iPhone to follow at the gym.charset="utf-8">galleryPost('ibod', 3, ''); More »
3d
Here's an unexpected patent from Apple: a system for projecting 3D images. Sure, we've seen 3D panels from Sharp and 3D projectors that require glasses, but this is a projector setup that requires no glasses. And this makes sense for Apple why?
More »
Apple Files Patent for Crazy 3D Projector Setup for Some Reason
Here's an unexpected patent from Apple: a system for projecting 3D images. Sure, we've seen 3D panels from Sharp and 3D projectors that require glasses, but this is a projector setup that requires no glasses. And this makes sense for Apple why?
More »
apple
Apple Sued for Time Machine Patent Infringement
Another day, another patent lawsuit for Apple. This time they're being sued by the firm Mirror Worlds. The patents at issue deal with a "document stream operating system," which means files are stored in a chronologically ordered stream, and whoa, are archived automatically. Sounds like Time Machine, even though the suit doesn't name Time Machine explicitly. In fact the whole suit's rather vague, except they say that Apple knew about their patents back in 2001. But like most patent suits, this one will probably go quietly into the night. [Ars, USPTO]
apple
Apple and Starbucks Sued Over "Song of the Day" Gift Cards
While James and Marguerite Driessen's patent covers a sort of vaguely broad concept—gift cards for pre-defined items that you buy at a B&M store but use online—I kind of feel for them, given that Apple apparently dropped iTunes custom cards in the US (while continuing to offer them in the UK) to get around licensing the patent after they asked. Then Apple brought it back with Starbucks under their "Song of the Day" program, which gives you a gift card for a pre-set song at Starbucks. More »
brilliance
Don't Blow Up Satellites, Catch Them in Gigantic Blankets
Sure, explosions are great and everything, but isn't there a more gentle way to catch errant satellites and missiles? There sure is, according to a recent patent from SVC solutions. Rather than blow them up, we can just wrap them in a giant blanket and parachute them to Earth! Yes, it's so stupid it comes right back around to being brilliant, and I think the military should start producing these right away. Get on it, USA! [FlightGlobal]
apple
Patents: Apple Patent On Hand Gesture Control
Here's a new Apple Patent for a new type of full hand multitouch that distinguishes between single and multiple fingers, as well as palms and pens. It reminds me of the Jeff Han Perceptive Pixel large area touchscreen, but at the same time, because it describes resting palms and the screen, it reminds me of Microsoft's Surface table. I think people are excited about this, but it seems very unwieldy by patent description. I don't see a product any time soon. [AppleInsider]
apple
Apple Patents Show the Advanced Future of Multitouch
These Apple patents show standard trackpad, basic multitouch and gonzo "Advanced Multitouch" never seen before on shipping products. The advanced UI includes thumb/forefinger/middlefinger combos for saving, closing and opening files, as well as cut, copy and paste. (The patents assume the system can detect the differences between different fingers. [Macrumors]
digital cameras
DSLRs Shoot Video With New Patent
The one feature point-and-shoots still have over DSLRs is the ability to shoot video clips. DSLRs are optimized in the other direction—the mirror setup, specialized auto-focus systems, etc. Hiroshi Terada's patent for a movie mode on DSLRs has one big innovation—a semi-transparent mirror—and then pulls a PS2-on-PS3 emulation trick, cramming in the components necessary to shoot solid video alongside the DSLR's regular components. More »
patents
Philips has a super interesting patent floating around from late last year. It involves a game with a throwable monitor, tossed like a ball, that can be tracked in real space. And it sounds pretty neat.
More »
Philips Patents Throwable Display For Gaming
Philips has a super interesting patent floating around from late last year. It involves a game with a throwable monitor, tossed like a ball, that can be tracked in real space. And it sounds pretty neat.
More »
cellphones
New RIM Patents Hint at New Blackberry Form Factors, Advanced Multi-Touch Displays
A couple of new Blackberry patents have been unearthed that may or may not give us some hints as to what to expect in upcoming models. First up is a design for a phone with a screen that angles up, presumable for watching video when the phone is placed on a flat surface. The second patent is for a new LCD touchscreen technology. More »
11:16 AM on Fri Feb 8 2008
By Adam Frucci
3,858 views,
9 comments
patents
Human Car Wash, Cleanliness Is Patent Godliness
If only the scientific minds of 1969 could have ruled the world, we'd all have a lot more fun in the shower. Because United States patent 634629 was for an "Automated Bathing Facility"—that's "human car wash" for those who can't convert patentspeak to our bastardized tongue. Inventor G. Hallum saw the device for those with limited mobility, taking participants on a conveyor through a wetting station, soaping station, rinsing station and drying station. Clearly we were not picturing the infirmed when writing this article, slowly.
And after doing some follow-up research, we believe we've found some working prototypes of the product courtesy of YouTube.
More »