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Into Troubled Waters… Scotland and South Korea plan to generate alternative energy and unoriginal ideas

On Monday, May 6, 2013, Scottish Development International (SDI), the investment and trade promotion arm of the Scottish government, and Incheon Metropolitan City in South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to share ideas, knowledge, and technology. SDI has also stated that it wishes to create a new export market for Scottish tidal energy companies. While the nations’ collaborative impulse is laudable, it is important to note that innovation enabling tidal energy generation is neither new nor in its nascent stages.

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Is Micron's bid for Elpida the Deal of the Century?

Elpida Memory, Inc. (Elpida) filed for Chapter 15 protection from U.S. creditors in Delaware’s bankruptcy court on March 19, 2012, after it filed for company reorganization in the Tokyo District Court at the end of February. On July 2, 2012, Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron) announced a planned sponsorship agreement for $2.5 billion in order to purchase Elpida. An Ad Hoc group of Elpida bondholders filed a motion which objected to terms in the sponsorship agreement, stating that the agreement did not reflect the true value of Elpida.

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Intellectual Property Analysis of Simulated Musical Concert Experience Patent Referenced in Gibson Guitar Company v. Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., MTV Networks, and Electronic Arts, Inc. Lawsuit

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on U.S. Patent No. 5,990,405 which the Gibson Guitar Company claimed in a March 20, 2008 lawsuit that Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., MTV Networks, and Electronic Arts, Inc. infringed upon. On June 8, 2010, Gibson settled its patent infringement claims against Harmonix, Viacom, Electronic Arts, and other retailers. The terms of this settlement were undisclosed, but it can be presumed that each of the defendants paid a licensing fee in the process.

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Intellectual Property Analysis of Iridium Satellite Communication Patents

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on U.S. Patents 5,604,920 and 5,410,728, two key patents in the technology behind the Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites. On June 22, 2010, Thales Alenia Space announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire a significant patent portfolio from Intellectual Ventures related to the Iridium satellite communication systems, the terms of which were undisclosed.

This report focuses on patents of interest which predate and are concurrent to the Iridium patents, including public-domain alternatives.

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Intellectual Property Analysis of Rambus Inc. v. Nvidia Corporation

In July 2008, Rambus Inc. filed a lawsuit against Nvidia Corporation, claiming the graphics chip maker infringed 17 of its patents. Since the initial complaint, Rambus Inc. dropped 12 patents from its suit and a recent judgment reduced the number of patents infringed to 3. Of these, U.S. Patent No. 6,591,353 and No. 6,470,405 relate to DRAM controllers and the configuration of data transfer.

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Intellectual Property Analysis of Uniloc Software Registration System Patent Referenced in Lawsuit with Sony, McAfee, et. al.

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Uniloc. On July 29, 2010, Uniloc USA, Inc. filed a lawsuit against seven software companies including Activision Blizzard, Sony Corporation of America, and McAfee, Inc., alleging infringement of a Uniloc USA patent describing a system for software registration. Uniloc filed a similar suit against Microsoft in 2003.

This report focuses on patents of interest which predate and are concurrent to the Uniloc patent, including public-domain alternatives.

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