Facebook Patents, Toyota’s autonomous car, IIT-B’s interesting designs, Startups, Innovations, Bridgestone patent infringement, Sony patents, Intel, Qualcomm and Microsoft, USPTO, Michelle Lee, Patenting Mobile Applications and more, presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Patent Quote of the week
Kodak actually invented the digital camera that ultimately put it out of business? Kodak had the patents and a head start, but ignored all that. Peter Diamandis, founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation.
Patent Stats from the Indian Patent Office
Overall activity by the Patent office in terms of publications and grants appear to have reduced noticeably. There has been a drop of about 42.34% in the number of total publications this week. The total number of grants have reduced from 305 to 232 applications, marking a 23.93% decrease. Additionally, the Kolkata Patent office has published an application and has invited objections from interested parties in respect of amendments made to the claims of the said application. Interested person may file an objection with the patent office on or before 9th September 2017.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 30 | 3 | 90% decrease |
| Mumbai | 15 | 15 | No Change |
| Chennai | 35 | 29 | 17.14% decrease |
| Kolkata | 2 | 2 | No change |
| Total | 82 | 49 | 40.24% decrease |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 235 | 227 | 3.40% decrease |
| Mumbai | 103 | 63 | 38.83% decrease |
| Chennai | 741 | 335 | 54.79% decrease |
| Kolkata | 15 | 4 | 73.33% decrease |
| Total | 1094 | 629 | 42.50% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 1176
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 678
Percentage difference: 42.34% decrease
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 137 | 95 | 30.65% decrease |
| Mumbai | 16 | 13 | 18.75% decrease |
| Chennai | 96 | 72 | 25% decrease |
| Kolkata | 56 | 52 | 7.14% decrease |
| Total | 305 | 232 | 23.93% decrease |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
21 applications each from Bangalore and Mumbai have been published this week, placing both the cities as top contributors. While, Mumbai retains its first position, having published 756 applications from the beginning of the year to till date, Bangalore is placed second with 456 applications till date.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2017 – till date | 3rd June 2017- 9th June 2017 |
| Mumbai | 756 | 21 |
| Bangalore | 456 | 21 |
| Delhi | 418 | 13 |
| Chennai | 239 | 6 |
| Hyderabad | 173 | 7 |
| Kolkata | 88 | 2 |
Total Patent Grants by the Indian Patent Office since 1st Jan 2017 till date:
Delhi – 2387
Mumbai – 491
Kolkata – 987
Chennai – 1355
Total grants: 5220
Industrial Designs
Total designs registered this Week: 146
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 153
Percentage Difference: 4.57% decrease
Interesting patents
Facebook files a patent application to ‘read emotions’ through smart phones
The USPTO recently published a patent application with application no. 14/950,986 titled “Augmenting text messages with emotion information” assigned to the social media giant Facebook which discloses systems, methods, and devices for augmenting text messages. According to the patent application, the system can predict the user’s emotion based on the keyboard input and automatically add emotional information to the text messages. The emotions are predicted based on various factors like typing speed, movement, location etc.
Toyota files patent application for technology to display the thought process of autonomous vehicles
The USPTO recently published a patent application with application no. 15/357,547 titled “Image display apparatus” assigned to the Japanese automaker Toyota which discloses an image display apparatus that informs passengers inside the car about what the self driving system is doing.
The abstract of the patent application reads as follows:
“An image display apparatus for displaying an image related to an autonomous driving control of an autonomous driving system on a display surface of an in-vehicle display of a vehicle is configured such that, when the vehicle is in the autonomous driving control, the image display apparatus displays: a traveling road overlook image showing the vehicle and a traveling road where the vehicle runs in a bird’s-eye view; a stability display image positioned in a traveling direction of the vehicle in the traveling road overlook image, the stability display image being configured to change according to stability information inside a rectangular frame extending in a direction intersecting with the travelling direction; and a subsequent action text image positioned in the traveling direction relative to the stability display image and indicative of subsequent action information”.
Interesting Designs
IIT-B students showcase range of innovative designs
IIT-B recently held a ‘Design & Degree Show’ at the Industrial Design Centre of the institute, wherein second year design students displayed their innovations. Among the plethora of designs, some interesting designs included designs like changing a car’s seating space to act as a temporary ambulance, a foldable bicycles, wheelchairs that provides better transportability and transferability, to name a few. The designs showcased are close to actual implementation, and the students have a period of 4 months to further develop them.
Patents, Startups, Innovations
Vizag based startup applies for patent on reality-based commerce
A Vizag based startup called Auraaz Technologies Private Limited is making headlines after one of its patent application titled “OBJECT RECOGNITION INTERACTIVE E-COMMERCE SYSTEM” was recently published by the Indian Patent Office. The application discloses an object-recognition interactive augmented reality based commerce system, which promises to change the way consumers use their smartphones to interact and build affinity for a particular brand or product.
In addition to the patent application mentioned above, it appears that the founders of AuRaaz Technologies are working on two more patents in near field communication and holograms.
The Abstract of the patent application numbered 201641042911is as follows:
Present invention process an object recognition interactive augmented reality based commerce system which is a new way for users to use their mobile phones to interact and build affinity for a particular brand or products, product packaging and/or promotional materials. The invention provides users an augmented reality commerce system, that allows users to retrieve product purchase options and product information that the user comes across such as in a movie poster, trailer video media and the like by just capturing the image of the particular movie poster and the like through a device equipped with a camera.
IPO Updates
Korea International Youth Olympiad 2017 – Applications Invited
The World Women Inventors & Entrepreneurs Association is organizing the 2nd Korea International Youth Olympiad (KIYO) 4I 2017 from August 11th – August 13th, 2017. The event will take place in Hwasungsi of Korea and is open to University students and High School students. Interested students from India who wish to participate in this event can fill the application form available here and send a copy of the application to the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks at cgoffice-mh@nic.in or pborkar.ipo@nic.in. The registrations will close on June 30, 2017.
For more details please visit: http://kiyo4i.com/en
Stakeholders meeting at Delhi Patent Office on 19th June 2017
The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) has invited a meeting of all stakeholders on 19th June 2017 at 3.00 PM at the Delhi Patent Office. All stakeholders and applicants who are filing International applications under PCT and utilizing the services of the Indian Patent Office are invited to attend the meeting. The interested stakeholders who wish to attend the meeting are requested to send their confirmation by email to dixit.rajesh@nic.in or delhi-patent@nic.in by 16th June 2017.
Patent infringement, settlements & disputes
Bridgestone wins patent infringement case in China
Bridgestone, the multinational auto and truck parts manufacturer recently won a patent infringement case against a Chinese company named Wanli tire. The suit alleged that Wanli was manufacturing and selling tyres with tread patterns used in Bridgestone’s Dueler A/T Revo 2 tyres for sports utility vehicles. In the ruling by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Wanli has been asked to stop manufacturing and sales activities that are in violation of Bridgestone’s patent rights and also pay Bridgestone 88,000 US dollars in compensation.
This ruling has been getting widespread attention considering the fact that China normally does not encourage rulings against domestic companies.
U.S. ITC launches patent infringement probe of Sony electronic products
The U.S. International Trade Commission recently announced that it has voted to open a patent infringement probe of certain consumer electronic devices made by Sony Corp. following a complaint made Arris Enterprises LLC, a Georgia-based company. The products that would be probed include Sony-made televisions, gaming consoles, mobile phones and tablets, and network-enabled DVD and Blu-ray players.
Intel issues veiled threat to Qualcomm over possible patent violations
Intel recently issued a warning to Qualcomm without directly naming it over possible patent infringement vis-a-vis the implementation of x86 emulation in upcoming laptops. The warning has come after Qualcomm and Microsoft recently announced that Windows 10 PC apps will get support for ARM chipsets, specifically, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoCs. Qualcomm’s ARM platform is set to run both desktop x86 Win32 apps as well as Universal Windows apps, which could have ruffled Intel’s feathers .
International Government Updates
Thailand likely to amend Patent Laws – Compulsory Licensing and more
A draft amendment to the Thai Patent Act was recently published by the Secretary of the Law Reform Commission on Patent, Government of Thailand. Some significant changes have been contemplated in the Draft such as introducing grounds for granting compulsory licenses, introducing a new stage in the Thai patent process, sections regarding Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing, etc. The Draft has not yet been finalized and is still subject to a public-hearing process.
USPTO director Michelle Lee, resigns
Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office Michelle Lee unexpectedly resigned from her post on the 7th of June 2017. Michelle Lee, who was a former lawyer for Google, took over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the Obama administration, and many in the tech industry supported her work so much so that tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Samsung, and others wrote a letter to President Trump in April, asking the President to re-nominate her for the role as Director. It is unclear if Michelle Lee is leaving the government entirely or is headed to another position, but most people agree that patent quality was finally being recognized as critical to the strength and success of the American patent system under the leadership of Director, Michelle Lee.
BananaIP News updates
The Hindu cites BananaIP’s article on Cow slaughter
National daily – The Hindu published an article on the 12th of June 2017 citing a recently published blog post authored by Dr. Kalyan C Kankanala on the prickly issue of Cow slaughter and Patents relating to the same. The blog post was originally published on Intellepedia – IP News Centre and can be viewed by clicking here. The Hindu’s article on Cow slaughter can be accessed here.
Plant Varieties News
5000+ Plant varieties have been submitted by Tribal Farmers, says Union Agriculture Minister
In a national workshop on Empowerment of Farmers of Tribal Areas, held at New Delhi, the Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh has said that in the last 3 years, over 5000 plant varieties have been submitted by the tribal farmers to PPVFRA (Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Authority) to develop climate resilient and sustainable seeds varieties. To appreciate and encourage the Tribal Farmers, the Minister further stated that 75-100 Crores will be provided to Krishi Vigyan Kendras to extend agriculture progammes as well as to facilitate new technology.
