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No, Nintendo and Pokémon did not patent ‘summoning characters and making them battle’

As first noted by Games Fray last week, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company were granted a US patent earlier this month involving summoning characters and making them battle. Headlines popped up with similarly vague language as concern spread on social media: That’s a thing in tons of games! Can they do that? Is that even allowed? Well, no, because that’s not exactly what they patented. And what they did patent might not stand up to any hypothetical challenges in court. The patent in question, US

An embarrassing failure of the US patent system: Nintendo's latest patents

The last 10 days have brought a string of patent wins for Nintendo. Yesterday, the company was granted US patent 12,409,387, a patent covering riding and flying systems similar to those Nintendo has been criticized for claiming in its Palworld lawsuit (via Gamesfray). Last week, however, Nintendo received a more troubling weapon in its legal arsenal: US patent 12,403,397, a patent on summoning and battling characters that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted with alarmingly litt

Apple hit with patent lawsuit over ‘Hey Siri’ and virtual keyboard features

Once part of Nuance Communications (which powered Siri‘s speech recognition in its early years), Cerence is now a subsidiary that, according to its website, works with bringing “conversational AI to the automotive world and beyond.” Today, Cerence filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of infringing multiple patents. Here are the details. In its complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Cerence says that it contacted Apple in 2021 regarding “the poten

Why Apple is fighting legal battles in two countries over 13 cents per iPhone

Apple is engaged in legal battles in both the UK and the US over 4G patents used in its mobile devices. The company has applied for permission to appeal a UK verdict which would cost it an additional 13 cents per iPhone. While this might sound crazy, the company says that very much more is at stake, not just for its own business, but for companies of every size … Three quick pieces of jargon In order to make any mobile device, you need licenses to use a whole bunch of patents. These patents a

Why Apple is fighting legal battles in two countries over 12 cents per iPhone

Apple is engaged in legal battles in both the UK and the US over 4G patents used in its mobile devices. The company has applied for permission to appeal a UK verdict which would cost it an additional 12 cents per iPhone. While this might sound crazy, the company says that very much more is at stake, not just for its own business, but for companies of every size … Three quick pieces of jargon In order to make any mobile device, you need licenses to use a whole bunch of patents. These patents a

Two smart ring brands will no longer be available to US shoppers (Update: Statement)

Ultrahuman also tells Android Authority that it is fast-tracking a newly designed smart ring. You can read the full statement below: We welcome the ITC’s recognition of consumer-protective exemptions and its rejection of attempts to block the access of U.S. consumers. Customers can continue purchasing and importing Ring AIR directly from us through October 21, 2025, and at retailers beyond this date. What’s more, our software application and charging accessories remain fully available, after t

Open hardware desktop 3D printing is dead?

Hello Hacker News 🚀🚀🚀 I’ve done a little update on social since publishing of the article, let me copy paste it here. Since I posted my “Open Hardware is dead” article, you’ve been asking me about “that patent” 🤔 I didn’t want you to miss the forest (thousands of filings since 2020) just because of one tree. But let’s take a look now. In this case: the MMU multiplexer (we open sourced it 9 years ago). Anycubic (another IDG Capital-backed company) used the tactic of filing in China for an easy

Nintendo designed a Playdate-like crank for the Switch 2

Nintendo has eyed adding a Playdate-style crank to the Switch 2, according to a recently spotted patent from Nintendo Patents Watch. The hypothetical accessory would add tracking rotational movement to an existing bag of Joy-Con 2 controller tricks that includes motion and mouse controls. Based on the patent application, the crank accessory attaches to the side of a Joy-Con 2 magnetically, not unlike the controllers' wrist straps. Whichever game supports the accessory can use the Joy-Con 2's mo

Apple pushes back on Fintiv’s latest litigious attempt to profit off Apple Pay

Fintiv, a firm you’ve probably only heard of in the context of patent litigation, is once again suing Apple over Apple Pay. Apple’s secure mobile payment solution launched over a decade ago in 2014. Fintiv has been unsuccessfully suing Apple over Apple Pay since 2018. Apple is not hiding its frustration. In a statement to 9to5Mac, the company accused the Texas-based firm of trying to “distract from their failed patent case” with a new set of allegations. “The court has repeatedly rejected Fint

Tesla Patents Bizarre Sucking Device

Late last month, Tesla's executives spun up the rumor mill amidst plummeting sales and financial hardship that the Elon Musk-led company was "gearing up for a super cool demo" of the company's long-awaited next-generation Roadster. Two weeks earlier, the billionaire CEO had teased a "most epic demo ever by end of year," without elaborating any further. While we can only speculate what they're planning to show off, one reasonable guess is that it could be related to Musk's years-long promise of

Apple just patented a trackball Apple Pencil that works on almost any surface

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 12,353,649, suggesting the company is thinking well beyond the iPad when it comes to the future of the Apple Pencil. Here are the details. According to the filing, “INPUT DEVICE WITH OPTICAL SENSORS” (via Patently Apple), Apple has been exploring a stylus equipped with optical sensors that can track motion, orientation, and position in 3D space, without needing to touch a screen. That would allow users to draw on virtually

Apple ordered to pay $110 million in 3G patent dispute with Spanish firm

Spanish company TOT Power Control has been awarded $110.7 million in damages after a federal jury in Delaware found that Apple’s devices infringe on a patent related to 3G wireless communications. Here are the details. TOT Power Control licenses a technology that manages radio signal interference and power consumption in 3G systems, improving network efficiency and battery life. The company says its patented algorithm adjusts how power is used depending on the ratio of signal to interference,

Mid-sized cities outperform major metros at turning economic growth into patents

New research provides ammunition for spreading federal R&D dollars beyond Silicon Valley. Economists Federica Coelli (EBRD) and Paul Pelzl (NHH Norwegian School of Economics) studied 2.5 million patents across 759 U.S. communities over 40+ years. Their finding: smaller urban areas innovate effectively when economies improve. Current reality: Just 5% of U.S. communities produce 75% of all patents. Share By the numbers: The boom effect: 8.3% increase in overall patents when oil/gas employment

Something Comically Bad Just Happened to the Inventor of Ozempic

Image by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Futurism Rx/Medicines Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, made one very dumb decision a few years ago that's now poised to massively eat into its profits — a wild twist in the pharma company's saga, and an all-time cautionary tale for its peers. When watching an interview with the head of generic drugmaker Sandoz, Science magazine columnist Derek Lowe learned something incredible: that Nov

Appeals court tosses $300 million Optis patent verdict against Apple

On Monday, Apple scored a big legal victory in one of its longest-running patent battles, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a $300 million damages award the company had been ordered to pay to Optis Wireless Technology. This latest decision (via Reuters) marks the second time a nine-figure damages verdict in this case has been thrown out. Now, the case is heading back to Texas for yet another trial. What’s this case about again? Optis, a Texas-based IP managemen

Notes on the History of the Map Tile

Notes on the history of the map tile Web map tiles—the storing of geospatial data at different zoom levels in x/y/z indexed squares of raster (and later, vector) data for efficient storage and transmission of digital maps—are, despite their seeming simplicity, I think one of the most significant developments in geospatial software history. Tiling transformed the user experience of digital maps from one of tedious clicks-and-reloads to one of fluid, dynamic exploration. It made digital maps feel

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