The process of invention may be intrinsic to human nature and almost entirely unique to humankind, but the process of attributing credit to individual inventors and empowering those inventors to earn a living from the fruits of their ideas has been a long and often arduous one. The changing landscape of inventions and patents Today patent law is incredibly nuanced and complex, but back in 500 BC when the Greeks first held forth that whosoever invented something which improved quality of life should be guaranteed the ability to profit from that invention for a period of no less than one year, laws…

There have been insinuations that Gene Roddenberry came up with the idea for the iPad or even the flip phone, or that Leonardo da Vinci inspired a plethora of ideas that turned into modern technology, but this predictive design by inventor Kane Kramer in a patent filing in 1979 is about as close as one can get to detailing the design for the iPod. The IXI was to use flash-based memory, had a display screen, quad-directional controls, and was supposed to be the size of a deck of playing cards. Sound familiar? As Gizmodo explains, he even had a vision for DRM: He predicted DRM, though he didn’t go into many…

Patents shift hands almost as often as companies change their lunch menus. Mobile, software, and hardware patents are of particular importance as both deterrents and protection against the litany of lawsuits, frivolous or not, that chase big tech companies on a regular basis. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Motorola (who just sold 17,000 patents as part of their deal with Google) stockpile patents, spending lots of money in order to save lots of money. It’s much like insurance – you pay a little now over time to prevent the big hits from coming all at once.. This graphic by Visual.ly attempts…

We have been hearing rumors about the iPhone 5 since long before the 4S was launched. One of the most recent rumors to surround the heavily anticipated smartphone is arguably more intriguing than them all. According to Patently Apple, the tech giant has patented a new technology that could give its popular mobile device three dimensional appeal. The site, which as the name implies, keeps up with all things related to Apple and its patenting initiatives, reported that the company recently patented a new technology that could introduce 3D camera technology into devices running its iOS operating…

When Microsoft won the auction that brought over 925 US patents from AOL’s portfolio, there was clear indication that Facebook wanted in on the action. They got their wishes today and Microsoft was able to get what they wanted and have half of it paid for through Facebook’s purchase of 650 of those patents. “Today’s agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction,” said Brad Smith, executive vice president and general counsel for Microsoft. “As we said earlier this month, we had submitted the winning AOL bid in order to obtain…

The acquisition of 750 patents from IBM by Facebook signals the venture of the social networking giant into a realm new to them: patent defense. The company has never been as involved as some of their peers when it comes to patenting with 503 filed to date and 56 or more issued, but this will expand their portfolio in light of a recent battle waged against them by Yahoo. How do purchased patents after the fact help them fight Yahoo? Leverage. There are unsubstantiated (but likely accurate) reports that some of the patents purchased were being licensed by Yahoo. If this is correct, it would justify this…

Menus and toolbars are one in the same. If you’ve seen them on one operating system, you are probably not shocked by what you see elsewhere. However, a new patent by Apple filled in the EU is revealing details of a new system that could change how we think about them forever. While the details are hard to envision from only a picture, it appears that Apple is attempting to remove the need for the menu/toolbar, which appears at the top of Mac OS X. This is interesting because Apple appears to be planning this implementation for Mac OS X and iOS, which will further unify the two platforms. What is more interesting,…

I can’t get enough of widgets. I remember, back in the day, as a rabid PC user, vehemently anti-Apple, I flat-out lold at the concept of widgets. Now, years later, on a Mac Pro, I seem to be hitting F4 for one reason or another every four or five minutes. My widget addiction is about to get worse. With Google having recently acquired 3D desktop manager BumpTop, it would appear Apple’s looking to create an entire new generation of widgets in response, both multifunctional and existing in 3-dimensional virtual space. OSX was already a champion of pointless eye candy, but this is going to waste SO much…