21st January, 2010

GI status for Puneri Pagadi

Puneri Pagadi, the traditional headgear of Maharashtrians, which freedom fighters like Balgangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale used to wear, has obtained geographical indication (GI) status.

Shree Puneri Pagdi Sangha, Pune has managed to protect the famed pagadi which is considered to be the characteristic feature and honour of Pune. This status would make the headgear famous all over the world and it would not be manufactured through wrong means and no one would be able to alter the conventional and traditional way of making the pagadi.

GI is granted to goods that basically originate and are produced in a defined geographical region and seeks to promote the economic prosperity of producers of those goods. With the approval of the GI, no turban made outside Pune region can be legally sold under the name of Puneri Pagadi, which will promote the local artisans.

Apple and RIM Sued by Kodak for Patent Infringement

Eastman Kodak has filed suits against Apple Inc. and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM), alleging that both companies had violated a Kodak patent relating to image previewing.

Kodak has requested an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge to block the importation of infringing devices, including some mobile phones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras, including the iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry smart phone line. In an action taken against Samsung relating to the same patent, Kodak has already persuaded an ITC judge that its patent is valid.

Kodak also filed two separate suits in a New York district court alleging that Apple violated the patent in question. Kodak is seeking damages for the use of its patented technology in their products without interrupting the availability of any product.

Metabolomics Method Patent for Metabolon Inc.

Metabolon Inc., a diagnostics and services company which offers biochemical profiling platform through biomarker discovery and analysis, has been granted a US patent for methods for drug discovery, disease treatment and diagnosis using Metabolomics. The patent granted on December 22, 2009 is the sixth patent to be issued from the fundamental Daouk-Kristal “metabolomics methods” patent family.

Metabolomics is the organized study of the exclusive metabolites of a specific cellular process and metabolome represents the collection of all metabolites in a biological organism. The patent intends to identify small molecules that are affected by a drug or a toxin using metabolomics. It provides a method to assess chemical agents for drug effects and toxicity for clinical and pre-clinical drug development activities.

Metabolon is the exclusive license holder of the Daouk-Kristal patent family comprising of pioneering patents in the field of metabolomics. The company’s formerly issued patents include the use of metabolomics for determining biomarkers for diseases, including cancer, metabolic and neurological disorders. The company also owns patents relating to software designed for analyzing metabolomics data.

Google buys patent to update Ads

Google, the online search giant has recently acquired a patent which will help keep its Street View updated and organized and in the long run would generate more revenue from advertisements.

Google Street View gives street-level images of important cities and towns at present. But the advertisements seen on these images — such as billboards, posters, and signs — aren’t updated.

Google’s new patent will update the ad spaces (billboards, posters etc.) for a payment on Street View images. Advertisers can pay Google whenever the ads get updated in real-life, and Google would update Street View consequently. It will take some time before Google initiates this latest service as the patent was only obtained recently.

EDC gets patent for on-line steam monitoring system

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) was granted a patent by the Bureau of Patents of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines for its on-line Steam Purity Monitoring system. It is an appliance which is in use in the company’s sites since 1996 and is used to gather real-time data on the steam supply to its geothermal plants.

The system was developed by EDC's geoscientists and technical services engineers and provides quick and continuous real time data of geothermal steam supplied during normal plant operations for immediate response to system updates. Earlier EDC used to rely on the manual method involving a five-man shifting crew to conduct the steam condensate sampling, with data available only after 24 hours.

This on-line steam purity monitoring system, since its use, has resulted in gross savings of up to P314 million from 1996 up to 2005. EDC owns and operates five large geothermal steam fields with a combined capacity of 1,199 MW in the Philippines.

Johnson & Johnson sued by Covidien over surgical products patent

Covidien Plc., a medical products company is suing Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, alleging patent infringement from a line of ultrasonic surgical products.

The company claims that Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon's Harmonic line of ultrasonic surgical products infringe several Covidien patents. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut appeals for J&J's Ethicon unit to discontinue making and selling of the products and pay damages for the alleged infringements to Covidien.

Patent for prescription drug abuse prevention technology filed

Prescription drug abuse is more widespread in the US than abuse of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine and ranks second only to marijuana use. To tackle this growing problem, Pisgah Labs, Inc. has filed a patent application on a technology that guarantees to curtail prescription drug abuse.

Pisgah Labs has been working to produce an anti-abuse chemical methodology that will work with the pain medications. It is awaiting FDA’s approval to conduct clinical trials on the anti-abuse technology which would disrupt and stop drug abuse throughout the supply chain.

In combination with Pisgah Labs' anti-abuse technology, the rate of release of a drug's active ingredient is not affected by alcohol consumption. The technology which has a built-in track-and-trace feature checks the dumping or drug over use by abusers by consuming alcohol in conjunction with the drug. The company is confident its anti-abuse technology patent would defy drug abuse, though it is yet to demonstrate clinical results to the FDA.