Leftovers

• CS Monitor ☛ In the alleys of Paris, a mysterious Invader turns street art into sport

  The elusive street artist Invader has created more than 4,000 mosaics dotting cities and towns on six continents. Fans can even download a Pokémon Go-style game that rewards users for hunting down the installations.

• Science

  • Federal News Network ☛ NASA makes grant awards in program to increase diversity in the STEM fields and its workforce

    The Space Hour's Eric White speaks with Padi Boyd, director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program.

  • New Yorker ☛ How I Learned to Concentrate

    Twenty years ago, I had an intellectual experience that changed how I think about thinking.

  • Hackaday ☛ Walking And Talking Through The UK National Museum Of Computing

    I found myself in Milton Keynes, UK, a little while ago, with a few hours to spare. What could I do but rock over to the National Museum of Computing and make a nuisance of myself? I have visited many times, but this time, I was armed with a voice recorder and a mission to talk to everybody who didn’t run away fast enough. There is so much to see and do, that what follows is a somewhat truncated whistle-stop tour to give you, the dear readers, a flavour of what other exhibits you can find once you’ve taken in the usual sights of the Colossus and the other famous early machines.

• Education

  • New York Times ☛ Brown University Will Reinstate Standardized Tests for Admission

    The school joins Yale, Dartmouth and M.I.T. in backtracking on “test optional” policies adopted during the pandemic.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ A Simple Hack For Running Low-Power Gear From A USB Battery Pack

    We’ve all been there. You’ve cooked up some little microcontroller project, but you need to unhook it from your dev PC and go mobile. There’s just one problem — you haven’t worked up a battery solution yet. “No problem!” you exclaim. “I’ll just use a USB battery pack!” But the current draw is too low, and the pack won’t stay on. “Blast!” you exclaim, because you’ve been watching too much Family Guy or something.

  • Hackaday ☛ Making A Crystodyne Radio With Zinc Oxide And Cat’s Whiskers

    During the first half of the 20th century radio technology was booming, albeit restricted by the vacuum tube technology of the time which made radios cumbersome in size and power needs. The development of a solid state alternative to the vacuum tube was in full swing, but the first version pioneered by [Oleg Losev] in the form of crystal radios failed to compete. Even so these ‘crystal radios’ laid much of the groundwork for subsequent research. The ease of creating this type of radio also makes it a fun physics experiment today, as [Ashish Derhgawen]  demonstrates in a blog post.

  • CNX Software ☛ Samsung unveils 256GB microSD Express card with up to 800MB/s read speeds

    Samsung has just started sampling its 256 GB SD Express microSD card (aka microSD Express card) with a sequential read speed of up to 800 MB/s through its PCIe/NVMe interface. The SD Express standard was first introduced in the SD specification ver 7.0 in 2018 adding pads for PCIe/NVMe interfaces in full-sized SD cards before the microSD Express standard was introduced in the SD 7.1 specification the following year. Since then, the SD association further improved the standard promising ever faster SD Express speeds up to 4GB/s and microSD Express speeds up to 2GB/s.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Powerful Psychedelic Drug Gains New Notice as an Opioid Addiction Therapy

    New research is stirring interest in ibogaine, which appears to help ease the agony of detox and prevent relapse. Used in other countries, it remains illegal in the U.S.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Activist Nnimmo Bassey selected as recipient of Wallenberg Medal for climate advocacy and socioecological justice work

    The University of Michigan Wallenberg Committee announced on Feb. 12 that Nnimmo Bassey, Nigerian architect, executive director of the Nigeria-based think tank Health of Mother Earth Foundation, environmental advocate and poet, will receive the Wallenberg Medal and deliver a corresponding lecture on Sep. 10, 2024.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Wonder Material' Graphene Appears Safe to Humans in First Clinical Trial

    Early results are in.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VA finalizes new abortion rule for all states

    The Department of Veterans Affairs will provide abortions and counseling to veterans, in cases of rape, incest, or when the health of the woman is at risk.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Another line of defense: Pilots are struggling and continuous evaluation technologies can help

    Many pilots are hiding their mental health problems from the Federal Aviation Administration, fearing that they’ll lose their certifications and their jobs.

  • Latvia ☛ Stradiņš hospital saga continues with debt allegations

    Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS) has received dozens of letters from subcontractors of the former builder of the hospital's new building, LLC Velve, claiming that the company has not settled with them for the works carried out, PSKUS said March 5.

  • European Commission ☛ Commission welcomes political agreement on Plant Health Law

  • MWL ☛ February’s Fantabulous Sausage

    (This post went to my Patronizers at the beginning of February, and the public at the beginning of March.) Last month, I made plans. Immediately thereafter, life gave me a surprise. Since my last doc visit in June, seems my blood pressure has doubled.

  • Breach Media ☛ Pharmacare’s corporate enemies down but not out

    The new pharmacare bill signals a small victory against Big Pharma, says Nav Persaud, but private lobbyists will be sure to fight back.

  • Press Gazette ☛ ‘Responsible journalism’: Why UK publishers have not used Kate picture

    Why UK newspapers and broadcasters have not used Princess Kate picture published by TMZ.

  • New York Times ☛ Andrew Cuomo Faces House Subpoena Over Covid Deaths in Nursing Homes

    Mr. Cuomo was accused of stonewalling a House subcommittee trying to interview him about his administration’s handling of nursing homes during the Covid pandemic.

  • France24 ☛ US encourages reclusive N.Korea to open its borders to aid workers

    The United States on Tuesday encouraged reclusive North Korea to open its borders to humanitarian workers and ease some of the world's strictest Covid-era restrictions.

  • British Police and COVID-19 Inquiry Amid Excess Deaths

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Peter 'CzP' Czanik ☛ Peter Czanik: Dedicated backdoored Windows XML eventlog parser in syslog-ng

    Version 4.6 of syslog-ng introduced windows-eventlog-xml-parser(), a dedicated parser for XML-formatted event logs from Windows. It makes the EventData portion of log messages more useful, as it combines two arrays into a list of name-value pairs.

  • New York Times ☛ OpenAI Says Elon Musk Tried To Merge It With Tesla

    In its first public comment since Mr. Musk sued the artificial intelligence lab, Proprietary Chaffbot Company claims he tried to commercialize its operations years ago.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • New York Times ☛ Facebook and Instagram Service Restored After Users Report Outages, Meta Says

      Users reported widespread issues with the platforms from around 10 a.m. Eastern to about noon, according to Down Detector, a website that tracks user reports of internet disruptions.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Meta recovering from outage that took Facebook, Instagram and Threads offline

      Meta Platforms Inc. experienced an outage this morning that made Facebook, Instagram and Threads inaccessible worldwide for about two hours. The first user reports of downtime started emerging around 10 a.m. EST.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Techdirt ☛ ALPR Maker Flock Broke Laws Repeatedly While Installing Cameras, Courting Cop Shops

      Amazon’s home surveillance tech acquisition, Ring, wanted to be all things to everyone. But mostly, it wanted to be BFFs with law enforcement.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ AWS follows Surveillance Giant Google Cloud in canceling egress fees, allowing customers to leave its cloud platform for free

      Amazon Web Services Inc. says it will no longer charge customers so-called “egress fees” when they want to move large amounts of data out of its cloud, meaning they can now migrate to another platform without having to pay for the privilege.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Blinken urges Hamas to accept 'immediate ceasefire' with Israel

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a plan for an "immediate ceasefire" with Israel as mediators met for a third day in Cairo in efforts to end almost five months of fighting. As famine threatens Gazans – and the World Health Organization warned that child malnutrition in northern Gaza had become “particularly extreme” – US and Jordanian planes again airdropped food aid into the besieged territory of 2.4 million people in a joint operation with Egypt and France.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Hamas responds to ceasefire proposal but accuses Israel of ‘stalling’

    Hamas said Tuesday there could be no “exchange of prisoners” before a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as it responded to proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. .

  • JURIST ☛ Palestine UN Ambassador criticizes US for blocking Gaza ceasefire resolutions

    Palestine Permanent Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour criticized the US at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday for its repeated “misuse of veto power” against a ceasefire in Gaza.

  • European Commission ☛ First ever defence industrial strategy and a new defence industry programme to enhance Europe's readiness and security

    European Commission Press release Brussels, 05 Mar 2024 Today, the European Commission and the High Representative presented the first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy at EU level and proposed an ambitious set of new actions to support the competitiveness and readiness of its defence industry.

  • Defence Web ☛ Houthi’s may have scuttled abandoned British bulker Rubymar

    Reports coming out of the Middle East suggest the Houthi militia may have had a hand in scuttling the drifting UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar. British security specialist Ambrey confirmed on Friday that it too had received reports of another incident on the ship, during which it appears several Yemenis were reportedly injured.

  • New York Times ☛ The Maldives Is a Tiny Paradise. Why Are China and India Fighting Over It?

    Asia’s two giants are crowding the island nation with building projects, tossing its newborn democracy to and fro.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong should continue ‘patriotic’ administration, China’s no. 2 official Li Qiang says at Two Sessions meeting

    Hong Kong should continue implementing the governing principles of “One Country, Two Systems” and “patriotic administration,” China’s Premier Li Qiang has said during a key political meeting in Beijing.

  • New York Times ☛ China Wants to Look Open. Beneath the Surface, Xi’s Grip is Clear.

    At China’s big political show, nervous exchanges with journalists and the tightly scripted pageantry showed how Pooh-tin Jinping has centralized control.

  • The Straits Times ☛ As China's Pooh-tin summons 'new productive forces', old questions linger for economy

    Facing its deepest economic challenges in years, China's leadership has tasked ministries and local governments with implementing a new mantra from President Pooh-tin Jinping: unleash "new productive forces".

  • New York Times ☛ It’s the Biggest Day of This Year’s Primary Elections

    Also, China set an ambitious goal for economic growth. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

  • RFA ☛ Taiwan finds banned Sudan Red dye in chili powder from China

    Food safety scandal spreads as hotpot chain Haidilao recalls products containing the tainted ingredient.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China boosts defence spending amid Taiwan, South China Sea tensions

    By Ludovic Ehret China announced Tuesday it would boost its defence spending in 2024, as hostility over Taiwan and in the South China Sea grows. The 7.2 percent increase, identical to last year’s figure, was announced at the start of the annual meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC).

  • RFA ☛ INTERVIEW: ‘We are very important partners for each other’

    Gunnar Wiegand, the EU's former managing director for Asia and the Pacific, discusses bilateral trade relations with China.

  • RFA ☛ Philippines: 4 boat crew hurt as China Coast Guard fires water cannon

    Manila’s vessels were en route to deliver supplies to its military outpost in the disputed South China Sea.

  • Latvia ☛ LIIA presents new report on China and the Baltic states

    The Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) is presenting its latest report on March 6, which you can watch as a livestream here on LSM.

  • ADF ☛ Niger Struggles for Normality Under Military Rule

    Nigeriens flooded the streets of their capital, Niamey, to celebrate when their military-led government announced its exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January.

  • ADF ☛ Malian Capital Major Hub of Illegal Weapons Trade

    More than a decade of violent conflicts in the Sahel has given rise to the thriving business of firearms trafficking, in which demand far outpaces supply.

  • ADF ☛ Air Chiefs Gather to Deepen Partnerships

    In one of Africa’s largest gatherings of air force commanders, leaders discussed how increased mobility and strategic partnerships can help restore peace to some of the continent’s most troubled regions. The occasion was the Association of African Air Forces’ 2024 African Air Chiefs Symposium in Tunis, Tunisia.

  • YLE ☛ Report: Finland's prison population increased slightly last year

    The number of people carrying out community service in 2023 also increased.

  • YLE ☛ Finnish Customs reports 'notable rise' in aggravated drug offences

    There was a "huge increase" in ketamine seizures last year, the agency says.

  • JURIST ☛ Lawsuit filed in Canada Federal Court over military exports to Israel

    A group of Palestinian Canadians filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Canadian government in Canada’s Federal Court, challenging the continued export of military goods and technology to Israel.

  • ADF ☛ Ethiopian Forces Killed 45 Civilians in January Massacre, Rights Group Says

    Ethiopian security forces killed at least 45 civilians in their homes in Amhara State in late January, according to the state-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The commission said in a statement that victims in the northern town of Merawi were killed for allegedly supporting Fano, an Amharic word meaning “volunteer fighters.”

  • RFA ☛ Junta airstrike hits passenger bus in Myanmar, killing woman

    The bus was parked outside a town under attack when it was struck, a resistance fighter said.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Federal Lawmakers Weigh Bipartisan Bill That Would Compel ByteDance to Divest TikTok

    Federal lawmakers are officially considering a bill, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, that would compel Beijing-headquartered ByteDance to sell off TikTok.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Putin is on an historic mission and will not stop until he is finally defeated

      Vladimir Putin believes he is on an historic mission to reclaim "Russian lands" and will inevitably go further if he is not stopped in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘It felt like something sacred’: Meduza’s Russian readers who attended Navalny’s funeral describe their experiences — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘I’m tired of being afraid’: A Russian university instructor discussed Navalny with his students — despite running the risk of being reported — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ At Least Four Moscow Residents Reportedly Detained For Laying Flowers To Honor Navalny

      At least four Moscow residents were reportedly detained on March 5 for laying flowers to honor late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, who died in prison last month.

• Environment

  • Science Alert ☛ Plagues From Centuries Ago May Have Altered Earth's Atmosphere

    A signal that goes back hundreds of years.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Science Alert ☛ MH370: Tragic Mystery of Vanished Flight Lingers 10 Years Later

      Will we ever find it?

    • RFA ☛ A decade after MH370 disappeared, Malaysia pushes for renewed search for plane

      Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says the government will renew efforts if compelling evidence is established.

    • H2 View ☛ Air Liquide China breaks ground on Tianjin eight tonne hydrogen filling centre

      Air Liquide China has broken ground on a new hydrogen filling centre in Tianjin, China, to support tube trailer filling for refuelling stations and industrial customers.

    • The Strategist ☛ China shows how Western governments should stockpile minerals

      The US, Australia and partner countries should take a page from China’s stockpiling playbook.

    • YLE ☛ Finnair to continue state-subsidised regional flights

      The routes serve the regional airports of Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani and Kemi-Tornio.

    • DeSmog ☛ Utilities Are Buying Pricier ‘Responsible Gas.’ But for What Climate Benefit?

      Virginia Natural Gas’s aim, as it wrote in its request to the state regulator, was to “further support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.” As part of its “Sustainable Gas Program,” the Virginia-based private utility wanted to purchase what it calls “Next Generation Natural Gas.” But it needed the state’s blessing in order to pass on to customers a 15 percent premium for buying this specially certified gas. 

      The utility received that approval — but only for a five percent premium — in November 2022. Less than six months later, Virginia Natural Gas boasted that it was supplying “NextGen Gas,” or gas “produced with lower greenhouse gas emissions,” to satisfy up to half of the energy demands of its 300,000 customers. Whether that added expense and certification actually deliver on their climate promises, however, remains unclear. 

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • CS Monitor ☛ In science and conservation, empowering the people most affected

      Progress roundup: Fairer systems take shape as scientists report back to research participants and rural residents harvest as well as conserve forests.

    • New Yorker ☛ The Magic of Bird Brains

      Crows are smart enough to pick up trash. Why won’t they?

    • The Straits Times ☛ Practice of gifting condolence money at dog’s funeral leaves South Korean netizens divided

      This custom coincides with the country's rising number of pet owners and evolving pet-friendly culture.

    • ADF ☛ Despite Ban, China Bankrolls Rosewood Logging in Northern Ghana

      Ghana banned rosewood logging in 2019. Despite that, logging continues, driven by China’s insatiable appetite for the lumber and the substantial amounts of money Chinese logging companies spread around in some of Ghana’s poorest communities.

    • YLE ☛ Police reveal evidence behind Finland's "largest-ever" organised poaching case

      There are a total of 34 suspects in the case, police said, with the crimes believed to have taken place over several years.

    • Latvia ☛ Photos: Farmers and forestry representatives protest in Rīga

      Representatives of the forestry and agriculture sectors gathered outside the Cabinet on Tuesday, March 5.

    • ADF ☛ AU Ban on Donkey Skin Sales Strikes at Booming Chinese Industry

      The African Union in mid-February dealt a blow to China’s ejiao industry when it banned the slaughter of donkeys for their skin in all 54 countries, earning praise from animal rights organizations.

  • Overpopulation

    • Overpopulation ☛ Carbon emissions and the desperate search for culprits

      Are rich people with their private jets the main cause of climate change? Or are the hundreds of millions joining the middle class in China and India? Or maybe large families of poor farmers in the tropics deforesting to make room for low-productive agriculture?

• Finance

  • YLE ☛ Danske downgrades Finland's economic outlook, but expects improvement this year

    Wages are expected to rise faster than in recent years, according to Danske Bank.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ All about the US removing sanctions on Zimbabwe and what it means going forward

    As I live and breathe! Who thought we would see the sanctions the country was on lifted? The United States of America removed its sanctions on Zimbabwe, hallelujah. Then the USA began a new sanction regime, wait, what?

  • New York Times ☛ Gold Speculation Rife in Egypt Amid Economic Crisis

    Clamor for the precious metal is growing as the buying power of the country’s currency plunges in value against the dollar, and inflation eats away at savings.

  • Latvia ☛ Former Interior Ministry official implicated in money laundering case

    The Internal Security Bureau (IDB) has proposed prosecuting a former employee of the Provision State Agency, which is an Interior Ministry structure, and a private person for money laundering in large amounts, the IDB reported March 5.

  • The Gamer ☛ The Video Game And Film Industries Are Facing Remarkably Similar Problems

    The first few months of this year have seen the slow-burn layoff crisis that defined the video game industry's 2023 reach a boiling point. Last week, EA laid off 670 employees, roughly five percent of its total global workforce, and Sony laid off 900 workers, closing an entire London-based studio. In January, following its successful acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft laid off 1900 employees. Unity laid off 1800, Riot laid off 530, Supermassive laid off 90. On a smaller scale, Disco Elysium's ZA/UM and Star Citizen's Cloud Imperium Games have both been hit by layoffs, too.

  • Amid Mass Layoffs In The Industry, Capcom Plans On Retaining Staff & Increasing Salaries

    The gaming industry has seen mass layoffs left and right since the start of 2023, with thousands of video game developers losing their jobs. This has included some of the largest companies in the business including Microsoft, PlayStation, Ubisoft, and more. But amidst all that, Capcom aims to do the exact opposite of mass layoffs and will instead increase the salaries of its current workforce, and offer higher starting salaries for new employees.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • YLE ☛ Li Andersson to relinquish Left Alliance leadership, announces MEP run

    Andersson has led the party since 2016 but said there are "many big battles about the future of Europe" in the coming years as she announced her candidacy for the European Parliament elections.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • New York Times ☛ Shafiqah Hudson, Who Fought Trolls on Social Media, Dies at 46

      When the hashtag #EndFathersDay began trending on Twitter, she realized it was more than just an absurd joke. It was a coordinated disinformation effort.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Michael Geist ☛ Taking Action Against Antisemitic Hate: When Content Moderation, Self-Regulation, and Legislation Fail

    The explosive growth of antisemitism in Canada since October 7th is well documented with shooting at schools, the need for a regular police presence at synagogues and community centres, arrests on terrorism offences, and protests targeting Jewish owned businesses and communities.

  • Reason ☛ Principal's Libel Lawsuit Over Claims He Was Fired for Sexual Harassment Can Go Forward

    From last week's California Court of Appeal decision in Cusi v. Gibson, written by Alameda Superior Court Judge Michael Markman, joined by Justices Therese Stewart and Marla Miller: Alison Gibson's appeal from the denial of her anti-SLAPP motion concerns the consequences of her demonstrably false online speech.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Jimmy Lai’s views were ‘guidelines’ for writing and picking commentary articles in Apple Daily, Hong Kong court hears

    The views expressed by Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai in his Apple Daily column were “guidelines” for writing and choosing commentary articles to publish in the now-defunct newspaper, a former editorial writer has said in a landmark national security trial.

  • Press Gazette ☛ News UK pulls the plug on linear TalkTV to focus on cross-platform video content

    TV channel follows Piers Morgan Uncensored to concentrate efforts in digital.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Dan Wootton leaves GB News, launches ‘major new free speech brand’ Outspoken

    Wootton launches paid-for email newsletter and promises daily video show.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Writing still matters in the age of artificial intelligence

    [Ed: There's no "the age of artificial intelligence"; it's pure hype and nothing new]

    Writing is hard. As an English major and student journalist, I am painfully aware of this fact. I am reminded of it every single time I sit in front of my computer, fingers hovering over my keyboard as I wait (far longer than I care to admit) for inspiration to strike.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ HRW raises concerns over Egypt law increasing military power

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns Tuesday over new Egyptian laws which they say will “entrench military power over civilian life.” The new law allows some police and civilian judiciary functions to be taken over by the military. It also further expands the use of military courts to prosecute civilians.

  • OpenRightsGroup ☛ What Sunak’s speech means for digital rights

    On Friday 1 March 2024, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a statement about extremism outside Downing Street. This was followed by media reports over the weekend about how some of the vague proposals mentioned by Sunak would be delivered.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Opinion: Digital sovereignty and standards

    Is digital sovereignty challenged by the Internet's standardization processes?

  • New Yorker ☛ Practical Uses for Internet Negativity

    You can rearrange favorite insults into one-of-a-kind baby names.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Privileged Conversations | Apr. 2024

    Public Knowledge has the pleasure of inviting you to a multifaceted program focused on training and developing the next generation of tech policy experts and public interest advocates that reflects the diversity of voices and experiences in our society.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Pfizer v. Sanofi: Applying the Results-Effective Variable Doctrine in Obviousness Analysis

    The Federal Circuit has affirmed the PTAB’s finding that Pfizer’s pneumococcal vaccine patent monopoly is obvious, but has vacated and remanded the Board’s denial of Pfizer’s motion to amend certain claims. Pfizer Inc. v. Sanofi Pasteur Inc., No. 19-1871 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 5, 2024); U.S. Patent No. 9,492,559. Pfizer v. Sanofi Opinion.

    The ‘559 patent monopoly claims immunogenic compositions comprising glycoconjugates of various Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes for use in pneumococcal vaccines. Pneumococcal diseases such as pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis are a significant public health concern, and effective vaccines against the most common S. pneumoniae serotypes are crucial.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Payvox e-commerce patent monopoly prior art

    Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,788,360, owned by Payvox LLC, an NPE.

  • JUVE ☛ Xarelto battle reaches Sweden with Bayer win against Sandoz

    In February, the Stockholm Patent and Market Court upheld Bayer’s European patent monopoly EP 1 845 961 in its entirety, meaning Sandoz has failed to destroy the Swedish part of the patent monopoly (case ID: PMT 16592-22). EP 961 protects a once-daily dosing regimen of rivaroxaban, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in anticoagulant Xarelto.

  • JUVE ☛ Amazon and Huawei end all patent monopoly litigation with cross-licensing deal

    According to a Huawei press release, the new global cross-licence agreement means all pending litigation between Amazon and Huawei is at an end. The terms of the agreement remain confidential. Amazon was facing multiple cases in German courts after Huawei sued the company in both Munich and Düsseldorf concerning Wifi 6 and Wifi 5 patents.

  • Large vs Small, Group Ownership vs Independent – What Factors Influenced Firms’ Patent Filing Share in 2023?

    As I recently reported, Australian patent monopoly filings in 2023 fell slightly, by 2.4%, over the previous year.  This implies, of course, that patent monopoly attorneys filing applications on behalf of domestic and foreign clients should, overall, also have experienced a similar decline new filings.  But, of course, individual firms fared differently in the competition for this work.  Looking at new complete (i.e. non-provisional) patent monopoly filings across Australia and New Zealand, declines were experienced by all firms held within the two groups owned by Australian Securities Exchange listed entities IPH Limited (ASX:IPH) and QANTM IP Limited (ASX:QIP). 

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Patent case: NanoString Technologies vs. 10x Genomics and President and Fellows of Harvard College, UPC [Ed: This mentioned UPC and UPCA. They are not constitutional and not legal but a stain on the EU and a case of EPO crimes spreading to the actually fake (kangaroo) court system that's run by moles and ill-intentioned industry insiders]

      In accordance with the principles of procedural economy and cost efficiency as well as a fair balance between the legitimate interests of the parties, which must be considered in the interpretation of the Rules of Procedure pursuant to Article 41(3) UPCA [...]

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Keysoft information sharing patent monopoly prior art

      Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,271,315, owned by Keysoft, Inc., an NPE. The ‘315 patent monopoly relates to a personal information utilization system utilizing off-premise communication networks such as the Internet.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Another Dolby HEVC EPO patent monopoly revoked [Ed: Dolby uses software patents to blackmail GNU/Linux developers, even in Europe]

      On February 29, 2024, the European Patent Office revoked all claims of EP 3694209 B1, currently owned by Dolby International AB.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Affirms Section 2(e)(5) Functionality Refusal of Holster Configuration

    The Board affirmed a Section 2(e)(5) refusal to register, on the Supplemental Register, the product configuration shown below, for "holsters," finding the proposed mark to be de jure functional under Section 2(e)(5). Once again, the existence of a patent monopoly established the functional benefits of the design: it "enables the user to secure the holster within the waistband, and the gun within the holster, with minimal bulkiness and weight and with maximum comfort." This post will aim to hit the high points of the 44-page opinion. In re JM4 Tactical, LLC, Serial No. 90518181 (February 27, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christopher C. Larkin).

  • TTAB Blog ☛ USPTO Seeks Candidates for Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge at the TTAB - March 15 Application Deadline

    The USPTO is seeking applications for the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Applications are accepted until March 15, 2024. Further details may be found at the USA Jobs website, here.
    

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ I Also Am Formed Out of the Clay: Animated Putty (1911)

    Britain's first clay animation film imagines a malleable substance spontaneously giving rise to manifold forms.