Friday, November 28, 2008

Patent Watch

Time constrains some tech patents

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Time is often the subject of philosophy, music and poetry. It is also the subject of patents. Let’s take a look this month at several fairly recent patents naming New England inventors in which time plays an important role.

• Can’t find something on your computer using traditional search tools but you know about when it was created or last looked at? Patent No. 7,404,150, issued July 22, discloses a method of searching for objects (such as files, songs, and pictures) using a displayed timeline where the user can specify a time interval in order to more quickly retrieve various objects stored on the computer. Bryan Clark and Seth Nickell, both of Cambridge, are the listed inventors in this Red Hat Inc. (Raleigh, N.C.) patent.

• Time, according to Patent No. 7,424,366 (Sept. 9), can be used to measure the flow of a fluid in a conduit. A tracer such as heat pulse is injected into the flowing fluid at time “t1” and is detected downstream at time” t2.” Because distance equals rate multiplied by time and a cross-correlation function, the flow rate of the fluid in the conduit can be computed. The New England inventors are Dan Angelescu (Cambridge), Jacques Jundt (Newton Highlands), and Edward Harrigan (Danbury, Conn.). The Schlumberger Technology Corp., located in Ridgefield, Conn., is the assignee.

• Nortel Networks Ltd. Patent No. 7,397,864 (July 8) involves wireless data transmission technology, generally, and specifically a space-time coding technique capable of providing incremental redundancy in wireless communication environments incorporating spatial and temporal diversity. The listed inventors include Vahid Tarokh of Belmont.

• Foot contact time — i.e., the period of time your foot is in contact with the ground — can be used to derive your speed, distance traveled, and the like. Nike Inc. Patent No. 7,428,471 (Sept. 23) covers a new approach to pedometry wherein an accelerometer mounted on a shoe is used to detect foot contact time. The listed inventors include Thomas Blackadar of Natick.

• Integrated circuits need a clock in order to operate. Several clock-generating circuits are well-known but IBM Corp. Patent No. 7,403,054 (July 22) discloses a sub-picosecond clock generator in the form of a delay lock loop. For the uninitiated, it takes 1 trillion picoseconds to make up a second. The Vermont inventors listed in this patent are Anjali Malladi (South Burlington), Christopher Ro (Williston), and Stephen Wyatt (Jericho).

• Electronic circuits also have a time constant that may need to be adjusted. Analog Devices Inc., located in Norwood, won Patent No. 7,427,866 on Sept. 23 for a method of adjusting the time constant of a circuit during calibration asynchronously and without an external clock. William Ellersick of Sudbury, Jennifer Lloyd of North Andover, and Daniel Mulcahy of Somerville are the inventors.

• As noted above, electronic circuits require clocks but one problem is the clock signals can generate undesirable electromagnetic interference. A prior technique called “spread spectrum clocking” ameliorates but does not completely eliminate electromagnetic interference. In response, New Hampshire inventors Adam Carley of Windham and Daniel Allen of Derry invented an all-digital approach to generating a clock signal. Patent No. 7,424,046 (Sept. 9) is assigned to the Altera Corp. located in San Jose, Calif.

• If you are a patent geek like me and have a kid who needs to do some kind of a report for school, consider the “kids’ pages” of the Patent Office website at www.uspto.gov/go/kids.

Kirk Teska is an adjunct law professor at Suffolk University Law School, and is the managing partner of Iandiorio, Teska & Coleman, an intellectual property law firm in Waltham. His book “Patent Savvy for Managers” is available online and in most major bookstores. He can be reached at kirk@iandorio.com.