21st October, 2011

Twitter acquires 'tweet' trademark

Twitter the micro-blogging site has secured the "tweet" trademark. Des Moines-based Twittad will transfer the trademark to Twitter in exchange for withdrawal of a lawsuit that challenged the company's right to the trademark. Twitter will also reinstate the Twitter account for Twittad, which a provider of sponsored advertising on Twitter helping Twitter users to get paid to tweet ads.

Twitter had filed for the trademark in April 2009 at the USPTO, but the application was denied as three companies had already applied for trademarks that contained the term "tweet" in their names. Twittad had obtained the trademark after a 2008 application to trademark the phrase "Let Your Ad Meet Tweets" went unopposed.

wittad will continue to use its current trademark as part of the agreement between the two companies.

 

Pantech Licenses Intellectual Ventures Patents

Pantech, the Korean handset maker and Intellectual Ventures (IV) have signed a long-term patent-licensing agreement that provides Pantech with a license to some parts of IV's extensive patent portfolio, which includes more than 35,000 IP assets in more than 50 technology areas.

Intellectual Ventures is a Bellevue-based firm run by Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer. Intellectual Ventures technology patents will help Pantech maintain a competitive hold in the industry and avoid impending legal disputes in the future.

Pantech was sued by Intellectual Ventures for patent-infringement along with HP, Dell, Best Buy and others. It is not clear whether IV has dropped the suit against Pantech because of the agreement. Pantech has the choice to become a member of IV's IP-for-Defense program to help reduce risk of potential litigation.

 

Fujifilm and Eastman Kodak clash over Digital Camera Patents

Fujifilm Corp. of Japan has filed a lawsuit against US-based Eastman Kodak Co. in the federal court in Manhattan for alleged infringement of four of its patents on digital cameras.

Tokyo based Fujifilm made this move as talks between the companies were unproductive. In the complaint Fujifilm alleged that Kodak manufactured and sold products in the U.S., including the EasyShare C340 and EasyShare M530 digital cameras that violated the patents. It seeks damages and a jury trial.

Fujifilm Corp. is the company behind the FUJIFILM FinePix brand of digital cameras. The Kodak EasyShare M530 is being sold for as low as $79.95 by Kodak on store.kodak.com. Both companies which are approximately 100 years old have numerous patents to their credit.

 

Brewery applies for GI for Dartmoor beer

The Dartmoor Brewery said it wanted to avoid confusion with other companies which have "Dartmoor" on beers.

A Devon brewery has applied for the Protected Geographical Indication status for the Dartmoor Beer in the Europe Union. They intend to stop breweries elsewhere misusing the Dartmoor name. Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England is protected by National Park status.

This Princetown's Dartmoor Brewery wanted to evade confusion with other companies, which have commercially exploited the Dartmoor name on their beers. Dartmoor head brewer Mike Lunney claimed that only a brewery in the area was geographically entitled to use the "Dartmoor" label and a GI tag would put an end to illegal use of the company's Dartmoor brand which is nearly 17 years old.

 

Microsoft acquires Skype

Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of the Internet phone company Skype has been finalized, after an approval by U.S. and European antitrust agencies. Microsoft has added about 50 patents covering networking, speech recognition and user interface with this acquisition.

Skype’s brand will however be retained, in the biggest-ever acquisition by Microsoft’s. The computer giant intends to incorporate the Web-based communication service across numerous consumer products such as Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox.

With Skype apps already on Apple’s iPhone, Google Android devices and Windows Phones, Microsoft will have a better monopoly on Web-based communication in the cellular phone industry. Skype’s PC software is available for both Windows and Macintosh with Microsoft maintaining that Skype’s cross-platform presence will not weaken. Microsoft is also likely to integrate Skype into its Outlook email software and Hotmail Web-mail service. Video-chatting is also available through Windows Live Messenger.

Skype’s user base boasts of having more than 170 million connected users and registers about 600,000 new users per day.

 

500th USPTO patent granted through Green Technology Pilot Program

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued the 500th patent through its Green Technology Pilot Program for a “Wind Turbine Rotor Blade with Aerodynamic Winglet” to General Electric Company.

This is the 116th patent for General Electric through the USPTO’s Green Technology Pilot Program, in which applications pertaining to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation and environmental quality are hastened at no cost to the inventor. 

Under the Green Tech Pilot patents have been granted faster as compared to the standard examination process. In some cases patents have been granted in less than one year from the application filing date.

Nearly 2,500 petitions have been granted to green technology patent applicants since the pilot began in December 2009.