Microsoft Patents Pay-As-You-Go Computer Model

According to documents released on Christmas Day, Microsoft has patented a new “pay-as-you-go” computer model.  The patent, originally filed in June 2007, would offer low-priced computers that provide usage-based access to software, PCMag.com reports.

This patent would allow people to buy computers at lower prices, and then purchase access to software programs via a set bundle or per-hour basis.  Fees would be lower for tasks such as word processing, while fees would be higher for more complicated tasks.  Microsoft would also monitor the machine’s disk storage space, processor cores, and memory used, and bill the consumer.  As the patent application states:

The current business model for computer hardware and software relies on a user purchasing a computer with hardware and software that is suited to the most demanding applications that the user expects to encounter. Therefore, a user may buy a multi-core processor with a significant amount of memory and advanced video support for gaming applications that are only used on the weekend, while the user’s day-in, day-out activities may involve little more than word processing or web-browsing.

The program may be very useful for those who only need occasional access to a computer.  Since these types of people would only need a computer to perform simple  tasks, they would be able to avoid the heavy price tag for a computer of their own.  Also, they would be able to avoid the hassle of borrowing a computer and situations such as buying the entire Microsoft Office Suite, when all they really need in Microsoft Word.

Lockheed and EEStor Partner Up in Body Armor Patent

In a recent patent published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Lockheed Martin is currently researching the development of body armor that would include EEStor’s latest technology, the Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU).

Lockheed’s patent describes the patent as being “body armor having an electrical energy storage unit formed as a layer that substantially conforms to an armor plate.”  The idea is that if one section of the armor is damaged, the other sections could be electronically coupled, reports Clean Break.  There is also mention of the electrical energy storage layer providing additional protection from bullets and ballistic fragments.  An external fuel-cell would also be used to recharge the storage layer in the body armor.

The body armor patent is similar to other models, because it would still be worn like a form-fitting vest.  But, the patent does go on to say that the electrical energy storage would be composed of “one or more solid state, capacitive, electrical energy storage devices, such as those provided by EEStor, Inc. of Cedar Park, Texas.”

Last week, DynamicPatents mentioned how EEStor had recently been granted a patent on their EESU technology.  These batteries theoretically have an unlimited lifetime, and can potentially revolutionize the electric car.  While there are some skeptics of this technology, the fact that EEStor is mentioned in a patent with Lockheed Martin automatically gives the EESU more validity.

Acushnet Denied Appeal to Sell ProV1

Acushnet Company’s latest attempt to stave off the court-ordered injunction of the ProV1 fell short last week.  As reported by All Headline News, although three three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals denied the request, Acushnet has released a statement saying it will continue to appeal the decision.

The original suit took place in December 2007, when a jury ruled that Acushnet had infringed on four of five Callaway patents.  The ruling also included that Acushnet was to cease all sales and distribution of the Titelist Pro V1 and Pro V1X by January 1, 2009. 

The Pro V1 was first introduced in 2000, and Titelist has sold roughly $1 billion of them.  The ball has gained fame by many prominent golfers using it on the PGA Tour.  Such golfers include: Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Lee Westwood, David Love III, and Jose Maria Olazabal.  The ProV1 also accounts for 60% of the premium golf ball market, and suggested retail price is roughly $4.83 a ball – three times the price of other mass-market balls.

Acushnet has said that it will continue to sell Pro V1 golf balls by converting the production of the balls “to be outside the patents in question.”  As Acushnet’s executive Vice President said, “This decision will not interfere with Titleist’s ability to continue to manufacture, distribute and sell Pro V1 golf balls.”

Microsoft, Google and Apple Sued by Small Indiana-Based Company

Cygnus Systems, a small Indiana company, has sued Microsoft, Apple, and Google over a patent on a common file preview feature.  Cygnus claims that Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 8, and Google Chrome all infringe on their patent that allows users to see small snapshots of files before they are opened.

As reported on MacWorld, Cygnus has implied that although they have sued three high profile companies, more may be named in the suit.  “We’ve identified many other potentially infringing products that we’re investigating,” said Matt McAndrews, the attorney who is representing Cygnus.

Cygnus was granted the patent in March 2008, but it was applied for in 2001 as a continuation to a 1998 application.  Cygnus is seeking damages and a permanent injunction to prevent further infringement.

While some may accuse Cygnus of being a patent troll, the exact language of their patent must be examined a little closer.  More must be known about the history of the patent as well as the exact language of the patent before making such an accusation.  But, if this lawsuit comes before a judge and is ruled in favor of Cygnus, it may have major implications on the Technology industry and several other companies will have to shell out millions.

RIM Patents Unfolding QWERTY Keyboard

Some people wouldn’t blame Research In Motion, the maker of Blackberry handsets, for resting on their laurels after the successful launch of the Storm.  Yet, one recent patent from RIM has left many critics scratching their heads.

As Cellpassion reported earlier this week, the design of the patent allows for three rows of the device’s keypad to be positioned on the face of the handset beneath the display.  Therefore, the numerical 0-9 keys would be present at all times.  However, when the device is used for text messaging, the side panels would fold open and provide a full QWERTY keypad.

While the aim of this patent is to build a significantly narrower handset while still providing a full keypad, many worry that the phone will be extremely fragile.  Since the keys fold out, these side panels may easily snap off.  Furthermore, some critics have pointed out the similiarities between the phone and the movie “Transformers.”

Unless there is something in the patent that people are missing, this device may not make it to the market.  The patent simply seems too fragile to be used on a regular basis.

Apple Patents Swipe Gestures for Cell Phone Texting

It is unknown what Apple truly wanted for Christmas, but we know of one item that Santa Clause brought them – a new patent for improving touch screens.  The patent, granted by the USPTO on Christmas day, allows someone to insert spaces, uppercase letters, or line breaks by swiping the screen rather than pressing keys.

The invention relates generally to “input systems, methods, and devices, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and devices for interpreting manual swipe gestures as input in connection with touch screen keyboards.”  As the patent states:

Systems, methods, and devices for interpreting manual swipe gestures as input in connection with touch-sensitive user interfaces that include virtual keyboards are disclosed herein. These allow for a user entering text using the virtual keyboard to perform certain functions using swipes across the key area rather than tapping particular keys. For example, leftward, rightward, upward, and downward swipes can be assigned to inserting a space, backspacing, shifting (as for typing capital letters), and inserting a carriage return and/or new line. Various other mappings are also described. The described techniques can be used in conjunction with a variety of devices, including handheld devices that include touch-screen interfaces, such as desktop computers, tablet computers, notebook computers, handheld computers, personal digital assistants, media players, mobile telephones, and combinations thereof.

The patent was originally filed on June 22, 2007.  It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for this technology to actually be installed on the iPhone.

EEStor Inc. Granted Patent for New Electric Vehicle Battery

EEStor Inc. was granted a patent last week on highly energy dense electric storage units for electric vehicles.  Better known as EESUs, these batteries may revolutionize energy storage because unlike lithium-ion cells, this device is said not to degrade with cycling.  Therefore, these batteries could theoretically have an unlimited lifetime, GM-Volt reported.

The core ingredient is an aluminum-oxide-coated barium titanate powder immersed in a polyethylene terephthalate matrix.  The EESU is said to have the ability to hold 52.220 kWh of energy, and weigh roughly 281.56 pounds.  The patent also mentions that the EESU cannot explode when being charged or upon being impacted – a must if it is to be used in vehicles.

EEStor currently has an exclusivity agreement to build EESU-powered ZENNergy drive electric vehicles with the Canadian company Zenn.  Earlier this year, Zenn reported that they would receive prototypes by the end of 2008.  The CEO of Zenn said, “The timeline for the delivery of an EESU is entirely within the purview of EEStor and as such I cannot comment on delivery timelines.  I will restate that ZENN remains confident in the launch of an EEStor EESU powered by cityZENN by the last quarter of 2009.”

Boston.com Sued for Copyright Infringement

Boston.com, the Boston Globe Web site owned by the New York Times Co., was sued Monday by GateHouse Media.  The accusations against Boston.com are numerous, as GateHouse alleges the Web site of copyright infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, trademark dilution, unfair business practices, trademark infringement and breach of contract.  GateHouse is seeking an injunction against Boston.com, as well as monetary damages.

The lawsuit stems from Boston.com’s usage of information taken from GateHouse publications.  GateHouse claims that the Web site violated copyright law by copying headlines and first sentences from their papers, the Newton TAB and the Daily News Tribune, as well as their website, wickedlocal.com.

GateHouse said in the suit that on any given day, Boston.com’s Newton site features between 10 and 30 GateHouse items.  Although these articles provide links to the GateHouse sources, the company argues that providing links gives the false impression that GateHouse endorses this practice.  Furthermore, GateHouse complains that by providing “deep links” directly to the articles, it wrongly bypasses GateHouse’s home page. 

This suit will bring up key legal issues about what type of linking is permitted to other sites on the internet.  If a settlement is not reached outside the courtroom, the ruling in this case may impact how millions of sites and blogs attribute their ideas or articles.

NSA Patents Technique to Spot Network Snoops

The United States National Security Agency has patented a technique to figure out whether someone is tampering with network communication.  The software measures the amount of time the network takes to send different types of data from one computer to another.  If something takes too long, the software raises a red flag, IT World reports.

This patent could be used to detect a fake phishing Web site that intercepts data between users and their legitimate banking sites.  In the past, researchers have attempted to solve this problem with a technique called “distance bounding.”  However, the NSA takes a different approach and compares different types of data traveling across the network.

IOActive security researcher Dan Kaminsky said, “Think of it as – ‘if your network gets a little slower, maybe a bad guy has physically inserted a device that is intercepting and retransmitting packets.  Sure, that’s possible.  Or perhaps you’re routing through a slower path for one of a billion reasons.”

The patent was filed with the USPTO in 2005.  It’s interesting to see that even though the patent was filed by fellow government organization, the application still took a fair amount of time to be processed.  One might have thought that this particular application would have received preferential treatment, but it seems as if that was not the case.

Loss of Patent Protection Means Loss of Jobs at Bristol-Myers

Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that it will eliminate 10 percent of its work force through 2010 as it works to cut costs before it loses patent protection on key drugs.  The company said they will eliminate 800 positions by the end of 2008, including filled and vacant jobs worldwide, KansasCity.com reported.

With the layoffs, Bristol-Myers believes they will save an estimated $1 billion by 2012, which is in addition to the $1.5 billion in cost cuts announced last December 2007.  In addition to the job cuts, Bristol-Myers is attempting to boost their sales as well as saving money by improving inventory management.

These changes come in preparation for the period in 2011 to 2013, when the patents on popular drugs expire.  These drugs include the blood thinner Plavix, bipolar disorder treatment Abilify, and the blood pressure drug Avapro.  When the patents on these drugs expire, Bristol-Myers will face low-cost generic competition, which will drive the down the price significantly.

Bristol-Myers is not alone when it comes to popular drug patents expiring in the near future.  Pharmaceutical companies such as Wyeth, Merck and Co., GlaxoSmithKiline, and Pfizer Inc. have all announced cost cuts and job reductions as they prepare for the loss of patent protection.

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