Category Archives: patent

Outside of AI, companies are doing less research and more development

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 If you’ve been following the headlines in the world of AI, you might be fooled into thinking that corporations are doubling down, rather than withdrawing, from pure research. But on the ground, things are considerably more complicated — tech companies are spending more on the development part of R&D while relying more on cash strapped universities to move the needle on… Read More Continue reading Outside of AI, companies are doing less research and more development→

Ask Hackaday: SawStop — Bastion of Safety or Patent Troll

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At first glance, SawStop seems like a hacker’s dream. A garage tinkerer comes up with a great idea, builds a product around it, and the world becomes a better place. As time has gone on, other companies have introduced similar products. Recently, SawStop successfully stopped Bosch from importing saws equipped with their Reaxx safety system into the USA. This not only impacts sales of new saws, but parts for existing equipment. Who gets screwed here? Unfortunately, it’s the owners of the Bosch saws, who now have a safety feature they might not be able to use in the future. This …read more

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Starting Up Smart & Trade Secrets – Startup Security Weekly #43

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The six secrets to starting smart, a startup’s guide to protecting trade secrets, knowing what your customers value, and more startup articles for discussion! Full Show NotesVisit http://securityweekly.com/category/ssw/ for all the latest episodes! http://traffic.libsyn.com/sswaudio/Startup_articles_and_Discussion_Startup_Security_Weekly_43_converted.mp3 Continue reading Starting Up Smart & Trade Secrets – Startup Security Weekly #43→

Amazon Gets a Patent For Parachute Labels

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Delivery by drone is a reality and Amazon has been pursuing better and faster methods of autonomous package delivery. The US Patent and Trademark Office just issued a patent to Amazon for a shipping label that has an embedded parachute to ensure soft landings for future deliveries.

The patent itself indicates the construction consisting of a set of cords and a harness and the parachute itself is concealed within the label. The label will come in various shapes and sizes depending upon the size of the package and is designed to “enable the workflow process of shipping and handling to …read more

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IBM Patents Email Autoreply and Then Backs Down

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The U.S. patent office granted IBM a patent in January that seems to cover email auto-reply. The only problem is that auto-replies existed a long time before IBM claimed to have invented them. But it’s all good now.

The post IBM Patents Email Autoreply and Then Backs Down appeared first on Petri.

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Microsoft To Provide Patent Protection For Azure Customers

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Microsoft is now offering up its patent portfolio to Azure customers to help protect them against IP litigation; 10,000 Microsoft patents are available to Azure customers.

The post Microsoft To Provide Patent Protection For Azure Customers appeared first on Petri.

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Fifty Shades of Gray Code

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Some years back, a museum asked me to help them with an exhibit a contractor had built for them. It was a wheel like the one on Wheel of Fortune, but smaller and mounted on the wall instead of the floor. You would spin the wheel, it would stop on some item, and a computer would play a short video about the item. Physically and mechanically, it was a beautifully built exhibit. The electronics, though, left something to be desired.

In principle, this is pretty simple computer task. Measure the position of the wheel, and when it stops moving, play …read more

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Would You Wear Fashion Made From Your Own DNA?

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Tina Gorjanc’s ‘Pure Human Project’ examines a future where we can grow human leather. Continue reading Would You Wear Fashion Made From Your Own DNA?→

Noise Cancelling Speech Recogntion

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If you are like us, you’ll read a bit more and smack your forehead. Amazon recently filed a patent. That isn’t really news, per se–they file lots of patents, including ones that cover clicking on a button to order something and taking pictures against white backgrounds (in a very specific way). However, this patent is not only a good idea, but one we were surprised didn’t arise out of the hacker community.

There can’t be an invention without a problem and the problem this one solves is a common one: While wearing noise cancelling headphones, you can’t hear things …read more

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