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GEN-ERIC Patent News
Tuesday, September 16, 2003

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HEADLINES (patents issued a few hours ago..)
The Up in Smoke Patent of the Day goes to
an Independent Inventor from Virginia for a
Tobacco alternative

The CyberTug Patent of the Day goes to
Disney Enterprises, Inc. of California for a
Virtual tug of war
    Index
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NEWS
Symbol wins patent suit, sees $23 mln royalties
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/09/15/rtr1081536.html
Symbol Technologies Inc., a provider of bar-code scanning technology, on Monday said it had won a patent infringement suit against rival Proxim Corp. relating to wireless technology developed by Symbol. Symbol said it expects to receive about $23 million, before interest, in royalties from Proxim for past sales of products using the two patents covered in the jury ruling issued Friday in U.S. District Court in Delaware.
    Index
Pumatech buys competitor, settles lawsuit
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/September/16/biz/stories/02biz.htm
Topping off a series of recent acquisitions, synchronization software maker Pumatech Inc. of San Jose on Monday announced plans to buy competitor Synchrologic Inc. in a $60 million deal that also marks the settlement of Pumatech’s patent-infringement suit against the company. The deal, which adds an 80-person, Atlanta-based division to Pumatech, brings Synchrologic’s executives on board as senior management in Pumatech and allows Pumatech to start selling Synchrologic technology immediately. The deal is expected to close by year-end.
    Index
CollegeNet wins patent infringement case
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2003/09/08/daily34.html
After a seven-day trial in U.S. District Court, a federal jury has awarded Portland-based CollegeNet $1.2 million in damages for infringement of its patents. The jury determined that both accused systems of ApplyYourself Inc. infringed CollegeNet's patents. The jury also found that Fairfax, Va.-based ApplyYourself's infringement of one of the patents was "willful." The two patents describe and claim a wide range of features used in outsourced forms processing for institutions of higher education. The five inventors on these patents were CollegeNet employees who helped develop the company's web-based admissions system.
    Index
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PATENTS OF THE DAY

6,619,293

Tobacco alternative

Abstract: An alternative to tobacco for both smokers and chewers is provided. A cigarette is prepared from mature tea leaves which are steamed and dried, but not withered, roasted or fermented. The tea leaves are rolled in paper and may be filtered or non-filtered. Cigarettes prepared with tea leaves processed in this manner provide acceptable taste, and may provide natural antioxidants, such as polyphenols and flavonoids, by inhalation. A chaw prepared according to the present invention is made with tea leaves which have been roasted, but not fermented, and is flavored with vanilla, cinnamon or mint. Both products may be produced with natural caffeine content, or may be partially decaffeinated.
Index

6,620,043

Virtual tug of war

Background: The present invention provides a novel form of entertainment in which participants compete in a "tug of war" against opponents who are remotely located, stored in electronic form in memory, or are virtual opponents graphically generated in real-time by a computer. One embodiment implements "tug of war" in a manner compatible with international standards for Tug competitions. The invention consists of a rope attached to a motor to supply a counterforce to the pulling team. A tensiometer is attached to the rope to determine the force being applied to the rope by the pulling team. In one embodiment, there is a corresponding assembly being used by an opposing team and in data communication with the first assembly. The motor applies a counterforce to the rope being pulled by one team based on the force being applied by the other team to their own rope. In this manner, the system works as if the teams were each pulling on the same rope.