patents

Monoprice: A tech consumer's best friend? Or a copycat?

Reviewers have fawned over surround-sound speakers from Energy, a unit of the Klipsch Group.

Two years ago, CNET's Matt Moskovciak dubbed the Energy Take Classic 5.1 system "the best budget speaker system we've reviewed." The sound from the speakers is incredible, he wrote, and the $399 price tag unbeatable.

It was, anyway. A few months ago, upstart online retailer Monoprice debuted its 5.1 Hi-Fi Home Theater Satellite Speakers & Subwoofer system at $249. The speakers aren't just similar to the Energy system, and they don't just have the same dimensions and sound … Read more

Microsoft lands design patents for Surface cover keyboard

While Microsoft's Surface tablets may not be exactly clicking with consumers, some of its design elements have won the blessing of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The USPTO granted a trio of patents today for the touch/type cover keyboard design on Redmond's tablet, including its "ornamental design for an electronic tablet with input device coupling," as Microsoft described the construct in its patent application abstracts. Apparently thinking it was onto something big, Microsoft applied for patents covering its tablet's keyboard design last May, roughly a month before the mystery event that turned … Read more

Intellectual Ventures sues Canon, Ricoh over printer tech

Intellectual Ventures, the controversial patent and technology firm founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, has sued Canon and Ricoh over printer technology.

In a pair of complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware yesterday, Intellectual Ventures accused Canon of infringing on nine of its patents, and Ricoh of seven patents -- both in various printing products.

According to IV, the company approached both companies to negotiate licensing deals, but was unsuccessful.

"When sophisticated companies turn a blind eye to infringement, we are forced to take action to safeguard the value of our patents and to … Read more

Apple patent points to pen PC with cellular and GPS features

A newly awarded Apple patent describes a pen that acts as a portable, wireless computer.

Granted to Apple today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a patent known simply as "portable computers" speaks of a pen computer with a built-in screen that can display e-mails, text message, and voice data. The device, which would be equipped with cellular and/or GPS technology to allow wireless communication, also would act as an advanced digital pen. The patent explains that the pen would include accelerometers to recognize handwriting and facilitate both speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion.

Along with … Read more

The 404 1234: Where we trade in our books for Bioshock Infinite (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Jeff's Bioshock Infinite review: in a class by itself.

- Get that tune out of your head! Scientists find out how to get rid of earworms.

- I rewatched this video over the weekend and it blew my mind.

Bathroom break video: Eastern Wayne Harlem Shake fail.… Read more

Judge says Xbox doesn't infringe Google patent

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has decided that Microsoft's Xbox doesn't infringe on a patent held by Motorola Mobility, reversing his original decision.

Judge David Shaw filed his findings today, Bloomberg reported. The ITC will now review Shaw's findings and make a final determination July 23.

The case began in November 2010 when Motorola,now owned by Google, sued Microsoft over wireless and video coding patents that Motorola said were used in the Xbox and in Microsoft smartphones.

Shaw initially ruled, in May, that Microsoft's Xbox 360 S video game console did infringe Motorola's parents and should be banned from import … Read more

Drop an iPhone? Apple's patent filing comes to the rescue

iPhone owners who drop their phones could avoid serious damage if an Apple patent filing ever results in real technology.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent application dubbed "Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device" describes a couple of methods to help a dropped iPhone or other electronic device better survive its fall.

In one method, on-board sensors would detect how far and how fast the phone is falling and reorient its position. As such, the phone would actually be rotated mid-flight to land on a more durable spot, such as its … Read more

Apple sued for alleged security patent infringement

Intertrust, a company that received hundreds of millions from Microsoft over a patent infringement case in 2004, is now suing Apple.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company announced today that it has filed a patent infringement suit (PDF below) for 15 patents on "security and distributed trusted computing."

Intertrust is asking the court for an injunction to stop Apple from selling or importing products in the U.S. that fall under the patents, and it wants Apple to pay for allegedly using the patents without licensing, according to the complaint. The company is asking for damages and a "… Read more

Twitter scores a patent for Twitter

If you're thinking about copying the way Twitter works, you might want to get a good lawyer: the technology at the core of the social network is officially patented.

As first reported by The Verge, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Twitter a patent today for what it termed a "Device independent message distribution platform:"

A system (and method) for device-independent point to multipoint communication is disclosed. The system is configured to receive a message addressed to one or more destination users, the message type being, for example, Short Message Service (SMS), Instant Messaging (IM), … Read more