Hasta La Gadget!

We know, we know: the patent system is broken. But what exactly should the US Patent and Trademark Office do to reform itself, particularly where nebulous software claims are concerned? If you ask the developers themselves, they might tell you code was never meant to be patented. Obviously, an outright ban might not sit well with USPTO officials, so the agency is instead taking a different tack: it’s hosting two roundtable events with the developer community to discuss the future of software patents.

These discussions, which will take place in February in New York and in the Silicon Valley, will focus on the the terms used to define a patent’s scope, among other topics. For those of you interested in attending, you’ll need to register by February 4th by sending an email to SoftwareRoundtable2013@uspto.gov (you’ll also need to list various credentials, which are outlined in the Groklaw post linked at the bottom of this post). Even then, seating is limited and entry is first-come, first-serve. If you can’t attend, the events will both be webcast, and the USPTO is inviting developers to send in written comments (the deadline for that is March 15th). Consider this your FYI and if you really do intend to go, comment or even host a presentation at one of the events, you’ll want to hit up the links below for more details.

Filed under: Software

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Via: Groklaw

Source: USPTO

Google has settled with the FTC, avoiding antitrust penalties by agreeing to license standard-essential patents to rivals without threat of injunctions, and to remove restrictions on online advertising, though the concessions aren’t enough to placate activists. As part of the agreement, Google will be forced to license the standard-essential Motorola Mobility patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms to any rival that requests them, after fears that the search giant might use its acquired IP to bludgeon competitors with extortionate licensing fees else run the risk of expensive and limiting injunction proceedings.

“The Commission’s complaint alleges that Google reneged on its FRAND commitments and pursued – or threatened to pursue – injunctions against companies that need to use MMI’s standard-essential patents in their devices and were willing to license them on FRAND terms” the FTC said today, with Google basically losing the sting from its 24,000 patent/patent application grab of Motorola Mobility. The FTC’s fear was that Google’s increasing control over what are deemed essential elements of technology might curtail product evolution.

“Google has agreed to a Consent Order that prohibits it from seeking injunctions against a willing licensee, either in federal court or at the ITC, to block the use of any standard-essential patents that the company has previously committed to license on FRAND terms” FTC

As for advertising, Google has agreed to two key concessions in order to dismiss concerns that it was using its search heft to undercut other services. Google will now give its advertising customers greater access to the APIs that deliver feedback on ad campaign results.

Meanwhile, sites will be able to “opt out” of inclusion in Google services like Places, after companies like Yelp complained that Google was scraping their data and leaving web users no reason to visit their sites specifically. “Some FTC Commissioners were concerned that this conduct might chill firms’ incentives to innovate on the Internet” the commission said today.

“Google also has promised to provide all websites the option to keep their content out of Google’s vertical search offerings, while still having them appear in Google’s general, or “organic,” web search results” FTC

However, allegations that Google was prioritizing its own results above those of rivals, and manipulating search results to benefit itself, were dismissed. Rivals had argued that “Universal Search” was in effect making a virtual-walled garden where Google’s own services were promoted, but the FTC said that it believed the changes were more in keeping with Google refining its own products.

“According to the Commission statement, however, the FTC concluded that the introduction of Universal Search, as well as additional changes made to Google’s search algorithms – even those that may have had the effect of harming individual competitors – could be plausibly justified as innovations that improved Google’s product and the experience of its users. It therefore has chosen to close the investigation” FTC

Chatter of a voluntary agreement by Google broke late last year, with the company tipped to be more willing to make a “gentleman’s agreement” if it could avoid legislation and potential fines. ”The changes Google has agreed to make will ensure that consumers continue to reap the benefits of competition in the online marketplace and in the market for innovative wireless devices they enjoy,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said today. “This was an incredibly thorough and careful investigation by the Commission, and the outcome is a strong and enforceable set of agreements.”

“We’ve always accepted that with success comes regulatory scrutiny” Google said of the agreement. “But we’re pleased that the FTC and the other authorities that have looked at Google’s business practices … have concluded that we should be free to combine direct answers with web results. So we head into 2013 excited about our ability to innovate for the benefit of users everywhere.”

Unsurprisingly, though, activists aren’t quite so happy with the outcome. Fairsearch, the organization set up by Microsoft, Nokia, Yelp, and others to highlight the alleged Google antitrust behaviors, is yet to comment, but the  American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research has already compared the search company to Lindsey Lohan:

“As Google’s dominance grows, consumers have become extremely concerned about the search giant’s control of the marketplace, entrance into new markets, and a seeming indifference to the protection of privacy and the law in general. Letting Google off with a letter promising not to do it again is like believing Lindsey Lohan will stay out of trouble this time. The FTC had a long list of grievances against Google to choose from when deciding if they unfairly used their dominance to crush their competitors yet they failed to use their authority for the betterment of the marketplace and to the advantage of consumers by declining to take action against the dominant company” American Consumer Institute Center

Google settles FTC antitrust with patent and advert limits is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Were you one of those who laughed at the Galaxy Note when it first arrived with a stylus? Look who’s laughing now, as Apple is said to have filed a patent with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) last week for an active stylus that they can call their own, describing the stylus in the filing this way, “the stylus includes an electrode at a tip of the stylus; and powered circuitry coupled to the electrode and configured for capacitively coupling the electrode with a capacitive touch sensor panel. The powered circuitry can further include drive circuitry configured to output a drive voltage at the electrode and/or sense circuitry configured to sense a voltage received at the electrode.”

After putting that through the Applese-English machine, it basically means that the design is able to improve stylus sensing on conductive displays without having to be expensive to manufacture. This patent was filed by a couple of employees over at Apple, namely engineering manager Jonah Harley and hardware engineering manager David Simon. And so it begins, the late Steve Jobs announced a 7-inch tablet market as “dead on arrival”, and also dismissed the stylus when the iPhone was first unveiled in 2007. I guess this means that Apple has thought otherwise now.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPen 2 Next-Generation Stylus Is Pressure Sensitive And Angle Agnostic , Apple To Deliver 802.11ac Compatibility To Upcoming Macs [Rumor],

Have you ever wondered how come most of the spy shots that we see of upcoming devices tend to be blurry in nature? Could it be because the window of opportunity to shoot that money shot is so small, that one cannot help but have shaking hands while he or she is at it? Well, RIM, a company that is more or less betting the farm on the BlackBerry 10 operating system at the end of this month in New York City, is involved in a new and recently released patent that has been described as this, “the camera restriction prevents a user from taking a picture of a subject if the device has not been steadily focused on the subject in question for a predetermined period of time.”

Depending on the amount of time you require to ensure that your BlackBerry remains still could be dictated by different sections of the IT department, and the person or department in charge would also be able to flip the switch and send restrictions to an employee’s device right there and then. This delay would definitely reduce the occurrences of spy shots as well, as a really long delay like a minute would leave no room open for someone on a stealth mission. I guess this means you just need not bring your BlackBerry to the assembly line…

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC Believes Settlement With Apple Will Pay Off In 2013, LG Boasts 1 Million Optimus Vu Units Sold In South Korea,

If you’re keeping track of the multiple, and let’s face it, tiresome Samsung / Apple patent debacle, a document that just turned up at the ITC might spell more trouble for the Korean manufacturer. It’s a publicly redacted version of Judge Pender’s recommendations, and pertains to the October ruling that deemed Samsung borrowed four of Cupertino’s designs. The most iconic being design patent D618,678 (that which you see above). The others include multi-touch patent 7,479,949 (which was tentatively invalidated) along with two other patents (RE41,922 and 7,912,501) relating to graphic display elements and audio hardware detection. If the recommendations are adopted — and FOSS Patents suggests this is entirely possible — Samsung could face a US import ban after a 60 day presidential review, an order prohibiting “significant” sales of infringing products in America along with a posting a bond for 88 percent of the entered value of mobile phones (plus 32.5 percent for media players and 37.6 percent for tablets) that include the breaching design features. Pender has, however, reportedly cleared several Samsung “designarounds” which, if implemented to satisfaction, would mean the tech giant could continue trading. For now though, the recommendations are awaiting the Commission’s review.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung

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Via: FOSS Patents

Source: ITC (Doc ID 500118)