Blockbuster and Netflix have settled their patent dispute stemming from a complaint filed last year by Netflix. Netflix alleged that Blockbuster was infringing on its patents US7,024,381 and US6,584,450.

Links: Complaint, US7,024,381, US6,584,450.

Biomedino v. Waters Technology (Fed. Cir. 2007)

(via Patently-O)

It may not have the sexiness of Myspace, or the hype of Youtube, but many a startup could learn something from focused and well executed Meetup.com. Founder Scott Heiferman has been diligently building his company which enables people to find and meet others with shared interests. I have been a member of “NY Tech Meetup” for a couple of years, but there are community groups worldwide on almost any subject. Scott is also the co-founder of the popular photo social networking site Fotolog.com.

Links: Meetup.com, Fotolog.com.

The second season of American Inventor premiered last night on ABC. By and large, the show was listless, kept afloat mostly by George Foreman’s smile and enthusiasm for almost everything. However, there were a few notables:

The Creepiest: “My Therapy Buddy” by Richard Kopelle is a deformed blue doll that whispers “everything is going to be alright” in a breathy Hannibal Lechter-like murmur. It was the second time Kopelle auditioned for the show and, with the exception of sourpuss British judge Peter Jones, Kopelle’s creepy vision was sent on to the next round. For you patent enthusiasts out there, it is now too late for Kopelle to receive a patent on his eerie doll since he publicly disclosed it more than one year ago on last year’s show.

The Simple: Ten year old Anthony Moebest presented a diaper with a package of wipes attached to the front. The judges sent Moebest home with tears in his eyes, but his invention, with a few tweaks, may have some potential – get rid of the package and in its place create a sealed exterior pocket on the diaper that houses a few tightly folded baby wipes. The sealed pocket ensures the baby wipes remain wet, and by tightly folding the wipes they contribute little to the bulk of the diaper. Most parents have experienced the messy frustration of not having baby wipes available at baby changing time.

The Best: Winsome firefighter and family man Greg Chavez delivered a heartfelt plea for his “Guardian Angel,” a fire protection system for Christmas trees. Tearfully, he showed video of a room being incinerated within fifteen seconds of a spark hitting the tree, and his experience witnessing a mother and father running from their home holding their lifeless child, killed by a tree fire. His invention includes a box holding water under pressure, and wrapped to look like a Christmas gift. The box is placed under the tree. A hose connected to the package runs undetectably up the tree to an angel perched at the top. Under the skirt of the angel is a plug that melts when heated, releasing the water to extinguish the fire. The Angel also includes an alarm to alert the homeowner of a fire. Chavez made it to the next round.