Sen. John Cornyn Joins the Fight Against Patent Trolls With New Bill
Adweek
Cornyn’s bill, the Patent Abuse Reduction Act, would give the victims of patent troll litigation more information to defend themselves by requiring plaintiffs to disclose the substance of their claim and reveal their identifies when they file lawsuits …

Vermont Becomes First State to File ‘Patent Troll’ Suit

Law.com
Vermont has become the first state in the nation to file a so-called patent troll lawsuit, taking action Wednesday against a company that has written to a number of …

An Unreasonable Royalty Rate is No Gaming Matter Re: Patent Litigation
The National Law Review
This decision comes after a two-year patent war between Microsoft and Motorola. In November 2010, Microsoft filed a breach of contract suit, …

Apple Says Samsung Galaxy S4 Violates 5 Patents
The Mac Observer
Apple followed through on a plan to add Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone to its patent infringement lawsuit this week by filing new documents in the case claiming the device infringes on five patents. The filing also stated that the Google Now search …

Apple granted patents on push-to-talk, double-sided touch panel
Apple Insider
This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published 26 newly granted patents for Apple, and among them were the Cupertino company’s take on a push-to-talk feature and a double-sided touch-sensitive panel, both of which could possibly appear in …

The Curious Case Of Human Gene Patents
Forbes
But Myriad raises tough questions, including what happens to the 100,000 or so genetic patents already awarded. The guest post below presents the views of Thomas Engellenner, a partner in the Intellectual Property Department of Pepper Hamilton LLP in …

Samsung Galaxy S4 & Google Now accused of violating Apple patents for Siri
Apple Insider
Two of the patents specifically relate to Apple’s voice-driven Siri personal assistant, as noted on Wednesday by Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. They are U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604, and U.S. Patent No. 6,846,959, both of which are entitled “Universal …

Standards-Essential Patents And Injunctive Relief
Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
In a series of fast-moving and interrelated developments involving courts and competition authorities around the world, holders of patents deemed “essential” to industry standards are finding their ability to obtain injunctive relief for infringement …

Sony’s Blu-Ray Patent Group Sues Imation Over Blank Discs (1)
Businessweek
Imation violated several patents related to Blu-Ray technology, which allows a sharper picture than traditional DVD movie discs, Sony and the other consumer electronics makers said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Vermont Sees Red, Sues Troll over Alleged Patent Shakedown
The American Lawyer
By asserting dubious patents against countless small businesses around the country, MPHJ Technology Investments LLC has developed a reputation as one of the most shameless “patent trolls” around. But has it broken the law? The state of Vermont clearly …

Image Processing Technologies and Canon Settle Patent Lawsuit
HeraldOnline.com
Image Processing Technologies LLC (IPT) is patent licensing company that is a subsidiary and is managed by General Patent Corporation. IPT owns and licenses a portfolio of 11 patents related to image processing algorithms commonly used in scene …

Nintendo Adds to Companies Defeating Royalty Demands
Bloomberg
Also this month, appellate judges in Washington sided against patent-licensing firms in cases against mobile-telephone companies, including Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., over marketing techniques. Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) won over claims …

Ditto Turns To Indiegogo For Help Battling Patent Lawsuits (Including One From …
TechCrunch
Sure, the company is not a classic patent troll — a shell company that does nothing but buy patents and sue—but it’s little better. Patent trolls generally want to use the club of litigation to extort licensing fees. But all indications are that 1 …

TMC.net
Nintendo has successfully defended its patent for the Wii remote against Motiva – for a second time. Motiva, a hardware company, has even gone so far as to file …

Twitter gives engineers bigger say on patents, but policy is called ‘naïve’

MarketWatch
Twitter promised that patents “will not be used in offensive litigation without their permission,” according to the agreement. “What’s more, this control flows with the patents, so if the patents were sold to others, they could only use them as the …

Kohler ordered to pay $9.6 million in patent suit

Boston.com
The Kohler Co. has been ordered in federal court to pay $9.6 million to a Massachusetts manufacturer for infringing on two of its patents for components that reduce exhaust emissions in marine generators.
Jurors in U.S. District Court in Boston …

US targets patents trolls

The Global Legal Post
The aim of the move is to make it harder for patent-holding firms to transfer ownership of patents and file claims, meaning developers will have more freedom when creating new products. Tech blogger Adi Kamdar from the Electronic Frontier Foundation …

Olympus Patents Wearable Modular Camera

Wearable Tech
Look out Google Glass! Olympus is working on a wearable camera specifically for photographers.

Judges split on software patents and computer transubstantiation

OpenSource.com
The law of software patents took an interesting, and ultimately encouraging, twist last week. In the CLS Bank case, ten judges of the Federal Circuit issued five …

Microsoft calls for mandatory patent ownership data
Inquirer
He said, “Some patent owners take advantage of this obscurity to try to hide what they own for tactical advantage in licensing negotiations or to avoid complying with patent licensing commitments.” Google recently announced that it would not sue any …

Newegg, Overstock Finally Beat Patent Troll

FierceRetail
Rather than settle as several of its larger retail co-defendants—including Sears and Amazon—did, Newegg and Overstock have been fighting against an …

Colgate Patents Could Bring Caffeinated Toothbrush
CBS Local
Colgate’s not commenting on what it has in mind, and the Patent Office rejected the application on grounds it was similar to two other patents held by other parties. Colgate has time to respond to the review. Officials say quote a patent attorney as …

Kohler loses patent case, jury calls for firm to pay $9.6 million
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Findingthat Kohler Co. willfully infringed on two patents, a jury has said the Wisconsin company should pay $9.6 million to a Massachusetts firm. The verdict is a victory for Westerbeke Corp., a family-owned company in Taunton, Mass. that makes marine …

Catheter Connections® Announces Patent Notices of Allowance and USPTO …
The Herald
Upon issuance of these patents, the Company’s patent portfolio will consist of nine U.S. patents which are directed to its DualCap technology for disinfecting IV connectors ─ technology that helps protect hospital patients from deadly infections …

DailyTech
Then Newegg and Overstock’s lawyer Ed Reines had his say. Mr. Reines had distinguished himself previously when he led Newegg to a defiant Jan. 2013 victory over “patent troll” Soverain whose “shopping cart patent” had long terrorized other e-tailers.

Small Businesses Are Ditching Patents in Droves

Inc.com
Is the costly–and long–patent approval process worth it? Small businesses don’t seem to think so.

Millions of U.S. Patents Re: The Pace of Invention and Innovation is Accelerating

The National Law Review
That’s 4 million US patents issued in 140 years. The 8 millionth US patent, “VISUAL PROSTHESIS”, Inventors: Robert J Greenberg et al., was issued just 35 years later on August 16, 2011. This means that in 35 years, the US doubled the amount of patents …

Samsung patents show tablet designs with built-in kickstands and …

Digital Trends
Samsung was recently granted patents for two different tablets, both with built-in kickstands, one with a flexible display.

Top 10 Inventions of 2012

Idea Buyer

A news blog featuring the latest new product inventions and technology on the market.

Three New Motorola-Filed Patents Reveal the Imagined Future of the Mythical …

The Droid Guy
Remember, Google and Motorola have been seen filing smartwatch-related patents for a good couple of years now, so these new papers are likely destined to just fill in some missing gaps. Or, you know, prevent another ginormous trial war from happening.

CEA Backing Bill To End Anonymous Patents

Twice
introduced the End of Anonymous Patents Act and in a statement Michael Petricone, senior VP of government and regulatory affairs for CEA, said, “Patent Assertion Entities’ (also known as PAEs or patent trolls) lawsuits have reached epidemic proportions …

Patents big step for cancer-test maker

Otago Daily Times
Dunedin-based cancer diagnostic company Pacific Edge has added China to its growing list of countries recognising patents on its products. China’s acceptance of the patent, Detection of Gastric Cancer, means it joins New Zealand, Australia and Europe …