Word: patents
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1990
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Patent and Trademark Office registration number is tough to remember -- 4,942,516 -- and the holder of the patent, a Los Angeles inventor named Gilbert Hyatt, is a virtual unknown. But Hyatt, 52, has suddenly carved a memorable niche for himself in the multibillion-dollar semiconductor industry. Last week, after a 20-year battle with the patent office, the tenacious engineer announced that he had finally received a certificate of intellectual ownership for a single-chip microprocessor that he says he invented in 1968. The announcement sent shock waves throughout the computer industry, which could be forced to pay Hyatt...
Hoff still believes that his Intel group legitimately beat Hyatt to the punch. Yet some patent lawyers say Hyatt's new patent appears to apply to all microprocessor chips and the millions of personal computers and other products (from pocket calculators to videocassette recorders) that depend on them. Industry executives by and large are keeping mum, but if Hyatt's patent is broadly interpreted by courts, it could make him super-rich. According to analysts, a standard nonexclusive licensing fee of 3% of the value of computer products sold would translate into a $210 million payment just for last year...
...great wealth, only recognition and enough royalties to fund future experimentation. That attitude is admirable -- and wise. If Hyatt pushes for too much money, he will surely face lengthy and costly litigation from scores of computer companies that will try to overturn his "single chip" patent or at least narrow its scope. In all likelihood, he will face protracted courtroom battles anyway. One argument likely to be used against Hyatt is that he never translated his invention into working products. Another line of attack is the principle in patent law of "prior art." This holds that a patent could...
...HAVE THE CHOCOLATE CHIP FUDGE SWIRL. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the development of Oatrim, an oat-bran extract that can serve as a fat substitute in desserts and other foods. This dismayed Murtaugh/Match, a small Wisconsin food-consulting firm that claims to hold the patent on oat bran-based frozen desserts. Explains Timothy Murtaugh: "We take advantage of the creamy, smooth texture of oats once they are cooked, like oatmeal." Says a USDA patent adviser: "We feel there's an opportunity for both to be allowed and licensed within their own commercial niches...
...early work that made him famous, including, perhaps, the theory of relativity, should have been credited to his wife. The accusation would sound comical if it weren't tragic. This is Einstein, our most revered symbol of genius. We've all grown up with the vision of the humble patent examiner who overturned physics, with his corona of white hair and the sad deep eyes that have seen further than you can look. In our minds he floats like a sockless tumbleweed above the grit of mundane life. Behind the face we all recognize...