patent

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No, Mr. AI, You Can't Hold a Patent
No, Mr. AI, You
Can't Hold a Patent
Dec 20, 2023 12:52 PM CST

No, Mr. AI, You Can't Hold a Patent

You might be intelligent, but you're not human, rules Britain's high court

(Newser) - An artificial intelligence system can't be registered as the inventor of a patent, Britain's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that the AP reports denies machines the same status as humans. The UK's highest court concluded that "an inventor must be a person" to apply...

IBM Wore the Patent Crown for 29 Years. No More

South Korea's Samsung ended a streak that began in 1993

(Newser) - IBM has low-key dominated US patent acquisitions year in and year out since 1993, always beating out flashier competitors such as Apple and Microsoft. That changed in 2022, when IBM lost the patent-winning crown to Korean tech giant Samsung, reports Quartz . Samsung was granted 6,248 patents last year to...

National Inventors Hall of Fame to Induct Its First Black Women

Google exec Marian Croak, ophthalmologist Patricia Bath among 2022 inductees

(Newser) - The nearly 50-year-old National Inventors Hall of Fame will induct its first two Black female members next spring. Engineer Marian Croak and the late ophthalmologist Patricia Bath are two of seven honorees announced this month, who will join the Class of 2022, along with 22 others announced last year, reports...

Apple Wins Patent for 'Virtual Group Selfies'

Application was filed long before pandemic

(Newser) - Want to take a selfie with your friends, but your friends are all under stay-at-home orders? Apple filed a patent for software that would make that possible a long time before the pandemic, the Verge reports. The patent application for virtual group selfies, filed in 2018, was one of 57...

Chinese Scientists Seek Patent on US Drug to Fight Virus

They say they are acting to 'protect national interests'

(Newser) - Scientists in the city at the center of China’s virus outbreak have applied to patent a drug made by US company Gilead Science Inc. to treat the disease, possibly fueling the conflict over technology policy that helped trigger Washington’s tariff war with Beijing. The government-run Wuhan Institute of...

Apple, Broadcom Ordered to Pay CalTech $1.1B

Jury decides they infringed on Wi-Fi patents

(Newser) - A federal jury decided Wednesday that Apple and Broadcom must pay $1.1 billion to the California Institute of Technology for infringing on patents. Apple was on the hook for nearly $838 million of the damages awarded in a lawsuit that said Broadcom used its patented Wi-Fi data transmission technology...

This Might Be a Cure for Drivers Who Don't Signal

Tesla files patent for blinker that operates automatically

(Newser) - Activating a turn signal takes just a flick of the finger, but that simple move apparently is too much for lots of drivers out there. A new patent filing by Tesla seeks to change that. The company envisions an automated signal, one that senses when a driver is getting ready...

Uber May Detect Drunk Riders in Advance

Patent application would allow it to crunch data from ride request

(Newser) - Keeping your drunkenness a secret from your Uber driver might be impossible in a future world, no matter how much silence emanates from the backseat. A patent application shows that Uber may be interested in trying to figure out whether potential passengers are drunk by analyzing everything from typos in...

BlackBerry to Facebook: You Stole Our Messaging Tech

Company sues social media giant, including its Instagram and WhatsApp subsidiaries

(Newser) - BlackBerry Limited has long been proud of its messaging app—so much so that it's now suing Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp subdivisions for ripping off key features. The Verge notes a "sprawling" 117-page complaint filed Tuesday for patent infringement, alleging that hallmark innovations of BlackBerry Messenger,...

Amid Craze, Fidget Spinner Inventor Makes Nothing

A cash-strapped Catherine Hettinger let the patent expire

(Newser) - It's hard to make money if you don't have any. That's the lesson from Catherine Hettinger, who is credited with inventing the original fidget spinner about three decades ago. In 2004, she says she could not afford the $400 patent renewal fee and thereby had to surrender...

Scientist: I've Fixed Age-Old Problem of Wine Bottles

A small groove eliminates drips after a pour

(Newser) - It may be a first-world problem—that little drip of wine that slides annoyingly down the neck of a bottle after it's been poured—but to one scientist, it was simply a physics challenge waiting to be overcome. Biophysicist Daniel Perlman at Brandeis University, an inventor with more than...

Amazon May or May Not Be Building a Floating Warehouse

Company receives patent for 'airborne fulfillment center'

(Newser) - Amazon has received a patent for what one tech analyst calls the "Death Star of e-commerce": a floating warehouse hovering more than 8 miles above the ground and "spitting out delivery drones." The "airborne fulfillment center" could station itself above an event, such as a sports...

iPhone Idea for the Future Might Be a Throwback

Company gets patent for a flip phone

(Newser) - No, you haven't gone back in time: Apple has been granted a patent for a flip phone. The patent, filed for in 2014 and published this week, envisions a phone with a foldable OLED touchscreen, reports Apple Insider . OLED screens, now used by the company only on the Apple...

Boeing May Dramatically Change the Way We Fly

Patent calls for passenger plane that takes off and lands vertically

(Newser) - If a patent secured by Boeing this week is any indication, the company is eyeing a major change in the way travelers fly. The Seattle Times reports the patent details a passenger plane that takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter via tilting rotors. The rotors—horizontal for takeoff...

Apple-Samsung Showdown Reaches Supreme Court
Last Time SCOTUS Heard
a Case Like This, It Was 1885
THE RUNDOWN
Oct 12, 2016 3:45 AM CDT

Last Time SCOTUS Heard a Case Like This, It Was 1885

Apple, Samsung battle has lasted years

(Newser) - The last time the Supreme Court heard a design patent case, it involved carpets—and there were only 38 states in the USA. The long-running Apple vs. Samsung battle over the latter company's alleged copying of iPhone design elements made it to the country's top court Tuesday, and...

Apple's Hot New Patent Is for a Paper Bag

Maybe coming to a store near you

(Newser) - For those concerned that the latest iPhone wasn't revolutionary enough , the latest Apple patent application to make headlines would seem to indicate that Tim Cook and Co. are truly getting back to basics: It's made out of paper, has handles, and you can put stuff in it. Or,...

Disney Gets Patent to Take Pictures of People's Feet

It could track theme park guests by their shoes

(Newser) - Disney has received a patent to take pictures of visitors' feet at its theme parks, the Los Angeles Times reports. Specifically, the patent titled System and method using foot recognition to create a customized guest experience would scan guests shoes when they enter the park then track them as the...

Missing Patent for Wright Bros' 'Flying Machine' Found in Cave

The 'holy grail' of lost documents hadn't been seen in decades

(Newser) - Missing for decades, the Wright brothers' patent for their "Flying Machine" was found last month in a manila envelope among 15-foot-high stacks of patent files in a limestone cave outside a small Kansas city. The Washington Post has a fascinating story on how the "holy grail" of missing...

Facebook to Learn New Slang Before the Cool Kids

It filed a patent for a 'social glossary' last month

(Newser) - Facebook just patented something that could help all the parents on Facebook finally understand what their kids are saying, Business Insider reports. The social media company was granted a patent for a "social glossary" in February, and the patent filing was published by the US Patent and Trademark Office...

Razor Wars Get Hairy: Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

Gillette accuses online service of patent infringement

(Newser) - For nearly 120 years , Gillette has comfortably assumed dominance in the US shaving market. But now it's taking on an online upstart in the courts: The company filed a suit Thursday against Dollar Shave Club, trying to stop the subscription service from selling razors Gillette says infringe on a...

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