Uber’s driverless car patent, Samsung’s Rollable tablet patent, Patent Licensing, Disputes and Settlements, Apple versus Qualcomm, Qualcomm versus Blackberry, Nokia versus Apple, McDonald’s Patent Infringement, Patent Tip and more, presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Patent Quote of the week
People equate patents with secrecy, that secrecy is what patents were designed to overcome. That’s why the formula for Coca-Cola was never patented. They kept it as a trade secret, and they’ve outlasted patent laws by 80 years or more. Craig Venter, American Biotechnologist.
Patent stats from the Indian Patent Office
This week there has been a phenomenal increase of 425% in the number of ordinary publications published by the Chennai Patent Office, which takes the sum total of publications this week to 1401. There has been a decrease of 50.79% in the total number of early publications in comparison with the stats from last week. Delhi and Chennai Patent Office have each published 3 applications which are to be restored. Any person who wishes to object the restoration of these listed patents will have to file an objection for the same within a period of 2 months from the date of publication.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 12 | 1 | 91.66% decrease |
| Mumbai | 23 | 22 | 4.34% decrease |
| Chennai | 23 | 8 | 65.21% decrease |
| Kolkata | 5 | 0 | — |
| Total | 63 | 31 | 50.79% decrease |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 148 | 237 | 60.13% increase |
| Mumbai | 92 | 92 | No change |
| Chennai | 196 | 1029 | 425% increase |
| Kolkata | 162 | 12 | 92.59% decrease |
| Total | 598 | 1370 | 129.09% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 661
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 1401
Percentage difference: 111.95% increase
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 43 | 81 | 88.37% increase |
| Mumbai | 15 | 15 | No change |
| Chennai | 44 | 42 | 4.54% decrease |
| Kolkata | 39 | 34 | 12.82% decrease |
| Total | 141 | 172 | 21.98% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
This week 29 applications have been published where Mumbai has been identified as the applicant city, taking the total applications published from the city since the beginning of the year till date to 707. Bangalore, Delhi, and Hyderabad are placed together at the 2nd position with each having published 11 applications this week. Chennai is at the 3rd position with 4 applications, and no contributions have been made by Kolkata this week.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2017 – till date | 20th May 2017- 26th May 2017 |
| Mumbai | 707 | 29 |
| Bangalore | 416 | 11 |
| Delhi | 378 | 11 |
| Chennai | 222 | 4 |
| Hyderabad | 158 | 11 |
| Kolkata | 85 | 0 |
DESIGNS
Total designs registered this Week: 148
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 148
Percentage Difference: No change
Interesting Patent Grants
Uber patents driverless car technology
The USPTO recently published a patent with application no. 15/358,033 titled “Controlling Autonomous Vehicles In Connection With Transport Services” assigned to Uber Technologies Inc. which discloses a system that allows a rider to instruct an autonomous vehicle to perform nondriving operations through a mobile computing device. The operations that the users will be able to control include unlocking the car’s doors, operating audio system etc. The system can determine when the autonomous vehicle and the requester are within a threshold distance of the pickup location.
Samsung obtains patent for A Rollable Tablet
Samsung Display Co., Ltd. has been granted a US patent, for an invention titled “Rollable display device.” The invention as disclosed in application number 14/957,636, details a tablet with a rollable screen that’s wrapped around one of its sides and can be rolled out by pulling the device apart.
Although the actual mechanism is described in a somewhat vague manner, the illustrations show what looks like a tablet with a stretchable display panel instead of a rollable one. The abstract of the invention reads as follows:
“A rollable display device, including a flexible display panel; a roller having a cylindrical shape, one end of the flexible display panel being fixed to the roller and rolled around the roller, the roller including a penetration part, the penetration part being inclined with respect to a circumferential surface of the roller, the flexible display panel penetrating through the penetration part; and a first guide at a portion adjacent to the penetration part on the circumferential surface of the roller, the first guide guiding the flexible display panel penetrating through the penetration part to be adjacent to an outer surface of the roller.”
Interesting Designs
Exhibition of designs held at Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre
Final year students of the Department of Industrial Design, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi have exhibited their designs at the Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre. The exhibition held from 25th May to 28th May 2017 covers a range of products with innovative designs such as a vegetable cart that increases the shelf life of the produce, a new age traffic signal that integrates information helping the pedestrian, drivers and police personnel in reducing accidents and mishaps. Other designs displayed at the exhibition include a memory album for the visually challenged and an assistive menstrual aid to help women with cerebral palsy.
Startups, Innovations, and Patents
DIPP revises definition of Startups
Under a recent notification issued by the Department of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the Government has revised the definition for Start-ups under the Start-up India Initiative. As per the new definition, an entity shall be considered as a start-up if it has not completed seven years from the date of its registration. However, for biotechnology start-ups the period shall be up to 10 years. Now entities having “a scalable business model with a high potential of employment generation or wealth creation” can also qualify for recognition as a start-up by the DIPP. Entities recognized as a start-up by the DIPP can acquire various concessions, such as reduction in patent application fees, fast tracking of patent applications etc.
Andhra based startup invents IoT device to ensure quick medical aid to patients
An Andhra Pradesh-based startup called Greenline Labs has invented an IoT (Internet of Things) device and technology called Emergency Response Automation (ERA) which creates a geofencing when any ambulance is within a 500-meter radius of a traffic signal. The technology automatically gives ambulances the green light, all the way to the incident they are attending, and ensures quick medical aid to patients.
The IoT device works by triggering an alert in the traffic junction box that turns the traffic lights green thereby clearing the traffic congestion and making way for the ambulance to go through without delay.
The startup has tested the system in a prototype, simulating a four-road junction and will now be filing a patent application for the technology before going live.
Patent Licensing, Disputes and Settlements
Qualcomm approaches court, asks it to direct Apple to pay patent royalties
In the latest development in the ongoing patent war between Apple and Qualcomm, Qualcomm has approached a US Court asking it to direct Apple to pay the royalties that it owes to the chip-making giant.
In this fresh suit against Apple, Qualcomm has alleged that Apple is trying to force a settlement by throwing its weight around and that Qualcomm would suffer a loss of about 500 million dollars in revenues in this single quarter if Apple does not pay the royalties.
With the ongoing volley of legal suits between the two tech giants, nobody can truly bet on who could emerge a winner.
Qualcomm to pay 940 million dollars to BlackBerry
As if Qualcomm did not have enough on its plate already, a recent ruling by an arbitration panel has directed Qualcomm to pay 940 million dollars to BlackBerry to settle a patent licensing dispute.
The ruling came after the arbitration panel found that BlackBerry had overpaid Qualcomm in royalty payments from 2010 to 2015 under the terms of a patent licensing deal.
BlackBerry has become increasingly active in patent litigation following its exit from the handset manufacturing business. For instance, earlier this year BlackBerry filed a lawsuit against Nokia, alleging that the Finnish company was infringing on as many as 11 of its patents in offerings to carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile.
Nokia settles patent dispute with Apple
Nokia and Apple recently announced that the two companies have settled all litigation related to their intellectual property dispute and have agreed to a multi-year patent license deal. Under the business collaboration agreement, Nokia would provide certain network infrastructure product and services to Apple, while Apple would resume carrying Nokia digital health products in Apple retail and online stores.
While Nokia has said that it would receive an up-front cash payment from Apple, with additional revenues during the term of the agreement, the details of the agreement and payment amount have not been disclosed.
Patent Infringement
FujiFilm imports to be investigated following Sony’s patent infringement Claim
Reports indicate that the U.S. International Trade Commission will launch an investigation into Fujifilm’s magnetic tape cartridges and component imports following a patent infringement claim by the Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Corporation.
While Sony has alleged that the magnetic tape cartridge uses technology lifted from Sony products without a license, Fujifilm’s filed a patent infringement claim against Sony for the sale of data storage tapes and cartridges last year.
McDonald’s faces patent infringement suit over Internet software
Internet Media Interactive Corporation, an American media, and Internet company has filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division against the American hamburger and fast food restaurant chain, McDonald’s alleging patent infringement of its use of location-specific Internet technology software.
The Internet Media company has claimed that McDonald’s has directly infringed on its US patent 6,049,835 which claims a technology that provides automatic access to preselected locations on the internet. The patent in question relates to location-specific URLs which allow third party social media companies to target location-based advertisements at users.
Apple and Visa face patent infringement lawsuit
A Boston-based company called Universal Secure Registry has filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. and Visa Inc. alleging infringement of four of the company’s patents.
In the case filed with the U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, Universal Secure Registry has claimed that it sent a series of letters to Apple in 2010 describing its patented technology and seeking a partnership much before Apple Pay was launched. In addition to this, the Boston-based company tried to pursue a partnership with Visa around the same time but the offer was declined by both Apple and Visa in favor of a partnership with each other to incorporate the technology into Apple Pay.
Neither Apple nor Visa have rejected the claims of the Boston Company and it remains to be seen if this could turn out to be another case of patent trolling.
International Government Updates
WIPO states that the article published by Fox News is inaccurate and erroneous
In a press release statement, WIPO has claimed that the article carried by Fox News claiming that WIPO was aiding North Korea in securing a patent in relation to sodium cyanide, is inaccurate and erroneous. In its press release, WIPO has provided a set of facts stating that patent applications are not covered by the UN Security Council Regulations. On 22nd May 2017, WIPO released another statement confirming that amongst its 1718 committee staff, no UN Member State had ever notified the Committee of a patent application that might violate the UN Security Council Regulations.
Plant Varieties News
Woman farmer won the Plant Genome Saviour Farmers Reward
Gangwar Anjamma, a 70 year old woman, has been presented with 1.5 Lakh rupees by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority for her exemplary work in the conservation and sustainable use of 80 types of seeds at her farm. In addition to preserving 80 varieties of seeds, Gangwar Anjamma has also built a community seed bank in her village, Pastapur which supplies seeds to farmers. Her technique in conserving the seeds without the use of fertilizers, pesticides or bio-pesticides is being used at the breeding program followed at the Agriculture Research Centre.
BananaIP’s Patent Tip of the week
Building and Managing a Patent Portfolio
Work with respect to a patent does not cease once an application has been filed; it is simply the beginning. From its conception to expiration, a patent undergoes a lot of procedural, legal and market-driven changes, which more often than not have an impact on the business and its valuation.
A patent portfolio can be a significant part of a corporation’s overall value. To maximize the value of one’s patent portfolio, it is advisable that the owner of the patent portfolio recognize and answer some simple questions such as:
- What’s in your portfolio?
- What’s in your competitor’s portfolio?; and
- What are the Commercialization opportunities for your patent portfolio?
