The class
that I most looked forward to lecture and doing the homework for was by far
IEOR 190G with professor Tal Lavian. This is one of the first classes that I
have taken at Cal in which the material we learned was directly relevant to the
real world. Our homework even included write-ups on real world cases, which
kept me knowledgeable with regard to what was happening in the industry. One of
my favorite aspects of the class were the guest speakers from the Intellectual
Property community. As a business major, I was really interested in how patents
affect the value of a company, and the importance of patents in creating a
business strategy. I also learned a lot about the niches of patent litigation.
For example, the East District of Texas sees a lot of patent cases due to its
pro-plaintiff bias! This class has really sparked an interest in patents for
me, which I had little to no knowledge before. This week, I was a volunteer at
the Keiretsu Forum, a venture capital expo with 12 startups pitching. A lot of
the investors questions had to deal with the companies patent portfolios and
hot the licensing and sale of patents could help mitigate failure risk and loss
of investment. Having taking IEOR 190G, I was able to understand the different
types of intellectual property protection. When I am evaluating devices and
services, I now look at things through a patent perspective, which I had never
before thought of. I really enjoyed this class, and am excited to continue my
involvement with SCET and hopefully take other classes with Professor Lavian.
Ryan Irwin's Patent Engineering Blog
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Social media as a learning tool
This
semester, I maintained a blog, twitter, and YouTube channel for my IEOR class.
The use of social media in the class was very interesting, as it enabled me to
develop a learning community with my peers. I subscribed to my peers in the
class on twitter, which enabled me to receive live updates on cases that were
happening in the patent and intellectual property world. Students utilized the
hashtag #Berkeley190G which enabled us to filter the twitter and get only
intellectual property related content. Many students imbedded links into their
tweets, which enabled their peers to go to the site and read more about the
specific case. During my time in the class, I purchased a subscription to
Law360, which by far had the best content on Intellectual Property. My favorite
part of using social media was commenting on my peers blogs and videos. I was
able to learn about a variety of cases from my peers, as they included more
analysis than many of the news articles that are available on the web.
I
also liked the YouTube videos, as it was helpful to hear my peers elaborate
even further on the articles. The videos also included their opinion on the
case, which was insightful to see how they interpreted the case. Social media
also made doing the homework fun, as it was a good change from the traditional
style of all my other courses. As a business major, this is the first time I
had taken a course in the engineering department, and I thought that the peer
community developed through social media helped me to understand the technical
aspect of patents. I was able to meet with peers in technical majors outside of
class to further discuss patents.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Apple and Google call truce in Smart Phone Patent War
Two technology titans, Apple and
Google, called a truce in mid-May 2014. In a joint statement, Apple and Google
agreed to dismiss all current lawsuits that exist directly between the two
companies. The patent lawsuits that the companies filed against each other
stemmed from Apple suing Motorola in a federal court four years ago. When Google
acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012, it was forced to take on the huge legal
tasks of settling the pending lawsuits. Apple has been active in suing those
who infringe, including Google for its android software and Samsung for its
design features.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIL5Gl8pAOcrZfnsZCswcJJjTXucB-kjiK09l6Q7PiO9bMyo16WdvAqyrhRtg9vRzZSTMwB_b74j5eKDq6aHDK-Mk1zvUvyEvHwl4la5-Nrrk57uj0dy2XLfUJJDht4UeQbwVnc752s3E/s400/17212134.jpg)
The legal truce between Apple and Google does not take the pressure off of smartphone maker Samsung, who is seeking minimal damages from Apple in patent infringement litigation. The Japanese Intellectual Property High Court ruled that Apple infringed on data transmission technology in their iPhone 4 and iPad 2, which Samsung has patents on. Apple and Samsung are involved in several patent litigation cases in several different countries and courts at the same time. Apple was awarded $119.6 million in damages by jurors in a Silicon Valley trial. While this may seem like a large award, it is only a small fraction of the $2BN + that Apple has sought from Samsung in the smartphone and tablet war. In this particular case, Samsung violated three of five key patents. Often times there is no clear winner in the cases, as the firms appeal the cases and they are sometimes over turned or invalidated.
Apple Requests Additional $180 million
In
December 2015, Apple won a patent battle with smart phone maker Samsung that
forces the Korean phone manufacturer to payout $548 million in damages to
Apple. Now, Apple is asking a U.S Court to force Samsung to pay an additional
$180 million that they believe Samsung owes them. The infringement occurred on
five mobile phones that were sold beginning in 2012. The requested $180 million
includes both interest and supplemental damages. Apple in the initial case
demanded that Samsung pay $2.5 billion. The appeals court went through will the
infringement case when they found merit to the legality of Apple’s trademark
claim on the iPhone’s custom designed back.
The
majority of the damages are based on a jury finding Samsung guilty of
infringement on appearance, and Samsung argues that it makes no sense for a
maker of complex devices to have to pay damages of “full profit” for infringing
on a minor design element. Samsung is particularly concerned with this patent
litigation because it allows “design patents alone among intellectual property
rights as a basis to obtain windfall awards far exceeding any inventive
contribution” (Law360). It has been standard procedure for full profits to be
paid out for design patent infringement, so it is going to be hard for Samsung
to recoup some of its money. Samsung is going to have to get a high court to
hear the case and ultimately rule that the damages awarded to Apple were
excessive. There is one way out that is up in the air for Samsung. The claims
of Apple patents that Samsung was found to infringe on were found invalid by
the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a re-examination this year. Apple is
appealing that ruling, but if it is upheld, then Samsung will be off the hook
for paying Apple.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Silly Patents - Baby Bottom Art
Baby bottom art is one of the most insane patents that
exist, and whoever in the USPTO approved this should definitely reconsider.
Essentially, baby bottom art is the process and an associated kit including the
materials required dipping the posterior of an infant in pain and stamping it
on a material to make a print. This patent makes no sense, because it probably
was done way before it was patented in 2001, and also is just a body part used
as a painting tool. The patent states in its background that, “the addition of
a newborn infant to a family inspires feelings of nostalgia and the related
desire to create a lasting remembrance of the child’s infancy. This patent
satisfies the need of a remembrance, but are all either utilitarian or
unfinished in nature.” The patent was published by Elise Cohen as US6213778.
They key claims of the patent are A method of painting using the posterior of an infant,
said method comprising the acts of:
1. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising
the act of rolling the posterior of the infant during the stamping step.
2. A method as defined in claim 2 further comprising
the act of rolling the posterior of the infant during each stamping step.
3. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising
the act of overlapping
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