The dispute with former Yale professor and Nobel Laureate John B. Fenn over a Nobel Prize winning invention has ended. Yale University was assigned ownership of a key patent and awarded $1 million in damages. John B. Fenn shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002 for his work in mass spectrometry.
The City of New York filed a trademark application (SEARCH Trademarks, Search Term: 78484751, Field: Serial or Registration Number) on the mark “The World’s Second Home”. If successful, New York City will have the exclusive right to apply that phrase to more than 200 goods and services.
In an upset to mad-scientists everywhere, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied a patent application entitled “Chimeric embryos and animals containing human cells”. The patent claimed a half-human/half-non-human animal and embryo. Among the described animals or embryos were a mouse-human, a baboon-human, a chimpanzee-human, and a pig-human. The inventor, Dr. Stuart A. Newman, had no intention of ever producing such creatures.
Luxembourg has taken the issue of software patents off of the agenda of next week’s meeting of the European Parliament.
equals U.S. Patent No. 6,531,114.
Sparks will be flying next week in Brussels as Europe makes a decision on whether to formalize the granting of computer-implemented inventions such as software patents. Software patents are controversial, and opposed by many (1, 2, 3) on the grounds that they stifle innovation and benefit large companies. Nevertheless, it is probably inevitable that Europe (UK Patent Office FAQ) follow the US in their software patent policy.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is suing the Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for alleged trademark infringement. No matter who wins this one, there are many Jews Who Rock. Who said intellectual property is boring? Rock on.
IBM received more patents in 2004 than any other company for the twelfth consecutive year. IBM received 3,248, followed by Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) with 1,934, and Canon with 1,805. The full list can found here.
