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GEN-ERIC Patent News Tuesday, April 27,
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 WAY BROAD PATENT CLAIM Patent of the
Day goes to America Online, Incorporated of Virginia for a Smart HTML electronic mail
The Edible Frisbee
Patent of the Day goes to an Independent Inventor from Colorado for an
Edible flying retrievable animal toy
Index ================================================== NEWS Forgent Networks Sues 31
Companies Over Patents http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8505454.htm?1c Forgent
Networks has sued 31 companies, including the high-tech industry's largest
players, over patents it claims to have related to a popular compression method
for storing digital photos and images. Forgent and its wholly owned subsidiary,
Compression Labs Inc., filed lawsuits Thursday in U.S. District Court, claiming
patent infringement. The patent in question, issued in 1987, deals with
compressing digital video, and the company insists its techniques are the same
ones used as part of the common compression standard known as JPEG, issued by
the Joint Photographic Experts Group. Over the last two years, Forgent's
intellectual property business has generated about $90 million from licensing
the patent to 30 different companies in Asia, Europe and the United States, the
company said.
Index Vibrating Hardware Wars http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-04-23/pols_feature4.html Which
came first, pierced or strapped? That's the agitating question facing a federal
judge in Houston in a contentious patent infringement lawsuit that will
determine which oral pleasure product – "The Tiggler" or the "Tongue Joy" – came
first, and which inventor – Eric Klein or JJK Industries LP – will enjoy the
spoils of any continuing, tongue- (or groin-) tingling success. The question of
who will reign supreme as the King of Oral Vibrators may turn on who was first
to invent the product. "We both applied for a patent – I applied a little
earlier, but they believe they invented it earlier," said Klein. U.S. patent
rights are determined by when an idea was conceived, not when it was patented.
"Everywhere else in the world it's who is first to file," Klein said. "It's a
hugely complex legal proceeding." Index Intel Customers Deluged
with Patent Notices http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Intel_Customers_Deluged_with_Patent_Notices&story_id=23828&category=entcmpt In
a continuation of its intellectual-property compliance program begun last May,
chip designer Patriot Scientific Corporation sent notifications to about 150 of
the world's largest electronics firms of possible patent infringement . In
December, Patriot began a series of lawsuits, eventually dragging Intel into the
dispute earlier this year. Specifically, Patriot claims that several
consumer-electronics companies -- including Sony , Fujitsu, Toshiba, NEC and
Matsushita -- sold products containing chips with Patriot's patented
microprocessor clocking mechanisms. At the time, the firm's CEO said, "This is
the first of many anticipated actions in the interest of protecting the
company's patent portfolio."
Index ================================================== PATENTS OF THE DAY
6,728,757
Smart HTML electronic mail
Abstract: The smart
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) electronic mail system utilizes an intelligent
decision algorithm to decide if an addressee is HTML capable or if plain text is
required. The user specifies if certain e-mail domains, newsgroups, and
individual e-mail addresses are HTML-capable or require plain text e-mail or the
invention will query directory servers such as Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) servers as to the HTML capabilities of an e-mail client. The
user composes an HTML e-mail document, indicating the addressees in the "to"
field and selects the "send" command, the invention examines the document and,
if the addressee is known to be HTML-capable, the document is transmitted as is.
If the addressee is not known to be HTML-capable and if the document does not
contain any HTML formatting that cannot be easily rendered in plain text, the
invention automatically converts the document to plain text and transmits the
document, thereby taking full advantage of the rich text formatting of HTML. If
the document does contain any HTML features that are unique, the invention asks
the user if he wants to send the document as is or have it converted over to
plain text before sending, thereby providing a smart HTML e-mail system that
automatically and intelligently converts and distributes the user's e-mail
documents to both HTML-capable and plain text e-mail clients.
First
Claim: A process for sending Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
formatted electronic mail across a computer network, comprising the steps
of: creating an HTML document; checking the designated recipients for HTML
capability; and sending said document to said designated recipients in
accordance with said recipient's HTML capability.
Index
6,725,809
Edible flying retrievable animal
toy
Abstract: A
flying retrievable animal toy that is edible. The animal toy is formed in the
shape of a retrievable disk with a circular body member having a convex upper
surface and a concave lower surface. The body member is formed of an edible
material such as rawhide that may be flavored with other edible materials such
as beef or chicken. The toy is thrown by the animal owner to be retrieved by the
animal.
Index ================================================== ACCESS OFFICIAL GAZETTE AND
NOTICES Access this week's Official
Gazette http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week17/OG/index2.htm
Excerpt
from OG Notices
Notice of Pilot Program to Permit Pre-First Office Action Interview
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed
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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