Patent and Trademark Archives - Page 5 of 6

Category: Patent and Trademark

Apple Patent

Apple continues to wow us with yet another patent that provides insight into what they are working on. The company has invented a way to secretly call 911 using your fingerprint. The 911 patent was granted on technology that will sense the manner you are holding your phone in order to trigger the 911 call. Once the panic command is activated, the phone would provide the users’ location to responders and could also livestream audio or video off the iPhone. With this patented technology, if an attacker requires the user to unlock the phone, the user could comply and put in a combination such “thumb-pinky-thumb,” and that would unlock the phone, but also call the police. The technology isn’t available yet, but this feature would build on the already SOS feature recently added to the Apple Watch to help support emergency calling. #patent #omnilegalgroup #intellectualpropertylaw #apple #iOS

Did You Know?

In April 2011, Even Spiegel floated the Snapchat idea in front of his class as a final project, the classmates focused on the temporary aspect of the potential product, and started the thought of temporary photos. Bobby Murphy was eventually brought into the project to write the source code for the application, and Picaboo first launched as an iOS-only app in July 2011. The application was relaunched in September 2011 under the name Snapchat.

Sir Isaac Newton

On this day in 1687, Sir Isaac Newton makes public his outline of the laws of motion and universal gravitation. This world renowned work entitled Principia was first published by the Royal Society in England. Today we honor this great physicist and mathematician with some patents putting these principles to work. #patents #omnilegalgroup #isaacnewton #physics #USPTO

Sax Patent

On this day in 1846, the first patent to a Saxophone was issued to Antoine Joseph Sax. Born Adolphe Sax in 1814, he was awarded French Patent #3226 for his novel apparatus illustrated below in a family of 8 different embodiments. Over the years, Sax was attributed to producing and improving upon a number of different instruments. However, none of them gained the same level of acceptance and commercial success as the Saxophone.#Saxophone #patent #omnilegalgroup #internationalpatentlaw

International Yoga Day

June 21st is International Yoga Day. In 2014, a UN declaration was issued with support by 177 nations who cosponsored the resolution (the highest number ever for any such measure). This year, 72 students and teachers have traveled to the United States from India and will be performing yogic exercises at the United Nations Headquarters to honor the occasion. #patent #namaste #omnilegalgroup #international #yoga #internationalyogaday

SUPREME COURT RULING: Disparagement Clause of the Lanham Act

SUPREME COURT RULING: The Asian-American rock band originally denied registration for their band name The Slants prevails in their effort to gain U.S. trademark registration. They were originally denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for violating the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act. This part of the Trademark Act denies federal registrations for trademarks comprising immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter or that might disparage persons or groups or bring them into contempt or disrepute. In what is certain to be a controversial decision, the Supreme Court today found this to be a violation of free speech. This ruling will most certainly open the door for applicants seeking Federal protection for derogatory marks such as the Redskin football team who in 2014 had their trademarks cancelled for violating the disparagement clause. #trademarks #omnilegalgroup #SupremeCourt #USPTO #lanhamact #disparagementclause

Flag Day

On this day in 1777, the stars and stripes were adopted by the Second Continental Congress as the official Flag of the United States. This version of old glory has numerous legends tracing its origins with design credits being attributed to Francis Hopkinson and Betsy Ross. To this day, neither has been corroborated. In honor of Flag Day, we solute the inventors who have incorporate the stars and stripes into their patented designs. #patents #USPTO #flagday #america #oldglory #thestarsandstripes #omnilegalgroup

Welcome Summer!

Summertime is upon us and people everywhere are getting ready to hit the beach. Pack up your picnic lunches, your volleyballs, your beach towels, but don’t forget your chair! Beach chairs make it so much more comfortable to sit in the sand and watch the waves roll in. You can get a beach chair that reclines, one that sits high, one that sits low, or one that lies flat so you can get an even tan. Today’s patent is from an early beach chair. This one featured a footrest and a built in shade. This patent doesn’t look all that different from chairs you can purchase today!

Google Expands Searchable Patents beyond the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Google has made it even easier for pro se inventors to conduct their own patent searches. The search giant has released information about their expanded database of patents beyond the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Now users can research patents in agencies including China, Germany, Canada, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This resource can be accessed at patents.google.com. This a good place for inventors to start learning about what patent applications look like before seeking the advice of a patent professional.

Patent Law and Gene Patents

The gene patent dispute continues on both at home and abroad. Patents on genetic sequences have been a hotly contested part of United States patent law but we are not the only nation battling it out over isolated and purified sequences. Myriad Genetics recently came out victorious in an Australian court decision that recognized their ownership rights of gene linked to cancer. The victory was over Cancer Voices Australia and Yvonne D’Arcy, a Brisbane resident diagnosed with Breast cancer. “We intend to continue the challenge to the monopoly created by the patent held by Myriad,” Rebecca Gilsenan, a lawyer at Melbourne-based Maurice Blackburn, said in an e-mailed statement. Voice your opinion on this patent law issue below. And, as always, if you have any patent, trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property related questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at our Los Angeles or Beverly Hills Office by calling (310) 276-6664.