Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated science fiction writer with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died this past week at the age of 90. Clarke had been a spot-on visionary on a number of technologies, including the principles of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits and the development of a “global library” (sound familiar, anyone?). On the entertainment front, Clarke is probably best known for writing the short story later developed into the Stanley Kubrick-directed 2001: A Space Odyssey.

On a personal note, I hold a special place for Arthur C. Clarke as one of the sci-fi authors instrumental in seeding my interest in science and technology . . . arguably leading directly to my present career as a patent attorney. I know a number of scientists and engineers who were similarly drawn to the sciences at an early age by reading works of science fiction by acclaimed authors Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, and the like. 

If you are interested in any of Clarke’s fictional works, the following are highly recommended:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
• The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
• 2010: Odyssey Two (1982)
• 2061: Odyssey Three (1988)
• Rama II (1989) (with Gentry Lee)
• Beyond the Fall of Night (1990) (with Gregory Benford)
• The Garden of Rama (1991) (with Gentry Lee)
• Rama Revealed (1993) (with Gentry Lee)
• The Hammer of God (1993)
• 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997)

On this day in history in 1836, the American inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt received a patent for a “revolving gun”, of which a popular later version was nicknamed the “Peacemaker.” 

Mr. Colt had exhibited an early aptitude for mechanical innovation, and first applied for a patent on his revolver at the age of 18.  He obtained his first patent in England, and his first U.S. patent issued in 1836 as patent number 6909 (later renumbered as X9430; one of the so-called X-patents).  The X9430 patent and U.S. Pat. No. 1304 protected the basic principles of Colt’s revolving-breech loading, folding trigger firearm design.

Interestingly, Colt had once sought private legislative relief in requesting an extension on his patent because he had not profited sufficiently during the period provided by the original patent.  Colt successfully obtained a seven-year “extension” on his 1836 patent by receiving a reissue in 1848, but was unsuccessful in his legislative attempt in 1854 to further extend the life of the reissue.  Colt successfully enforced his patents in litigation, notably causing certain competitors to discontinue production. 

His revolving-breech pistol at one time became so popular that the word “Colt” was sometimes used as a generic term for the revolver.   When Samuel Colt died in 1862, his estate was estimated to be valued at around $15,000,000. 

The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) announced this past week the 2008 class of inductees.  Founded in 1973 by the USPTO and the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations, the Hall of Fame presently administers such national programs as the Camp Invention® and Club Invention® programs, the Invent Now® initiative, and the Collegiate Inventors Competition®.

To qualify for the Hall of Fame, an inventor must hold a U.S. patent, and the invention “must have contributed to the welfare of mankind and have promoted the progress of science and the useful arts.” 

The formal inductions into the Hall of Fame will occur on May 2-3 in Akron, Ohio.

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Time Magazine, in partnership with CNN, released today a list of the The Best Inventions of the Year (2007).  Invention of the year:  The iPhone.  Worth a quick read if you have a few minutes to spare.

The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced yesterday at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre.  Per this Wikipedia entry, the Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year for ten achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” The prize is organized by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR).

The 2007 winners include:

 • Chemistry: Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medical Center of Japan, for developing a way to extract vanillin, or vanilla fragrance and flavoring, from cow dung.

• Linguistics: A University of Barcelona team for a study showing rats sometimes fail to distinguish between a person speaking Japanese backward and a person speaking Dutch backward.

• Peace Prize: The Air Force Wright Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, for instigating research and development of a chemical weapon, the “gay bomb,” that “will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other.”

• Economics: Kuo Cheng Hsieh, of Taichung, Taiwan, for patenting a device in 2001 that catches bank robbers by dropping a net over them.

• Medicine: Brain Witcombe, of Gloucestershire Royal NHS Foundation Trust, and sword swallower Dan Meyer, of Antioch, Tenn., for their insightful work on the health consequences of swallowing a sword.

• Physics: A U.S.-Chilean team that ironed out the problem of how sheets become wrinkled.

• Biology: Johanna van Bronswijk of the Netherlands for carrying out a creepy-crawly census of all of the mites, insects, spiders, ferns and fungi that share our beds.

• Literature: Glenda Browne of Blue Mountains, Australia, for her study of “the,” and how it can flummox those trying to put things into alphabetical order.

• Nutrition: Brian Wansink of Cornell University for investigating the limits of human appetite by feeding volunteers a self-refilling, “bottomless” bowl of soup.

• Aviation: A National University of Quilmes, Argentina, team for discovering that impotency drugs can help hamsters recover from jet lag.

This article at CNN pointed out a recently issued patent, U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,406, in which the article opined “energy insiders spotted six words . . . that sounded like a death knell for the internal combustion engine.” 

The ‘406 patent is titled: Electrical-energy-storage unit (EESU) utilizing ceramic and integrated-circuit technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries.  The invention relates to so-called “ultracapacitors”  - battery-like devices that store and releases energy quickly.  The assignee of the patent, EEStor, and its licensee ZENN Motor Co., believes the technology may revolutionalize the electric car industry.  An interesting read, if you have a few minutes to spare.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has recently announced the creation of a new DDR&E competition, titled the “Wearable Power Prize.”  The goal of the competition is the development of a wearable power system that lasts four days and reduces the weight of the battery load typically carried by those in the U.S. military, although such a system has obvious uses in the civilian field as well (ever wanted to take your laptop on a hike?).  The competition is open to individuals and teams who are up to the inventive challenge. 

The complete power system must weigh 4kg or less and provide a minimum of 1920Whr.  The power system must operate continuously for 96 hours.   During the 96 hours of operation the system must operate: (1) continuously (i.e., 24 hours a day); (2) at partial power; (3) for a number of periods of high power of up to 200W for 5 min; (4) in a non-air breathing mode in a sealed container for a time to be determined; (5) be attitude or vertical orientation and motion independent; (6) provide output voltages of 14V and 28V.  The system must attach to a vest and operate while worn.  The U.S. government will provide connectors for the equipment on the course with additional cables, outlets, etc. 

The winning system will be the lightest under the 4kg maximum and will complete the full competitive demonstration.  In the case of systems with identical weights, a secondary “wearability” criterion will used. Wearability is measured by the maximum thickness of the system as it protrudes from the body when attached to a garment. The thinnest system wins the tie-breaker.

If you have an interest in wearable power systems, and/or feel up to the challenge, registration opens October 8, 2007.  By the way, did we mention that the top prize is $1 million?

Further commentary on this prize may also be found here at Alan Boyle’s Cosmic Log.

We’ve recently come across a few articles relating to a company called Intellectual Ventures, which we found interesting.  Intellectual Ventures is a self-proclaimed “invention company” located in Bellevue, Washington.  The company was founded by ex-Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold in 2000 with the goal to nurture fundamental innovation and invention. 

According to this BusinessWeek article and this Wikipedia entry,  the company both purchases patents (giving rise to some disparaging “troll” name-calling) and develops technology in-house, sometimes through the use of brainstorming sessions with the nation’s best and brightest scientists and engineers (with IP counsel at the ready for identifying potential patents).  Intellectual Ventures has apparently bankrolled about 44 different inventors thusfar, is building an “invention lab,” and has been applying for about 450 patents per year.  Although it has yet to have a commercial hit (the company is not interested in manufacturing, but in licensing of the technology), Intellectual Ventures apparently sees itself as filling a void in the market for pure invention, with signficant long-term potential for profitability.

See also this video article at CNN about Intellectual Ventures.  An interesting bit if you have a few minutes to spare.