EPA extends biofuel compliance deadline

The EPA continues to tread water on biofuels.

from Reuters:


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday [July 31, 2014] extended for a third time the deadline for refiners to show compliance with 2013 federal biofuel use targets, a move quickly criticized by the oil industry.

Plagiarism charge hampers Walsh's campaign in Montana

Glenn Poshard had already lost his race in Illinois when plagiarism charges were brought against him.
John Walsh, D-Montana, is not so lucky.


from the Hill:



Walsh apparently copied more than a quarter of his paper from other sources without attribution and with only minor alterations.

The revelation likely doomed his already-uphill Senate campaign, and any ongoing stories about the scandal make it that much harder for him to recover in his campaign against Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.).




Copying material without attribution to obtain a degree is a serious matter. It's a lot worse than lack of attribution in campaign speeches.

As noted elsewhere, Joe Biden's big plagiarism issue wasn't cribbing from Kinnock; it was the copying in law school.

John Whealan quoted in Washington Post

From the Washington Post:


The tech community, adds George Washington University professor John Whealan, himself a deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property Law at the USPTO from 2001-2008, "has, with all due respect, become an anti-patent community. It wants what it wants, and it doesn't want to compromise."

Time-crunched examiners don't find prior art and grant patents??

From within the post Inside the stressed-out, time-crunched patent examiner workforce, note the text



"Our data finds that as examiners are given less time to review applications, the less prior art they cite, the less likely they are to make time-consuming prior art rejections, and the more likely they are to grant patents," the researchers report.


Note how Q. Todd Dickinson, former USPTO director during the Clinton years, is mentioned:


"I've long advocated for the need for examiners to have more time to examine," said Todd Dickinson, former executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. "The problem over the years, of course, is that maybe until last year there kept being a diversion of funds away from the office."

Eplus v. Lawson

The dissent in Eplus v Lawson is of significant interest.

Apple suffers setback over Siri in patent case in China

Fortune on July 9, 2014 had a post Apple loses Round 1 of Siri patent case in China which noted that Apple had gone to court against Shanghai-based Zhizhen Internet Technology and China’s State Intellectual Property Office seeking a ruling of patent invalidity against Zhizhen.

However, the First Intermediate Court in Beijing found against Apple, which allows Zhizhen to pursue its infringement claims AGAINST Apple over Siri.

Also eWeek had noted:



Zhizhen's patented technology powers Xiao i Robot software, which allows users to ask questions and can respond to voice commands. Siri, which can also respond to spoken commands, was originally introduced as an iOS application available in the App Store by Siri, Inc., which was acquired by Apple in 2010. "Our only demand is that Apple stop infringing on our patent and cover the court costs," Yuan told China Daily. -

Apple has been shelling out quite a bit of cash lately to Chinese firms. On July 2, the Associated Press reported Apple had agreed to pay Shenzhen Proview Technology $60 million to use the iPad name in China. The matter appears to settle an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies about which one really owns the name iPad. Apple has maintained that it purchased the global rights to the iPad name in 2009, but in December, a Chinese court ruled that it hadn't purchased the name for use in China. -



Of Siri, a PLI course discussed certain lawyers communicating confidential information to Siri.

Of patent law in China, note a 2012 article in 9 South Carolina J. Int'l Law & Business 89 and an article in 36 Harvard Environmental Law Review 123.

As to filing patent applications in China, note translation issues:


Translation accuracy is always a major issue for
patent applications filed by foreign entities in China. It
is common that a patent owner will discover that the
invention, as defined in a Chinese application, deviates
substantially from the original patent application as a
result of an inaccurate translation. To avoid translation
errors, especially if the invention is very important, it
would be prudent to seek professional proofreading
services for the patent documents including the claims
and specifications in Chinese.



And, as to getting damages, note from Forbes


As the RMB is not yet fully convertible, the Chinese government has in recent years promoted an offshore market where the currency can be used outside the Chinese mainland. In order further open up the currency for legal cross border transactions, special administrative zones are being established such as the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (‘PFTZ’) - dubbed the ‘hole in China’s currency wall’. In such special zones, full convertibility of the renminbi is allowed but only a small scale and under certain circumstances.

Washington Times on paralegal issue at USPTO

In a post Patent workers paid to exercise, shop and do chores, investigation reveals , the Washington Times states


The probe by the Commerce Department’s inspector general found that paralegals at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s appeals board [PTAB]were paid more than $5 million for their time even though there was so little work for them to do that supervisors didn’t care how they used it.




The workers coded their time sheets for "other time" but “other time” was code for “I don’t have to work, but I’m going to get paid.”

Blogging of material in court records: can publicly available information be confidential?

From the case HORACE FRAZIER HUNTER v. VIRGINIA STATE BAR, EX REL. THIRD DISTRICT COMMITTEE, 285 Va. 485; 744 S.E.2d 611 (Va. 2013):


All of Hunter's blog posts involved cases that had been concluded. Moreover, the VSB [p. 503] concedes that all of the information that was contained within Hunter's blog was public information and would have been protected speech had the news media or others disseminated it. In deciding whether the circuit court erred,we are required to make our "own inquiry into the imminence and magnitude of the danger said to flow from the particular utterance and then to balance the character of the evil, as well as its likelihood, against the need for free and unfettered expression." Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia, 435 U.S. 829, 843, 98 S. Ct. 1535, 56 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1978). "At the very least, [the] cases recognize that disciplinary rules governing the legal profession cannot punish activity protected by the First Amendment, and that First Amendment protection survives even when the attorney violates a disciplinary rule he swore to obey when admitted to the practice of law." Gentile, 501 U.S. at 1054. (...)
State action that punishes the publication of truthful information can rarely survive constitutional scrutiny. Smith v. Daily Mail Pub. Co., 443 U.S. 97, 102, 99 S. Ct. 2667, 61 L. Ed. 2d 399 (1979). The VSB argues that it can prohibit an attorney from repeating truthful information made in a public judicial proceeding even though others can disseminate this information because an attorney repeating it could inhibit clients from freely communicating with their attorneys or because it would undermine public confidence in the legal profession. Such concerns, however, are unsupported by the evidence. To the extent that the information is aired in a public forum, privacy considerations must yield to First Amendment protections. In that respect, a lawyer is no more prohibited than any other citizen from reporting what transpired in the courtroom.



See also -- 786 F. Supp. 2d 1107 (ED Va 2011) --

Cross-reference: 2012 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 29

The confidentiality provisions of the settlement agreement are inconsistent with N.J.S.A. 45:9-22.21 to -22.25, specifically, N.J.S.A. 45:9-22.23(a)(10) and Rule 1:38, which permit free access by the public to the information sought to be concealed. Severance of these provisions ordinarily would not permit enforcement of the agreement. Defendant, however, advised this court at oral argument

As Beats goes after Chinese counterfeiters, Bose goes after Beats

From within an article titled Bose Sues Beats Electronics, Alleging Patent Violations in Design of Beats Studios, Solos.


We do know, however, that if Bose manages to win its case, Beats could be in trouble. Just as Beats is suing Chinese counterfeiters for billions in lost profits, Bose could claim it's owed a slice of Beats' profits from the products made in violation of its patents.



As to Beats, a CNN story in 2013 noted


Three weeks ago, hip-hop star Andre Young -- better known as Dr. Dre -- made news as his Beats Electronics line, a maker of premium headphones, was valued at more than $1 billion thanks to an investment from the Carlyle Group.

But the former N.W.A. rapper is not the only one profiting from his headphone line. Across the Pearl River Delta in southern China, counterfeit Beats are flowing out of factories, assembly workshops and shops, attracting businesspeople that sell the headphones on global markets. (...)

Factory owners here have a nose for what's hot and what's not. Nearly 70% of all fake goods -- including DVDs, clothing, and electronics goods -- seized worldwide from 2008-2010 came from China, according to the World Customs Organization.

And looking at the shops in Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei commercial district -- a destination for buying electronics, especially fakes -- Beats by Dr. Dre are definitely hot, prominently displayed next to iPhones, Samsung gear and Nikon cameras. To look at them, some are clearly fakes with poor packaging and logo color schemes that are wildly different from those well-known products.



TMZ reported on a lawsuit by Dr. Dre on 10 July 2014. AppleInsider noted: Recently-confirmed Judge Manish S. Shah will oversee the case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

A link for the Bose law suit in D. Delaware:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/235105947/Bose-vs-Beats

Boston Globe expounds on plagiarism

The Boston Globe discusses recent plagiarism incidents in an article Plagiarism incidents undercut message to students


Included in the text is



a high school principal in New York apologized after writing a yearbook message that was nearly identical to a California principal’s from a year earlier, down to the name of his school.


One recalls an IPBiz post back in 2007 which included:



The onlypunjab web site still has the article:

Edison as a Patent Troll, or Where is California Going in Stem Cell Research? -
By: Annie Kaszina

in which "Annie Kaszina" had substituted her name for LBE in an article which had appeared on ezines in June 2006. Unfortunately for "Annie," the bio of LBE was left at the bottom of the article, and as of May 12, 2007, the bio still is within the plagiarized article on theonlypunjab site:

Lawrence B. Ebert is a registered patent attorney located in central New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford, a J.D. from the University of Chicago, maintains a blog at IPBiz.blogspot.com, and is the author of LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE HWANG MATTER: ANALYZING INNOVATION THE RIGHT WAY, published in the Journal of the Patent & Trademark Office Society [88 JPTOS 239 (March 2006)]. The above material is based on a submission to Intellectual Property Today [IPT] which was supposed to have been published in April 2006, but which was not published. Most endnotes of the IPT submission have not been reproduced here. The contents of Endnote 18 of the IPT submission did appear within comments to the USPTO concerning proposed rulemaking about continuing patent applications. Ezine draft submitted June 16, 2006.




Plagiarism is bad. Leaving behind indicia of the original author is stupid.

As to the Boston Globe and plagiarism, recall from a CNN story in the year 1998:


Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle quit Wednesday as questions were being raised about two more of his columns.

The pugnacious writer, who has become an institution in Boston over the course of a 25-year career at the Globe, told TV station WCVB that his resignation was "the best thing for the paper."

Globe editor Matthew Storin told the staff that he had asked for and received Barnicle's resignation, because of questions about whether the writer had fabricated characters in a 1995 column.

Also, in an issue that will hit newsstands Friday, The Boston Phoenix weekly newspaper will report that Barnicle lifted portions of a 1986 column from a 1961 book by journalist A.J. Liebling.

Earlier this month, Storin demanded Barnicle's resignation after discovering that he used jokes from a book by George Carlin without attribution in an August 2 column. But after an outcry from the public and some other journalists, Storin relented and announced last week that Barnicle would be suspended for two months without pay instead.

Chinese companies to enter rare earth magnet area in the US after expiry of Hitachi patent?

An article titled Hybrid car batteries, iPhones may become cheaper notes consequences of expiry of patents to Hitachi on rare earth magnets. There is text


The expired US patent 5,654,651 covers magnets with neodymium, a rare earth element, and cobalt, according to Sun [ chairman of Shenyang General Magnetic Co ].



One notes that US 5,654,651 [to Hitachi] is titled CMOS static logic circuit with abstract


A static logic circuit employs pull-down type logic gates having logic transistors forming a power supply current path and logic transistors forming a grounding current path and having current drive abilities higher than those of the logic transistors forming the power supply current path, and pull-up type logic gates having logic transistors forming a power supply current path and logic transistors forming a grounding current path and having current drive abilities lower than the logic transistors forming the power supply current path, and comprises logic series formed by alternately cascading the two types of the logic gates. The static logic circuit is provided with signal merged logic circuits each of which provides a signal having a high speed falling transient and a high speed rising transient by merging the output signals of the logic series.



The word "magnet" does not appear in the patent text.

Bloomberg has a related article China Takes on Hitachi as 17-Year-Old Rare Earth Patent Ends. The Bloomberg article refers to the same US Patent.


The expired U.S. patent 5,654,651 covers magnets with neodymium, a rare earth element, and cobalt, according to Sun. The Chinese alliance plans to sue Hitachi in the U.S. over several other patents that cover production, he said.

CBS Sunday Morning on July 27, 2014; cover story on hoarding

Charles Osgood did the stories for July 27. Rita Braver does the cover story on hoarding, now diagnosed as a mental disorder, afflicting 5% of Americans. New help for hoarders. Lee Cowan interviews Angelica Huston. Third, Mark Strassman on Nixon's tapes. Barnyard cursing. Fourth, Sarah McLachlan done by Anthony Mason. Now touring. Fifth, Mo Rocca on manscaping.

Headlines: Hamas proposing a cease-fire. In Libya, US State Dept. closed embassy. Donetsk, Ukraine. Wildfire in Plymouth, CA. Nude painting in NYC. Weather: thunderstorms in NE.

Rita Braver on keeping too many books and papers. Joann Garland of Greenfield, MASS. Decades of stuff. The volume of clothing has overwhelmed her. Garland continues to hoard. Wire handles from Chinese takeout containers. I hate to waste anything. Up to 5% of the US population. 31% of Americans acknowledge having too much stuff. Reality tv. DSM-5 recognized hoarding as a mental disorder. Inability to keep it organized. Randy Frost of Smith College. Compulsive Hoarding. in 1947, the Collier Brothers bodies discovered. Houses were really full. Rich and poor alike. Hoarding runs in families. Suffer from depression. Anterior cingulate cortex. Book: Buried in Treasures. Recognizing the problem. Establish weekly goals. eg, tidy up bedside tables. Lillian Evers. Carol Star: felt like I was suffocating. Make my house a house again. Leader Lee Shore. 8 years ago his home was a disaster zone. Wife: me or the stuff. Separate into keep and give away piles. You still have impulse, but your reaction changes. Likely to be a live long struggle.

Almanac. July 27, 1965. Cigarette smoking and health. President Johnson signed bill requiring warning labels on cigarette packs. Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. As of 1970, cigarette commercials banned from tv. [April 1, 1970: Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio ] Just over 42 million American adults continue to smoke. About 1 death in every five due to smoking.

Manscaping, man grooming, story done by Mo Rocca. Stella Barba in Miami [Barba Skin Clinic[. Marcel Martinez is a patient. Laser zaps the hair and follicles underneath. European Wax Center: uses beeswax to remove hair. Joe Dooley: follicle fall guy, has chest hair removed via wax.

Building a Mystery. Anthony Mason talks to Sarah McLachlan . Her adoptive father died of cancer in 2010. A time when big changes happen. She lives in West Vancouver, and has a recording studio in her home. I go play the piano and it clams me right down. New album "Shine On." Unconditional love from her father, who was always there. She grew up in Nova Scotia. Signed to a record deal at age 19. Song "Angel." Related to the death of drummer of "Smashin' Pumpkins."
Used in a commercial for ASPCA Will you be an angel for a homeless animal. Raised 30 million dollars. A tour of all woman artists. Lilith Fair.[McLachlan founded the Lilith Fair tour, taking Lilith from the medieval Jewish legend that Lilith was Adam's first wife. ] Now have Sarah McLachlan School of Music.

Mark Strassman on the Nixon tapes. Alexander Butterfield. 3700 hours of tape. Luke Nichter of Texas A & M. Douglas Brinkley of Rice co-authored the Nixon Tapes. Humphrey: a gibbering idiot at times. 700 hours of tapes remained unreleased. Nixon is a prism.

Pulse. 28% say Nixon was a good president.

Mark Uptigrove director of LBJ Library. on Gerald Ford. Uncomplicated and down to earth. Our long national nightmare is over. Here the people rule. One month later, Ford pardoned Nixon. Ford's decency. Gerald Ford ultimately fit the moment. Times when goodness will do.

A bucket list. Steve Hartman in Chico, California. Christina Chesterman killed by drunk driver. She wrote a bucket list. Niagara Falls; save someone's life. Break up a fight between two guys over her. Her parents work on completing her bucket list. Thousands of people are doing her bucket list. [July 25: n our continuing series "On the Road," Steve Hartman meets Sandra and David Chesterman, a couple that's celebrating the life of their daughter Kristina in a very special way -- through her bucket list. ]


The Grifters. Lee Cowan on Angelica Huston. Bought a farm near Sequoia National Park. "A Story Lately Told," published by CBS Simon and Shuster. Her grandfather, Walter Huston; father John Huston. Her mother died in a car accident. She headed for New York. Photographer Bob Richardson. Do you ever get tired talking about Jack Nicholson. Prizzi's Honor. You wanna do it? She married Robert Graham.

A tale of two cities. Relative happiness. Richmond, VA happiest. New York City, least happy.

School of Rock. Martha Teichner on "Boyhood" from age 6 to 18. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. Film was shot over 12 years. Manipulation of time. Accumulation of small but emotional moments. Red neck bar mitzvah. Worked as off shore oil worker. Summer 85 to spring 91. Moved to Austin, Texas. Slacker made for $23,000; msde $1.2 million.
Dazed and Confused. Matthew McConaghy. School of rock. "Before" trilogy. Waking Life. Budget for Boyhood, 2.4 million. Stays in Austin, Texas. 20 acres of old airport are now a studio.

Monday: Arlington renewal day. Tuesday: Warren G. Harding love letters Wednesday: Tuskegee Airman Thursday: Snowden asylum Friday: Chicago festival Saturday: Pro footbell hall of fame in Canton, Ohio

Next week: Osker Pistorious.

Moment of nature: Viking River Cruises. Texas Horned Lizards in Matador Wildlife Area in Paducah, Texas.

Who found the lionfish in Florida rivers?

Christie Wilcox covers the dispute over credit for the "lionfish in Florida rivers" in a post titled
Proceeding upriver: a timeline of the dispute over estuarine lionfish .

The players in the dispute:

Zachary Jud, then a grad student at FIT, who discovered lionfish in rivers of salt content below that of adjacent ocean and published thereon in 2011. [ Jud is the first author of AQUATIC BIOLOGY Vol. 13: 21–26, 2011 titled Recent invasion of a Florida (USA) estuarine system
by lionfish ]

Craig Layman, Jud's thesis advisor, second author of 2011 paper

D. Albrey Arrington, of Loxahatchee River District, which funded some of Jud's studies, and who is listed as the third author of the 2011 paper. Father of Lauren.


Lauren Arrington who did a sixth-grade science project on lionfish salinity tolerance after the 2011 pape was published. [ Lauren set up her experimental tanks on September 8, 2012. ]

By 2014 the popular press had altered the story:


The Palm Beach post publishes a story on Laura Arrington’s science fair project and her acknowledgement in Jud et al. 2014. “Through long hours of research the Jupiter resident proved that lionfish certainly can live in nearly pure freshwater, which means they are more of a threat than expected,” writes Dianna Smith. “No one knew this before. Not even prestigious Florida scientists who have studied this ecosystem for years.”



from a CBS interview



After describing Lauren’s experiment, the reporter speaks to Albrey. “So no one really knew that lionfish were a threat in rivers like this one?” the reporter asks. “They didn’t. We certainly did not understand that. Lauren’s research showed they are.”

Benny Johnson terminated by BuzzFeed for plagiarism, curiously after Johnson blasted the Independent Journal Review for plagiaism

Paul Farhi noted:


In an apology published late Friday night [July 25, 2014], editor Ben Smith [of Buzzfeed] acknowledged that one of the site’s most prolific writers, Benny Johnson, had plagiarized the work of others 40 times in some 500 articles and posts. Johnson has been fired, Smith said.


link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/buzzfeed-fires-benny-johnson-for-plagiarism/2014/07/26/64abe9d2-1484-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9_story.html

The NY Post questioned Johnson's choice of copying victims:


His offense wasn’t copying, without crediting, the classics. If only he had. No, his alleged sin was nicking from such mind-numbing sources as Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers and a Texan Congressman’s self-promoting Web site.



The Post further questioned Buzzfeed's claim to fame:


“In the eyes of many journalists, BuzzFeed is constantly walking a fine line between aggregation, or ‘curation,’ and theft,” Politico’s Dylan Byers wrote.

Major plagiarism scandal brewing as to Senator John Walsh

The New York Times presents the story of plagiarism by Walsh in a post
Senator’s Thesis Turns Out to Be Remix of Others’ Works, Uncited

The copying without attribution appears in a paper required for Mr. Walsh’s master’s degree from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

The Poshard concept of inadvertent plagiarism arises: “I didn’t do anything intentional here,” Walsh said, adding that he did not recall using the Carnegie and Harvard sources.

Sadly, the NYT recycles the canard about Biden: And Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. dropped his 1988 presidential bid when it was revealed that in campaign speeches he had used language similar to that of the British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock without attribution. Some of the time, Biden did mention Kinnock. The problem with Biden's story taken from Kinnock was that it was factually untrue as to Biden. Stating falsities is worse than unattributed copying, especially in speeches. Further, years earlier, Biden copied in law school. Did Biden drop out because of the Kinnock thing, or was that pretext for something else?

The NYT does raise a different issue about Walsh: the misrepresentation of "where" he went to school:



There has also been a discrepancy about where Mr. Walsh earned his undergraduate degree. He was listed in the biographical directory of Congress as having graduated in 1990 from the University at Albany, State University of New York, but actually earned his B.S. degree from what was then known as Regents College, an adult learning institute that issued degrees under the umbrella of the University of the State of New York.

Mr. Walsh changed the listing after the newspaper Roll Call ran an article about the matter, but he did not offer an explanation publicly.


The NYT post was by JONATHAN MARTIN .

An interesting related post
What a 12-Year-Old Has in Common With a Plagiarizing U.S. Senator

From one who was a victim of the Walsh plagiarism (Sean M. Lynn-Jones )


Honestly, I’m not outraged. Although I don’t condone plagiarism, I was surprised and mildly flattered that Sen. Walsh had decided to incorporate so much of my paper into his, albeit without citing me once. Even in 2007, my paper, “Why the United States Should Spread Democracy,” was out of date. I wrote it in 1998, when the Clinton administration was embracing the strategy of spreading democracy.

By 2007, U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan had, to put it mildly, given democracy promotion a bad name.

The paper needed significant revisions to address what had happened in those two countries, respond to criticisms, and cite the most recent literature. Nevertheless, it remained online and was often the most viewed publication on the Web site of Harvard’s Belfer Center. Ironically, Walsh’s appropriation, without citation, of sections of my paper ensures that it will enjoy a much wider readership than if he had properly footnoted it in his student work.


link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/24/sen-john-walsh-plagiarized-from-me/

No mandamus from CAFC for Nokia in ITC case

Judge Newman, in dissent, in Nokia/ITC case:



My colleagues now state that their
words “may be raised ” by Nokia did not
mean that the Commission must permit the issue to be raised
by Nokia. If my colleagues did not intend these words to be understood as
permitting Nokia to raise the issue,
they should have been clear. Indeed, I understood this
court’s words in the same way as did Nokia
and the Commission’s staff attorneys



Nokia's request for a writ of mandamus was denied.

link http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/14-133.Order.7-23-2014.1.PDF

Eli Lilly not doing well in face of patent expirations

The Wall Street Journal notes in an article Eli Lilly Profit Falls 39% on Patent Expirations


The company said that patent expiration of the two treatments caused a 17% decline in volume during the quarter. Cymbalta sales fell 73% to $401.3 million in the quarter, and Evista sales dropped 61% to $108.3 million. Those declines drove a 30% drop in total U.S. revenue to $2.38 billion, the company said.

Uncertainty as to the new Unitary EU-wide Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC)

In 2002, Donald Rumsfeld stated:

Reports that say there's -- that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things that we know that we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.


In a post in 2014, concerning the new Unitary EU-wide Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC), Tim Hewson and Tom Burt utilize that quote to evoke uncertainties facing EP patent applicants in the coming regime. They note

Starting from sometime between about 2015 and about 2016 you will be facedwith new decisions when the EuropeanPatent Office grants your patents. Those decisions are therefore applicable to thepatent applications which you aredrafting and filing today.

Further issues from the plagiarism matter at Chicago State University

Note Chicago State official sues UIC, claims it violated privacy law by discussing plagiarism claim :

The lawsuit, filed Monday [July 21, 2014] by CSU Interim Provost and Senior Vice President Angela Henderson, claims UIC violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as FERPA. The law bars schools from releasing private information on student academics without permission.

Teva's Copaxone: does the CAFC have to treat an expert's opinion as a fact under FRCP 52?

Scott Gottlieb's post FDA's Looming Decision On A Generic To Teva's Copaxone Reveals Drug Approval Woes has a nice discussion of the issues facing the FDA on analyzing/approving generic Copaxone.

Gottlieb stated:


FDA is widely known to be considering the approval of a generic version of Teva Pharmaceutical’s (NYSE:TEVA) blockbuster drug for multiple sclerosis, Copaxone.
The patents covering Copaxone for its 20mg/ml strength expired on May 24th. After patent expiration, FDA could approve generic copies of the drug at any time. But some of the same challenges that caused the agency to struggle with and sometimes stumble over its similar previous decisions still linger, and will color FDA’s decision concerning Copaxone.


Meanwhile, as to the Teva v. Sandoz business on US Patent No. 5,800,808 coming before the US Supreme Court, note the following.

Scotusblog defined the issue as


In the Teva case, the issue is the division of roles between a trial court — a U.S. district court — and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit over the interpretation of the claims that an inventor makes for a product or process. While federal appeals courts normally are to review the factual conclusions drawn by a district court only to see if they were “clearly erroneous,” the Federal Circuit for more than fifteen years has followed the practice of construing the claims made by an inventor, using its own independent judgment (technically, de novo review). The issue the Justices will decide is whether to require the Federal Circuit to follow the customary approach.





From within Teva's opening brief:


While the patent did not expressly use the term “peak average molecular
weight,” it did indicate that the average molecular
weight should be determined using an analytical
technique called size exclusion chromatography (“SEC”).
Dr. Grant explained that the patent’s instruction to
determine the average molecular weight using SEC
technology would have indicated to a skilled artisan
that the intended measure was peak average, the on-
ly measure that can be read directly from an SEC
chromatogram.
(...)
Peak average is the only expression of average mo-
lecular weight that can be derived directly from the
chromatogram. Determining either number average
or weight average molecular weight, by contrast, re-
quires additional calculations based on the underly-
ing chromatographic data. The patent does not spec-
ify any such further calculations.


The key point:

The district court credited Dr. Grant’s testimony
on this point, which was unrebutted, and found that
once a skilled artisan learned that “average molecu-
lar weight” would be determined using SEC, “the
presumed meaning” of “average molecular weight” to
that skilled artisan would have been peak
average.


In context, Dr. Grant was rendering an opinion as an expert
witness, not stating a fact as a fact witness. Opinions are different from facts.
An opinion is a conclusion reached by someone after looking at the facts.

I myself have a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, and can say "the use
of size exclusion chromatography" would not cause me to presume "average
molecular weight" meant "peak average molecular weight."

The experimental approach to collect data (here, size exclusion
chromatography) is distinct from "how" the data from the experiment is analyzed.

Buzz on Apple's US Patent No. 8,787,006, issued July 22, 2014

The abstract of Apple's '006 patent states


Embodiments of electronic wristwatches are disclosed. According to one embodiment, an electronic wristband can provide additional electrical circuitry or devices that can be made available for use as or with an electronic device. In one embodiment, the electronic device can be a mobile electronic device that can be removably coupled to the electronic wristband which provides the additional circuitry or devices. Advantageously, the electronic device can utilize the additional electrical circuitry or devices provided within the electronic wristband to augment the capabilities of the electronic device. In another embodiment, the electronic device can be integrally formed with the electronic wristband which provides the additional circuitry or devices.



The first claim


An electronic wristband to be worn on a wrist of a user, the electronic wristband comprising: a central portion having a receptacle area configured to receive and electrically connect to a mobile electronic device, the mobile electronic device including a display and being independently useable apart from the electronic wristband to perform a first set of functions; and at least one band portion coupled to the central portion and suitable to assist with securing the electronic wristband to the wrist of the user, the at least one band portion including a wireless communication transceiver provided internal to the at least one band portion and operatively connected to the mobile electronic device when the mobile electronic device is received in the receptacle area, wherein the mobile electronic device, when received in the receptacle area, is operable to perform a second set of functions, the second set of functions including all of the first set of functions and further including wirelessly communicating user input received by the mobile electronic device to a second electronic device via the wireless communication transceiver.

Offer to license by Merck leads to to lawsuit

Offering a license deal can sometimes be hazardous, as Merck found out in the Sovaldi business. Separately, buying a company that had a previous research agreement with a third party can be problematic.

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled Hepatitis C Spurs Unusual Patent Wars Among Big Drug Makers includes the text


As for Merck, Gilead filed a preemptive lawsuit after receiving a phone call from a Merck executive who proposed licensing two Merck patents to Gilead in exchange for a 10% royalty on sales of all medicines including Sovaldi. Gilead called this a “prohibitive demand.” Merck later responded in court by claiming that Sovaldi infringes on its patents that cover compounds related to the active ingredient in Sovaldi.

Roche, meanwhile, claims it has rights to Sovaldi thanks to a decade-old research collaboration with Pharmasset, which developed the drug and was purchased by Gilead two years ago for more than $11 billion. Roche wants an exclusive license and claims Gilead infringed on its rights. A Roche spokeswoman tells the Journal that an arbitration decision is expected later this year.

Salacious headline in The Recorder leads into legalities of staying district court cases during PGR?

The article Donato Touches Patent Hot Spot in Sex-Toy Case
touches on the issue of district courts granting/not granting stays during post-grant review [PGR] proceedings.


There is a bit of a reference to the CAFC case in VirtualAgility wherein the CAFC reversed ED Texas decision NOT to grant a stay.

Contrary to the title of the Recorder article, there is not much discussion of "sex toys."

Gevo hitches its wagon to Teva on patent claim construction

Gevo filed an 8K on July 14, 2014 relating to a cert petition:


On July 11, 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the "District Court") granted a motion by Gevo, Inc. (the "Company") to stay the patent litigation action brought by Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC (" Butamax") involving U.S. Patent Nos. 7,851,188 and 7,993,889. The District Court's decision postpones the trial in this action, which was scheduled to begin on July 21, 2014. The decision by the District Court was based on the status of the Company's petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court (the "Supreme Court"). The Supreme Court has neither granted nor denied the Company's petition, but appears to be holding the petition pending its decision in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., a case that could change the Federal Circuit's standard of review of district court claim construction, and could ultimately negate any jury verdict obtained under the current interpretation of the patent claims.




Note that this relates to patent infringement cases brought by patentee Butamax against Gevo related to Butamax patents 7,851,188 and 7,993,889.

In the Teva case, patentee Teva seeks Supreme Court review of a CAFC decision finding claims of Teva patents invalid for indefiniteness. Note in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., 134 S.Ct. 2120 (2014) the standard for negating patentability due to indefiniteness was lowered by the Supreme Court.

Depending upon the outcome of the Teva case, Gevo might obtain a GVR (grant-vacate-remand) from the Supreme Court.

link for 8K: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/140714/gevo8-k.html

In terms of the '188 and '889 patents, Gevo described its win in the following way:

--
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - March 21, 2013 - Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), announced today that a judgment of non-infringement will be entered for Gevo following the acknowledgment by Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC (Butamax) that Gevo does not infringe Butamax's asserted patents under the Court's construction of a key claim term in Butamax's Patent Nos. 7,851,188 and 7,993,889. As a result of this victory, a judgment of non-infringement will be entered in Gevo's favor and the trial scheduled for April 1st will no longer take place.

--

BUT, Butamax conceded infringement specifically to take the claim construction (which relates to NADPH dependent enzymes) to appeal to the CAFC, where Butamax won. The CAFC had earlier telegraphed its problems with the claim construction of D. Delaware, so the Butamax course of action was quite foreseeable. This history is significantly different from the Teva Sandoz matter. Any suggestion that the reversals by the CAFC in the Teva and Gevo cases are analogous is incorrect. [Separately, the reversal in Teva was as to invalidity; that in Gevo related to infringement.]

This was earlier discussed in IPBiz. See
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hands Gevo a big loss in the Butamax/Gevo patent wars

As to Gevo suing Butamax, note the IPBiz post
Overreaching in patent claims dooms Gevo in district court. No infringement because of estoppel and invalidity through lack of enablement.

***
Separately from American Banking:


Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) COO Christopher Michael Ryan unloaded 1,042 shares of Gevo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.74, for a total transaction of $771.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 367,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

GEVO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Analysts at Cowen and Company cut their price target on shares of Gevo to $1.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Analysts at Zacks downgraded shares of Gevo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. They now have a $1.30 price target on the stock.

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) opened at 0.7211 on Tuesday. Gevo has a one year low of $0.71 and a one year high of $2.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $0.86 and a 200-day moving average of $1.11. The company’s market cap is $48.9 million.

Catalyst from CATCHBIO

ChemistryViews wrote of CATCHBIO in 2012:


CatchBio is a consortium of 21 partners from industry and academia, partly financed by the Dutch ministeries of Economic Affairs and of Education, Culture and Science, and with the support office based at the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). It is an ambitious research program of eight years in the field of catalytic biomass conversion covering the whole spectrum of biofeed into fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals in an integrated manner.



Within the text:


Bert Weckhuysen: Yeah, which is unusual for academic research. We have to make our academic researcher a bit familiar with this. Normally researchers are interested in publishing a nice paper in, let’s say, Angewandte and then if it gains enough interest, the research is successful.



From DailyFusion on 21 July 2014:


A new, simple catalyst, developed at the University of Twente, improves the quality of oil produced from biomass before it is even sent to the refinery.

This technology was selected from dozens of projects for the follow-up of CATCHBIO, the national research program that is helping to realize the European 2020 objective: 20% of fuel must come from renewable sources by 2020.

(...)

The catalyst developed by Prof. Leon Lefferts and Prof. Kulathuiyer Seshan’s group Catalytic Processes and Materials (MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology/Green Energy Initiative) significantly improves the quality and energy content of the oil.

This is realized by heating the oil in nitrogen to 500 degrees Celsius and by applying a simple catalyst: sodium carbonate on a layer of alumina. By using this method, the energy content of the oil can be boosted from 20 to 33-37 megajoule per kilogram, which is better than crude oil and approximates the quality of diesel. The technology, recently defended by PhD candidate Masoud Zabeti, is already being tested by KIOR in Texas, USA, on a small industrial scale, with a production of 4,500 barrels of oil per day. The quality of the oil can be improved even more by adding the material caesium, as well as sodium carbonate. “By doing so, we can, for instance, also reduce the aromatics, which are harmful when inhaled”, says Prof. Seshan.

The technology is currently being further studied, in cooperation with the University of Groningen, the Energy research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) and Utrecht University, in a new CATCHBIO program of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).



Note claim 3 of US 20140120596 .

US 2,210,204 to a Wall Cabinet

From US '204:

This invention relates to improvements in towel dispensing wall fixtures, and a principal object of the invention is to provide a dispensing cabinet of this class of generally improved structural and functional characteristics.

(...)

Another object of the invention is to provide a cabinet of the stated character which shall be substantially dustproof.

The first claim recites:


In a wall cabinet of the type set forth, an integral molded body comprising side, rear and forwardly converging top and bottom walls, and an open front the upper and lower edges of which are defined respectively by the forward edges 1 of said top and bottom walls, said rear wall terminating at top and bottom substantially in line with the said forward edges respectively of the top and bottom walls, and a panel joining the top of the rear wall to the forward edge of the top wall and constituting the effective upper wall of the interior chamber of the cabinet.



Inventor Burton E. Ebert, assigned to Scott Paper.

There are seven claims, none depending from one another. There are 12 figures.

The word "converging" appears only in the claims. The word "effective" appears only in claim 1.

This patent is cited 36 years later, within USD 240576 (1976)

US '204 available through Google patents.

Note also Index of Patents Issued From the United States Patent Office, 1940-1941

CBS Sunday Morning on July 20, 2014

Lee Cowan, not Charles Osgood, did the stories for July 20, 2014. The big news was Malaysia 17, with Mark Phillips and Martha Teichner to do news stories. Cowan will do a story on actress Elaine Stritch. "What a Lady." Tracy Smith does an interview with Michael Douglas. Mo Rocca on the humor of Ronald Reagan. Don Daylor on Henry Thoreau. Steve Hartman.
45th anniversary of moon walk: interview with wives of astronauts.

Actor James Garner died. Star of Rockford Files and Maverick. He was 86. Hot air balloon crashed. Weather storms in middle. Nicest weather: coastal California.

First story up was Mark Phillip on shooting down of Malaysia 17. It's the world's biggest crime scene and the foxes are in charge of it. OSCE investigators were restricted. One mans tampering is another man's humanitarian gesture. Indignity has been piled on tragedy. Plenty of argument over who did it. The suspicion that somebody here has something to hide.
Martha Teichner. Samantha Power talking at the UN. Clip of Obama implicating separatists. Putin said US-backed Ukrainian government was responsible. Juan Sirate clip. Franz Timmermans of the Netherlands. International outrage. "We have just shot down a plane..."

July 20, 1965: Bob Dylan releases "Like a Rolling Stone." Between Help and California Girls on the charts. "Rolling Stone" mag rated it the number one rock song of all time.

Don Daylor "On the trail." Henry David Thoreau in the Maine woods. Moosehead Lake to Indian Island.

Lee Cowan on Elaine Stritch. Interviewed at age 89. The Colgate Comedy Hour. Sail Away and Bus Stop. Steven Sondheim. Emmy for NBC's Thirty Rock. Documentary "Shoot Me." "Success doesn't mean a damn thing." It's not the work, it's the stares. I think drinking is part of performing. I had to be entertaining the folks. I loved the escape of being another human being. Date with Marlon Brando. Previous interview with Charles Osgood in 1996: stopped drinking to see if I could really act. She was married to John Bay. [from wikipedia: She won an Emmy Award in 1993 for her guest role on Law & Order and another in 2004 for the television documentary of her one woman show. From 2007 to 2012, she had a recurring role as Jack Donaghy's mother, Colleen, on NBC's 30 Rock, a role that won her a third Emmy in 2007. ]

On July 17, 1980, Reagan gave his acceptance speech. But March 30, 1981, Hinckly. Reagan tells doctors: I hope you are all Republicans. Peter Sweeney: I hope you get well quick or you might have to make a speech in your pajamas. John Highbush: director of Reagan's library. Stack of index cards of 1-liners. Drew Carey looks at the jokes. Patti Davis: lifelong coping mechanism. Coating of humor. Impersonating Truman Capote. "Honey, I forgot to duck."

Steve Hartman on Fire Station One in Lansing, Michigan. Tony Tumminello [Recycled from a CBS News story July 6, 2012.]

Tracy Smith interviews Michael Douglas. The O'Neill Center Playhouse in Waterford, Connecticut. George White. It presents you with a compass. ONeills National Theater Institute. "It changed my life."

"The Astronaut's Wives Club" Proud thrilled and happy. Recycled from a cover story on June 16, 2013.

Week ahead. RoboCup 2014. Prince George birthday. World LUmberjack Competition. Most Wanted Male. National Dance Day.

Next week on Sunday Morning. Full up with hoarders.

Moment of nature. Virginia's Chincoteague Island.

CAFC analyzes ITC rules in Align Technologies

Align Technologies vs. ITC

CAFC and "any colorable imitation"

In Arlington v. Bridgeport the CAFC was faced with the topic of an admitted infringer being charged with making a "colorable imitation" of a patented product, similar to the earlier Entegris case. Here, Bridgeport's appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

The popular press ridicules published US patent application 20140159444 to Airbus

There has been some buzz in the popular press in July 2014 over US Patent application 20140159444 to Airbus (published June 12, 2014 ), with abstract

A seating device with reduced bulk, for example for an aircraft. This seating device comprises a backrest which describes a circular translational movement towards the front and upwards of the device when the seating device is brought to the retracted configuration. A seating structure is provided comprising a bearing piece on which are fixed, side by side, a plurality of seating devices with reduced bulk. An aircraft is provided comprising a seating device with reduced bulk mounted in its cabin.


See the Los Angeles Times on July 13, 2014: Airbus seeks patent for bicycle-like airline seat including text


“Many, if not most, of these concepts will never be developed, but in case the future of commercial aviation makes one of our patents relevant, our work is protected,” said Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn. “Right now these patent filings are simply conceptual.”


From the Washington Post on July 14, 2014 Airbus wants to patent the most uncomfortable plane seats ever



Airbus openly acknowledges that packing more passengers on board is going to result in reduced comfort, and that the goal is basically to figure out how far they can go without inciting an airborne revolt.



From the New York Post, on July 14, 2014: Airbus patent could make your flight even worse including text


With no tray table, no headrest and very little legroom the design is supposed to reduce the bulk of traditional airline seats allowing more passengers to be squeezed on-board. Fastened to a vertical bar, the bicycle seats are designed to fold up when not in use.


Note also, to Airbus:

20140138483. TOILET ARRANGEMENT FOR A VEHICLE

Abstract:

A toilet arrangement for a vehicle includes a first toilet compartment, an adjacent second toilet compartment and a partition wall situated between the first toilet compartment and the second toilet compartment, wherein the partition wall is movably supported and designed for being transferred into an open position, in which the partition between the first toilet compartment and the second toilet compartment is removed. This makes it possible to convert two relatively small toilet compartments into a larger toilet compartment that is suitable for use by persons with limited mobility.

AND

20140165285

Abstract

A toilet area for an aircraft cabin comprising an access door and housing a toilet bowl. The toilet area also comprises an evacuation exit, the access door occupying a closed position in the toilet area in a toilet configuration and a folded position in the toilet area in an evacuation configuration. Usage in particular in a flying wing aircraft is provided.

Patentees win only 33% of litigations

One observation from the PriceWaterhouse 2014 Patent Litigation Study :


NPEs have been successful 25% of the
time overall, versus 35% for practicing
entities, due to the relative lack of success
for NPEs at summary judgment. However,
both types of entities win about two-thirds
of their trials.



Hmmm, this indicates patent holders of all types are more often to lose, than to win, infringement suits, with the winning percentage well below 50%. [See chart 6A of the report, with the numbers suggesting "practicing entities" have about 54% SJs and about 46% trials]. Chart 9a suggests that the overall success rate for patentees is only 33%, with only two judicial districts [ED TX and MD FL) giving patentee success rates above 50%.

Chart 3 gives a "top 10" in damage awards, with number 2 being the 2007 Lucent v. Microsoft case on MP3 technology and number 8 being Eolas v. Microsoft.

As to definition, the study states:
A nonpracticing entity (NPE) is
defined as an entity that does not have
the capability to design, manufacture,
or distribute products with features
protected by the patent.

Apple wins in Golden Bridge case

Apple, represented by Cooley, prevailed.


Golden Bridge Technology, Inc. (GBT) appeals from
the district court’s grant of summary judgment that Apple
Inc. (Apple) does not infringe the asserted claims of U.S.
Patent Nos. 6,574,267 (the ’267 patent) and 7,359,427 (the
’427 patent). We affirm.

Some legal preface:


We review claim construction de novo. Lighting Ballast
Control LLC v. Philips Elecs. N. Am. Corp., 744 F.3d
1272, 1276–77 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (en banc). Claim terms
are generally given their plain and ordinary meanings to
one of skill in the art when read in the context of the
specification and prosecution history. See Phillips v.
AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en
banc). “There are only two exceptions to this general rule:
1) when a patentee sets out a definition and acts as his
own lexicographer, or 2) when the patentee disavows the
full scope of the claim term either in the specification or
during prosecution.” Thorner v. Sony Computer Entm’t
Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012). Prosecution
disclaimer or disavowal must be clear and unmistakable.
Omega Eng’g, Inc. v. Raytek Corp., 334 F.3d 1314,
1325–26 (Fed. Cir. 2003).



As to submissions in an IDS


GBT
contends that, under PTO rules, submissions in an IDS
are not admissions that the cited information is material.
37 C.F.R. §§ 1.56(b)(2), 1.97(h); see also Abbott Labs. v.
Baxter Pharm. Prods., Inc., 334 F.3d 1274, 1279 (Fed. Cir.
2003) (“[W]ith the mere listing of references in an IDS,
the applicant has admitted no more than that references
in the disclosure may be material . . . .”). Therefore, GBT
argues that its stipulated construction of preamble in the
Texas Litigation does not control the meaning of preamble
in the reexamined ’267 patent and new ’427 patent.



However, the CAFC noted


It is correct that “mere disclosure of potentially material
prior art to the [PTO] does not automatically limit the
claimed invention.” Abbott Labs., 334 F.3d at 1279.
However, this is not a typical IDS, and GBT did more
than simply disclose potentially material prior art. It
submitted its own stipulated construction of a claim term
in the context of the particular patents being reexamined
(’267 patent) and prosecuted (’427 patent). This is a clear
and unmistakable assertion by the patentee to the PTO of
the meaning and scope of the term preamble. The fact
that the stipulation was contained in documents accompanying
an IDS does not change this result. We have
held that “an applicant’s remarks submitted with an
[IDS] can be the basis for limiting claim scope.” Uship
Intellectual Props., LLC v. United States, 714 F.3d 1311,
1315 (Fed. Cir. 2013); see also Ekchian v. Home Depot,
Inc., 104 F.3d 1299, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (“An IDS is part
of the prosecution history on which the examiner, the
courts, and the public are entitled to rely.”).

Rule 50 discussed in MEDISIM LTD., vs. BestMed

From the decision:


Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 sets forth the procedural
requirements for challenging the sufficiency of the
evidence in a civil jury trial and establishes two stages for
such challenges. Rule 50(a) allows a party to challenge
the sufficiency of the evidence prior to submission of the
case to the jury. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). Rule 50(b), by
contrast, sets forth the procedural requirements for
renewing a sufficiency of the evidence challenge after the
jury verdict. See id. 50(b); see generally Unitherm Food
Sys., Inc. v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., 546 U.S. 394, 399-400
(2006). These two provisions are linked together, as “[a]
motion under Rule 50(b) is not allowed unless the movant
sought relief on similar grounds under Rule 50(a) before
the case was submitted to the jury.” Exxon Shipping Co.
v. Baker, 554 U.S. 471, 486 n.5 (2008).



AND



While Medisim may not have been surprised by
BestMed’s invalidity contentions, the Supreme Court has
held previously that our Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
are to be strictly followed in circumstances such as this
one. In Unitherm, for example, a party moved for a
directed verdict under Rule 50(a) prior to the district
court’s submission of the case to the jury, but following
the verdict the party failed to renew its motion for JMOL
pursuant to Rule 50(b). See 546 U.S. at 398. In preventing
the party from challenging the sufficiency of the
evidence on appeal, the Supreme Court stated that “a
party is not entitled to pursue a new trial on appeal
unless that party makes an appropriate postverdict
motion in the district court.” Id. at 404. While the issue
here is whether BestMed failed to move under Rule 50(a),
the principle of forfeiture articulated in Unitherm re
mains the same. See, e.g., Yakus v. United States, 321
U.S. 414, 444 (1944) (“No procedural principle is more
familiar to this Court than that a . . . right may be forfeited
. . . by the failure to make timely assertion of the right
before a tribunal having jurisdiction to determine it.”).
With that principle in mind, we conclude that Best-
Med forfeited its right to move for JMOL on anticipation.
The statement that BestMed now relies on as evidence of
a motion for JMOL actually indicates the opposite—
BestMed’s counsel stated that anticipation was “definitely
something for the jury.” J.A. 4530.

60 Minutes on 13 July 2014

Lesley Stahl did "America's Missile Fields" about America's "triad" nuclear arsenal. There were some issues as to whether land-based missiles were still needed.

Morley Safer on art taken by the Nazis. Cornelius Gurlitt died in May, after the initial April 6 story. Safer mentioned provisions of Gurlitt's will, which provide for return pf stolen art to true owners AND otherwise to a Swiss museum.

Peoples’ Liberation Army doing biofuel from algae?

A story by Steven Mufson titled Why were this company’s computers attacked millions of times this year? Algae. mentions possible hacking attempts, including by the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army .

Curiously, Mufson's story, which was dated July 12, 2014, neglected to mention the algae biofuel deal between Sapphire Energy and the Chinese state petroleum company [Sinopec], announced earlier by Secretary of State Kerry. See Sapphire Energy takes "green crude" to China

Mufson's story does not mention the presence of patents and patent applications, which are published, and freely available to view.

Mufson does refer to an article --Microalgal biodiesel in China: Opportunities and challenges -- which appears in a 2011 issue of Applied Energy which was a special Issue of Energy from algae: Current status and future trends, edited By Yusuf Chisti and Jinyue Yan.

There is mention of a report from Mandiant.

See http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2014/05/new-york-times-on-chinas-unit-61398.html

CBS "Sunday Morning" on July 13, 2014

Lee Cowan, not Charles Osgood, introduced the stories for July 13. Cowan was in Old Saybrooke, CT. The cover story is on fireflies. Lighten Up. Second, Ben Tracy interviews Jason Mraz. Third, Martha Teichner on jelly fish. Fourth, Mark Phillips on Keira Knightly, from Pirates. Fifth, Nancy Giles on ice cream trucks. Mo Rocca on convertibles. Bill Geist on little League.
Don Daylor does the news for July 13. Israeli air attacks on Jamas militants. Lightning kills at Rocky Mountain National Park.
Tommy Ramone died Friday. Charlie Haydon, jazz great, died. World Cup. Super Moon. Weather: cold front from Canada. Early storms in northeast.

The first presented story was on Katherine Hepburn by Lee Cowan. Great hurricane of 1938 impacted the home of Katherine Hepburn in Old Saybrooke, CT. In the 1930's, Hepburn labelled as box office poison. Them, The Philadelphia Story; then Woman of the Year. African Queen; On Golden Pond. Won four Academy Awards, but never showed up to accept. "I'm a Connecticut girl. Hepburn died in June 2003. If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.

Lee Cowan introduces story on Tennessee fireflies in the Great Smokie Mountains. Gatlinburg Trolley. Mary McCormick from Knoxville, TN. Mary Lattimore and Naomi Yang. This species of firefly are synchronous. Ranger Becky Nichols. Photinus carolinus.
A firefly is a beetle. Lighting is a mating display. Like the Jersey Shore out here. No Mason jars allowed here. Ranger Caitlin Wirth. Adult fireflies only live a matter of weeks. There are more than 2000 species of fireflies.

Mo Rocca on the official car of summer, a convertible. "To Catch a Thief." The earliest cars were all convertibles, Model T.
Open cars were about affordability. By 1936, convertibles accounted for less than 1% of sales. Picture of Babe Ruth. Roosevelt in the Sunshine Special. By 1950, there were 33 models of convertible. Motormatic Chevrolet. By 1970s, convertibles hit skids.
Matt Anderson: safety issues. As long as one man is going through a midlife crisis, there is your customer for a convertible.

Ben Tracy on Jason Mraz. Soundtrack of summer. How to get out of a dark place. Remedy. Story about best friend from high school. Born on the fourth of July. 2002: Waiting for my rocket to come. Song in 2008: I'm yours. 76 weeks on top 100. Duet with Colbie Caillat). The divorce of Mraz parents impacted Mraz. New album. Yes. Combined with Raining Jane. Mraz is a vegetarian and a gentleman farmer. 300 avacado trees; sells product to Chipotle restaurants. Mrax refers to his colleagues at the coffee shop. Why me?

Lee Cowan does story on hot dogs. At the "Meat Hook" in Brookyln, Cowan shows "how" hot dogs are made. 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day amounts to 800 every second. Moladella Dog. Josh Sharkey owns "Bark", a Brooklyn restaurant. Uses a basting butter right before hot dog is serverd. Josh: the customer is the expert. [One could say this relates to intellectual property, distinguishing innovation from mere invention.]
And, note hamburgers (66%) win over hot dogs (10%_ in consumer preference.

Lee Cowan notes where Katherine Hepburn swam in Old Saybrooke. This introduces story by Teichner on jelly fish. 150 million people stung every year. Diane Nyad in Cuba to Florida swim. The box jelly. Mark Schick at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The Jellies exhibit is seen by 2 million per year. Why jellies? They are not fish. They have no brain or eyes. Palau has a lake filled with them. Adult jelly is called a medusa. Cone jellies. Upside-down jellies. Lion's Mane can grow to 80 feet. Nomura jellies. Jellyfish Armageddon? Rob Condon at UNC/Wilmington. Creating myths; deviating from science. Food from coastal Georgia. T.K. King. Golden Island International shipped 3 million pounds to China, Japan. Douse sting with vinegar.
YouTube: jellyfish sombrero.

Lee Cowan, sitting in chair in CT, introduces story by Steve Hartman related to amusement parkts. Peter Drakos, car salesman from Detroit, is good at winning games. Has donated a quarter million toys. This is a recycle from 2012.

Mark Phillips on Keira. Mark Ruffalo co-stars in new movie. Earlier The Duchess in 2008. Tighten up and die. Chanel. Lux.
"Begin Again".

Lee Cowan in CT with baseball bat introduces story by Bill Geist. 75th anniversay of Little League. Geist played in Ridgewood, NJ. 1939: first little league pitch. Chuck Frazier played shortstop. Carl Stotz. Lundy Lumber. 2.5 million kids play in 85 countries. Steven Jeener, of Little League Museum. Cannon Street. Maria Pepe in 1974: girls could play.


Lee Cowan in front of Good Humor truck introduces Nancy Giles story on ice cream. Paul DeMarco drives an ice cream truck. Every day is a different adventure. Laura Weiss, book author. Sugar was expensive. I 1920, Perry Burt: Good Humor bar. Equip refrigerated truck with ice cream. Youngstown, Ohio. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream . Artisan ice cream. Vegan ice cream.

Commentary by Bounme Laviton. "I'm bored." Boredom is a state of rest. Bordom is an itch to scratch. I will not steer your ship. Your temporary compass. The jungle of doom. The cavern of broken toys.

Next week on Sunday Morning: back from the dead.

Moment of nature: Faulkner Island, off the Connecticut coast. Common tern. From wikipedia: Falkner Island (also called Faulkner's Island) is a 2.87-acre (1.16 ha) crescent-shaped island located in Long Island Sound 3 miles (5 km) off the coast of Guilford, Connecticut, United States.

Sapphire Energy takes "green crude" to China

From a press release titled STATEMENT BY SAPPHIRE ENERGY CEO, CYNTHIA ‘CJ’ WARNER, REGARDING THE COMPANY’S SELECTION AS AN ECOPARTNER WITH OIL GIANT SINOPEC


“Sapphire Energy is very pleased to learn that our company’s and Sinopec's algae-derived renewable crude oil project has been selected for the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships program, announced today in Beijing, China, by the U.S. Secretary of State and the People’s Republic of China State Councilor. This collaboration between our two companies exemplifies the mutual goal of producing cleaner energy solutions for the U.S. and China. Together, we will demonstrate that crude oil from algae can be produced with favorable economics; that it can be integrated into existing fuels distribution networks; and that it will deliver substantial advantages for the reduction of CO2 emissions in both nations.

“Projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that China, the world’s most populous country, will be the largest importer of oil in 2014. The need for renewable, sustainable and low carbon energy solutions to meet growing demand is vital. Given China’s leadership and strong support for embracing new, clean, sustainable fuel options, along with the country’s abundant availability of non-farmable land and non-potable water, Sapphire Energy’s proven algae-to-energy technology platform offers a promising solution.



**As to the EcoPartnerships:

the EcoPartnerships Program shows that “tackling climate change and leading the way to a clean energy future can be a ‘win, win, win’ – a win for America, a win for China, and a win for the world,” and we are pleased to welcome the following organizations to the program in 2014:

Sapphire Energy and Sinopec
Environmental Defense Fund and Shenzhen Low-Carbon Development Fund
General Electric Company and Harbin Electric
Port of Los Angeles and the Shanghai Municipal Transport Authority
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Shandong Province
City Partnership of Greater Philadelphia and Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area

**As to layoffs at Sapphire Energy, Bruce V. Bigelow wrote on July 10, 2014:


Asked to confirm the layoffs and to respond, a spokeswoman for Sapphire Energy wrote this morning:

“It is true that there has been realignment and changes at all levels of the company, and Sapphire has taken the opportunity to reduce its capital requirements while still developing the technologies they have been working to deploy.

“The reality is that since they started the company, market conditions have changed significantly, making it increasingly difficult for biofuel producers to compete with the incumbent oil companies.

“Specifically, the on-again off-again policies for renewable fuels in the U.S. have greatly affected the industry’s ability to compete on an open and fair basis with traditional fossil fuel producers. These threats to U.S. biofuels at the policy level coupled with the recent introduction of new crude oil supplies in the U.S. have led to an overall unease in the investment community around biofuels and the rapid decline in investment capital for the industry. So, the company acted as needed at this time."


James Butler is Vice President of Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property at Sapphire Energy.

CAFC reverses ED Texas in VIRTUALAGILITY INC case

Judge Newman dissented and would have allowed ED Texas to proceed.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/14-1232.Opinion.7-8-2014.1.PDF

R AYMOND E. STAUFFER loses in continued "false marking" case

See Stauffer v. Brooks Brothers

X2Y case at CAFC: live by "super patent" concept; die by "super patent" concept? The hazards of "incorporation by reference"

The website for X2Y Attenuators has the text:


X2Y Attenuators, LLC currently has over 7,200 unique and interrelated Patent claims for capacitor structures, circuit uses and application in products. The result is a portfolio with a matrix of claims that when taken as a whole comprise a "Super Patent" of X2Y® Technology. The X2Y Patent Portfolio also includes all types of derivative electrode structures and circuitry.

Beginning with our first Patent filed in March of 1991, X2Y patents have been filed and/or issued in key countries around the world including Australia, Canada, China, the European Union (including England, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland), India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the United States of America.



In an appeal of an adverse ITC decision to the CAFC in X2Y Attenuators v. ITC, X2Y suffered an affirmation of narrowed claim scope as to three patents: 7,609,500, 7,916,444, and 8,023,241, none of which seem to be listed on their website.

X2Y's mention of something being "an essential element" resulted in a disavowal of claim scope, and loss of the asserted infringement. The CAFC, in affirming disavowal, cited to GE Lighting v. AgiLight, 750 F.3d 1304 (CAFC 2014).

The matter of incorporation by reference also arose. Telemac Cellular v. Topp, 247 F.3d 1316 (CAFC 2001 ) and Ultradent v Life Like Cosmetics, 127 F.3d 1065 are cited.

Becton Dickinson takes a whipping in Retractable Technologies case

The appeal by Becton Dickinson argued by WILLIAM F. LEE in Retractable Technologies v. Becton Dickinson was not successful: Because the mandate rule forecloses the relief that Becton seeks, we affirm

Of interest in the decision is the text: Becton’s first argument, that the damages award is
inconsistent with the mandate, puts the cart before the horse. (...)

Becton conceded at oral argument that in a single sen-
tence in the previous appeal it could have
raised the issue of remanding the damages issue.
See Oral Argument at 35: 48,Retractable Techs., Inc. v. Becton Dickinson & Co.,No.
2013-1567,available at http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/
oral-argument-recordings/search/audio.html


Exxon v. Lubrizol was cited:


While the district court was certainly
free to take action
consistent with the mandate, see Exxon Chem. Patents,
Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp., 137 F.3d 1475, 1484 (Fed. Cir.
1998), that does not mean that
it was likewise free to disturb matters that were within the mandate.


The reference to Exxon v. Lubrizol is to the "doctrine of equivalents" issue:


Although this case involves an appeal from the denial of a JMOL motion, the same principle is applicable: in determining that Lubrizol did not literally infringe Exxon's patent, this court did not dispose of Exxon's doctrine-of-equivalents infringement claim; in fact, the court made clear that it was not addressing that issue. The mandate therefore cannot be interpreted as resolving the doctrine-of-equivalents claim, and for that reason the mandate does not foreclose the district court from addressing it.


In that case, Lubrizol had made an argument related to clarification/re-hearing:


No inferences can be drawn from the court's silence in response to Exxon's request for clarification. Courts normally do not respond to petitions for rehearing and it would be a mistake to conclude that a court's non-response to an argument made in a rehearing petition necessarily means that the court has rejected that argument on the merits. The inference that this court meant to rule on the merits of the new trial issue is particularly suspect in this case, since all that was presented to the court was a request for clarification. The court's failure to grant a request for clarification could well reflect the view that clarification was not required, rather than an intention to reject on the merits the legal argument on which Exxon sought clarification. See Laitram Corp., 115 F.3d at 951, 42 USPQ2d at 1900 (court of appeals' denial of request for clarification carries "no inferential weight").
12

Lubrizol cites to Fine v. Bellefonte Underwriters Insurance Co., 758 F.2d 50 (2d Cir.1985), for the proposition that an appellate court must be presumed to have considered arguments made to it on appeal. The Fine court made that statement in the course of rejecting an attempt to reopen an earlier mandate based on a previous panel's alleged failure to make a required finding. Fine relied on NLRB v. Brown & Root, Inc., 206 F.2d 73 (8th Cir.1953). Examination of Brown & Root, however, reveals the inapplicability of the principle to this case. Brown & Root explained that the purpose of rehearing petitions is "to direct the Court's attention to some material matter of law or fact which it has overlooked in deciding a case, and which, had it been given consideration, would probably have brought about a different result." Id. at 74. As explained earlier, the doctrine of equivalents was not at issue in the previous appeal and was immaterial to the decision on literal infringement. The court's silence with respect to Exxon's clarification request therefore does not carry a presumption of rejection on the merits.





Of the literal infringement issue in Exxon v. Lubrizol, Exxon had lost:

On appeal, this court rejected the claim construction proposed by Exxon and adopted a construction based on the one proposed by Lubrizol. See Exxon Chem. Patents, Inc., 64 F.3d at 1557-58, 35 USPQ2d at 1804-05. The court held that under the correct claim interpretation no reasonable jury could have found that Lubrizol's products literally infringed Exxon's patent. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment of the district court. 64 F.3d at 1560, 35 USPQ2d at 1806. Judge Nies dissented from the decision as to the proper claim construction and from the decision to reverse the judgment without remanding the case for a new trial. 64 F.3d at 1563-70, 35 USPQ2d at 1808-14 (Nies, J., dissenting).

Noonan: “Not having patents means not having drugs"

See the post by Erika Check-Hayden, including text


Knowles and others argue that the Myriad ruling struck down patents only on DNA that has been isolated from nature, and that the patent office’s policy overreaches in covering too many nature-based products and processes. For instance, the guidance instructs patent examiners that a recipe for keeping fruit juice fresh by mixing it with vitamin E might not be patentable because neither the juice nor the preservative have been significantly modified from their natural form. “In the court’s decisions, ‘natural products’ is not limited to DNA,’’ explains June Cohan, a legal adviser to the patent office.

Wall Street Journal post calls for abolishing CAFC exclusive jurisdiction on patents

A post by Ashby Jones Critics Fault Court's Grip on Appeals for Patents highlights Diane Woods' text about the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit:



"The judges on the Federal Circuit are as capable as any in the country, but we'd be better off having a diversity of [judicial] viewpoints on patent law the way we do with nearly every other legal subject,"


and notes Chief Judge Wood publicly advocated abolishing the Federal Circuit's "exclusive jurisdiction" over most patent appeals, in favor of letting the other federal appeals courts hear patent cases as well.

One problem with the analysis of Jones is that it omits "why" and "how" the Federal Circuit was created in the first place. Prior to the CAFC, decisions by the regional appellate courts were wide ranging and had created "patent friendly" and "patent unfriendly" regions, and the related forum shopping.


Recent patent cases heard by the US Supreme Court

Bowman v. Monsanto, 11-796, Judgment of CAFC affirmed.
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad, 12-398, Judgment of CAFC affirmed in part, reversed in part
Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., Docket No. 12-1184; Reversed and remanded, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor on April 29, 2014.
Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management Sys., Docket No. 121163;
Alice v. CLS Bank, 13-298,
nautilus

Judgment of CAFC affirmed. From ScotusBlog: Judgment: Affirmed, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Thomas on June 19, 2014.

The quick death of patent reform 2014

From within the post Patent-troll fight ends in retreat


Sitting recently in his spacious office in the Champlain Mill building in Winooski, Tarrant recalled the details of May 21, when he received the call that the Senate bill was dead.

"At 11:04, I get an email to schedule a call with Leahy's staff at noon," Tarrant said. "At 11:36, I get an email that says, 'A few things need to be worked out, can we push off the call?' Then it was probably around noontime I got the call from the senator's office that it was done.

"So within the course of an hour, we went from 'Things are progressing,' to death."



Tarrant is MyWebGrocer Chief Operating Officer Jerry Tarrant

Also from within the post at the Burlington Free Press:


Leahy said opposition to the bill came primarily from the bio-pharmaceutical industry, along with universities and trial lawyers. The Vermont senator's postmortem confirmed rampant speculation in the Washington media that Reid had strong-armed Leahy at the behest of lobbyists representing those groups.

Frank Capra's Caltech degree, patents, and innovation

IPBiz frequently writes about Chester Carlson, the inventor of xerography, who graduated from Caltech in 1930, was employed by Bell Labs as a scientist, then in the patent law department, and was fired by Bell Labs, and spent the next 20 years getting xerography to the market place.

Twelve years before Carlson graduated, film director Frank Capra obtained a degree in chemical engineering from Caltech. Although there was some interface between Joseph Walker and Capra on patents on zoom lenses ["it was our talks through which he got patents"], Capra got a boost from his Caltech education to adapt quickly to sound pictures, when many considered them a passing fad. Capra correctly recognized sound films as an innovation. Capra wrote, directed and produced "Hemo the Magnificent" released in 1957 by Bell Laboratories (with Hemo hosted by Frank Baxter, who unlike Capra, had no scientific training). Later in his career, Capra did "Rendezvous in Space" for the 1964 World's Fair in New York, which led to him initially working on the film "Marooned," from which he left over budgetary issues.


From IPBiz on Chester Carlson in 2007:

Did the FTC accurately recount the history of Carlson and xerography?

and

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/09/chester-carlson-and-xerography.html

"60 Minutes" on July 6, 2014

First up, the story on Kim Dot Com, Hollywood's villain. The US has filed against him for copyright infringement. This is recycled story. See Lesley Stahl does "The Cleantech Crash" on "60 Minutes" on January 5, 2014 . In New Zealand, you cannot be extradited for copyright infringement, so Kim argues the other charges were added. The Guardian noted in April 2014 that a civil copyright suit was filed: US music industry body the RIAA has filed a lawsuit on behalf of its members, targeting Dotcom, two of his colleagues Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, and investor Vestor Limited. Kim Dotcom was involved in a patent "debate" in May 2013: Dotcom does have a US patent (using his original name of Kim Schmitz) on two-factor authentication, filed in 1998 and granted in 2000. He also used to have an equivalent patent in Europe. But Dotcom's European patent was revoked in 2011 largely because AT&T had a patent on the same technology with a priority date from 1995 from arstechnica. Note US Patent No. 6,078,908, issued June 20, 2000.

The story on volcanoes was also from January 5, 2014.

CBS Sunday Morning on July 6, 2014

Charles Osgood introduced the stories for July 6, 2014. The headlines began with the US State Department protesting the beating of an American boy [Tariq Khdeir ]. There was online video of the head of ISIS [Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; aka Caliph Ibrahim ]. The Ukrainian flag raised in Slovyansk, Ukraine [ The Ukrainian flag was raised Saturday over Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, ] Weather: sunny and warm in northeast.

The piece on Louis Zamperini was a recycle of previous presentations. CBS Sunday Morning on May 27, 2012 and CBS Sunday Morning on August 12, 2012 . Zamperini died at age 97. There was a mention of a 1998 story by Bob Simon.

Almanac was on the arrest of Captain Kidd on July 6, 1699 in Boston. He would be executed May 23, 1701.

The piece by Faith Salie on kitchen magnets was a recycle from CBS Sunday Morning on June 9, 2013

Anthony Mason interviews Robin Thicke on "Blurred Lines." Thicke's album Paula is a 14 song apology, in which he begs his former wife [Paula Patton] to come back. Robin put out his first solo album in 2002. "Lost Without You." The video "Paula" includes text messages between Robin and Paula. Vultures tweet.

16 million American viewers for World Cup. Alexandra Pride opinion piece on the World Cup. Soccer is something you can teach a three year old to do badly. We are supposed to get involve in conflicts we can win.

Wynton Marsalis. Barbeque in Lockhart, Texas. Smokestack Lightning. "Texas Monthly." Black's Barbeque.
Low and slow cooking. Index: Charcoal grill preferred by 58%.

Steve Hartman on Presidio, Texas. Sheila Condido, teacher, who ran the rocket club. Previous story by Hartman in 2012. "Aerospace teacher of the year." Goat auctions. Last fall, letter telling her to depart. Texas Congressman, Pete Gallego looked into it. Letter was supposed to be a green card.

Zach Braff profiled by Tracy Smith. Bullets over Broadway. Garden State. Zach's dad was an attorney.
Manhattan Murder Mystery. Scrubs. "Wish I was Here." kickstarter.com.

Mo Rocca talks to George Will about the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908, two years before Mark Twain died. Wrigley Field. Will saw Cubs play the Dodgers in 1950. Will played Little League: Mittendorf Funeral Home Panthers. Wrigley Field opened in 1914. Friendly Confines. Ladies Day: come in free. Attendance correlates with beer price. If you're not sober when you come in, you will be when you leave.

Next week: July 7: running of the bulls in Pamplona. July 8: Elvis Presley, That's all right. July 9: Raul Wallenburg. July 10: Emmy naming July 11: 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth's debut, as a pitcher.

Boyhood. David Edelstein. Time is the story. 7 year old. Before Sunrise. Before Sunset.
Snowpiercer endorsed by Edelstein.

Next week: Sunday at the shore.

Moment of nature. Caprock Canyon State Park in Texas, home of state bison heard.
850 Caprock Canyon Park Road, Quitaque, TX 79255

Communication among robots, and bacteria

Laurent Keller at the University of Lausanne did some work on communication. The research involved robots and neural networks. From Discover:



Each robot had a pair of wheeled tracks, a 360-degree light-sensing camera, and an infrared sensor underneath. The robots were controlled by a program with a neural network architecture. In neural networks, inputs come in through various channels and get combined in various combinations, and the combinations then produce outgoing signals. In the case of the Swiss robots, the inputs were the signals from the camera and the infrared sensor, and the output was the control of the tracks.

The scientists then put the robots in a little arena with two glowing red disks. One disk they called the food source. The other was the poison source. The only difference between them was that food source sat on top of a gray piece of paper, and the poison source sat on top of black paper. A robot could tell the difference between the two only once it was close enough to a source to use its infrared sensor to see the paper color.


(...)

Each robot wears a kind of belt that can glow, casting a blue light. The scientists now plugged the blue light into the robot circuitry. Its neural network could switch the light on and off, and it could detect blue light from other robots and change course accordingly. The scientists started the experiments all over again, with randomly wired robots that were either related or unrelated, and experienced selection as individuals or as colonies.

At first the robots just flashed their lights at random. But over time things changed. In the trials with relatives undergoing colony selection, twelve out of the twenty lines began to turn on the blue light when they reached the food. The light attracted the other robots, bringing them quickly to the food. The other eight lines evolved the opposite strategy. They turned blue when they hit the poison, and the other robots responded to the light by heading away.


As to bacteria


The results were impressive, although perhaps not surprising to people who are familiar with experimental evolution with bacteria. From their randomly wired networks, the robots evolved within a few dozens generations until they were scoring about 160 points a trial. That held in all twenty lines. Each program consists of 240 bits, which means that it could take any of 2 to the 240th power configurations. Out of that unimaginable range of possibilities, the robots in each line found a fast solution.


From Popular Science


The experiment involved 1,000 robots divided into 10 different groups. Each robot had a sensor, a blue light, and its own 264-bit binary code "genome" that governed how it reacted to different stimuli. The first generation robots were programmed to turn the light on when they found the good resource, helping the other robots in the group find it.

The robots got higher marks for finding and sitting on the good resource, and negative points for hanging around the poisoned resource. The 200 highest-scoring genomes were then randomly "mated" and mutated to produce a new generation of programming. Within nine generations, the robots became excellent at finding the positive resource, and communicating with each other to direct other robots to the good resource.

However, there was a catch. A limited amount of access to the good resource meant that not every robot could benefit when it was found, and overcrowding could drive away the robot that originally found it.

After 500 generations, 60 percent of the robots had evolved to keep their light off when they found the good resource, hogging it all for themselves. Even more telling, a third of the robots evolved to actually look for the liars by developing an aversion to the light; the exact opposite of their original programming!



link http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-08/evolving-robots-learn-lie-hide-resources-each-other

Mapping biofuel potential, incompletely?

The paper Mapping the Potential for Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands: Differences in Definitions, Data and Models across Scales , ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2014, 3(2), 430-459; doi:10.3390/ijgi3020430 , appears to be directed to biofuel production from plants/crops and does not analyze metrics for biofuels made directly from cyanobacteria using simply water and carbon dioxide.

First copyrighted map of the US?

Within the post titled Rare, Remarkable Maps Trace America’s Path to Independence


Buell’s map is the first map of the United States published in America by an American (also the first to be copyrighted here).



The map was published in 1784. The Copyright Act of 1790, the first federal copyright law, was enacted in May 1790. The "trick" here is that Buell sought a state copyright. Buell petitioned the General Assembly of Connecticut for a copyright for his soon-to-be-printed map on October 28, 1783, nine months after Connecticut became the first U.S. state to enact a copyright law. [In Wheaton v. Peters, a case between two reporters of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court found the federal Copyright Act provided the exclusive mechanism for protection of published works. Justice McLean: "Congress, then, by this act, instead of sanctioning an existing right, as contended, created it." ] Buell died in an almshouse in 1822.

See Rare Map on Display at Library Scored Some “Firsts”

Also from ConnecticutHistory:



At an early age, however, he got in trouble with the law, using his engraving skills to counterfeit the colonial currency. Because of his youth, he got off with what was considered a light sentence in those days: he had one ear cropped and he was branded on the forehead. -


link: See more at: http://connecticuthistory.org/an-uncommonly-ingenious-mechanic-abel-buell-of-connecticut/#sthash.zmfyMyLv.dpuf