patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office database is a treasure trove of technologies for those who bother to dig.

To wit: HTC has filed a patent for a method of watching videos on mobile devices with built-in accelerometers. According to the lengthy description, the motion sensor not only detects the direction of the shake, but also measures the intensity of the displacement. These parameters are then compensated with a shift of the images in the opposite direction.

Imagine you're on a bus watching the latest episode of "House" and the vehicle hits a bump on the road. … Read more

At least no one can accuse IBM of playing favorites when it comes to open source.

IBM, a longtime defender and advocate of open-source software, took a shot over the bow of the open-source community in March when it sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company behind the OpenHercules open-source project.

Has Dr. Jekyll IBM just met its Mr. Hyde?

On March 11, 2010, Mark Anzani, vice president and chief technology officer within IBM's System z business unit, sent TurboHercules a letter asserting its patents against the OpenHercules open-source project. In it Anzani expresses surprise that TurboHercules wouldn't … Read more

I was recently at a friend's house, and we used a combo of an ancient Super Nintendo and a pico projector to play Street Fighter II on his wall, which became a 5-foot screen. It was fun.

The contraption was battery-powered and tiny, and it now looks as if Apple is also eyeing awesome tiny projectors, if this recent patent filing is anything to go by.

The idea is simple: Build one of the tiny projectors into the side (or the back) of a MacBook so that presentations (read: video games) can be projected beyond the laptop. This could, … Read more

A company that has already sued Apple over a patent on zooming and scrolling on a mobile Web browser, is now adding the iPad to the lawsuit Monday.

EMG Technology, a company based in Los Angeles, sued Apple in November 2008, claiming that it owns U.S. Patent No. 7,441,196, which covers the "Apparatus and Method of Manipulating a Region on a Wireless Device Screen for Viewing, Zooming and Scrolling Internet Content." The company says the method of scrolling and zooming on a mobile Web browser was issued to Elliot Gottfurcht, one of the owners of … Read more

Say what you will about the new iPad, but there's no denying it's a sleek and sexy device. Good looks aside, there is certainly some friction between the gaming community and Apple's new tablet.

Sure, the iPhone and iPod Touch have carved out a considerable niche in the casual gaming market, but, like we've said before, it's tough to consider the platform a legitimate gaming machine without buttons. The same can now be said about the iPad and its 10-inch screen.

We've had plenty of hands-on time with gaming on the iPhone, and though it's a relatively pleasurable experience with titles that just require tapping, the same cannot be said for games that were originally created for consoles with controllers. Sonic the Hedgehog is a perfect example of this shortcoming, as the game performed quite well with the major exception of having to use an onscreen virtual button configuration.

Of course the iPad will give developers more real estate to work with, but it's arguably even tougher to grasp the iPad like you would a normal handheld gaming device. The recent unveiling of a patent filing may give some more insight as to how Apple plans on addressing the awkwardness of touch-screen gaming. … Read more

It's turning out to be a busy day for Microsoft's legal team.

The software maker on Thursday lost its bid to have a full appeals court review I4i's patent case in which the Toronto company was awarded both millions in monetary damages and an injunction against the inclusion of custom XML features in Word. Separately, meanwhile, the company is suing a maker of Xbox add-ons over that company's Xbox 360 controller.

In the I4i case, Microsoft said it is still figuring out its next move, which could include asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, … Read more

A new patent awarded to Web retailer Amazon.com could change what customers see in their shipping confirmation e-mails, as well as making falsely problematic returns more difficult.

U.S. patent number 7,689,465, which was unearthed early Tuesday by blog TechFlash, outlines a process wherein the company films outgoing packages being boxed up. Stills from these videos, or the entire video clip of the packing, can then be sent to the buyer for what Amazon says is verification of both the order and the shipping address.

But the idea behind the patent is not just for customers, it'… Read more

A Taiwanese chipmaker is suing Apple over the use of multitouch technology in several products, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and forthcoming iPad.

Elan Microelectronics filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission Tuesday, accusing Apple of violating an Elan-owned patent that covers "touch-sensitive input devices with the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers."

Elan claims the iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook, and Magic Mouse are in violation of Elan's patent, No. 5,825,352, and when the iPad goes on sale this Saturday, it will be too. Elan has asked the ITC … Read more

Patent No. 7,679,604--"Method and apparatus for controlling a computer system"--the broad motion-control patent I've been writing about this week, has passed through a number of hands over the years.

First assigned to ArrayComm in 2006, it was subsequently handed over to Durham Logistics, a limited liability company which is itself managed by another obscure Las Vegas LLC called Memscom. But there's one more company at the end of that oblique line of ownership: Intellectual Ventures, an "invention capital firm" or patent troll, depending on your views on innovation and intellectual … Read more