USPTO
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Snap sues US Patent Office to claim a trademark for ‘Spectacles’
Snapchat creator Snap has sued the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for rejecting an application the company had filed to trademark the word “spectacles” in relation to its wearable of the same name.
Clearview AI will get a US patent for its facial recognition tech
Clearview AI is poised to get a US patent for its facial recognition technology despite privacy concerns.
Supreme Court rules generic website names can be trademarked
Justices determined in an 8-1 ruling that Booking.com is eligible for a trademark.
Apple gets a patent for taking group selfies while you're socially distant
Apple has received a patent for creating group selfies when your friends are miles away.
AI can't be legally credited as an inventor, says USPTO
Patent law only allows 'natural persons' to be credited, the agency determined.
Apple wants to trademark 'Slofie'
You might have rolled your eyes when Apple mentioned that the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro could do "slofies," but the company is taking things slightly more seriously. Apple has applied to the USPTO for a trademark on the term "Slofie" in terms of "downloadable computer software for use in capturing and recording video." Don't worry, it's not trying to own the cultural landscape -- rather, this is largely to prevent app developers and phone makers from 'borrowing' the term for their own features.
Nintendo explores 'bendable' Switch controllers
Nintendo is apparently concerned that the Switch's Joy-Con controllers might not be flexible enough. The console maker recently applied for a US patent on Joy-Cons with hinges that would let the top half "bend" to provide a more ergonomic grip. This would work whether or not the controllers are attached -- side sections would let you slide them on to the Switch's rails.
Apple patents watch band with adjustable built-in camera
Companies have tried smartwatches with cameras built into their bands before (hello Galaxy Gear), but the fixed position usually leads to you contorting your wrist to get a good shot -- and you can forget about video chats. Apple might have a solution to the problem. The company just received a patent for an Apple Watch band whose built-in camera is designed to be positioned almost any way you like. It looks like one of the company's loop bands, but includes an extended segment with at least one camera on the end. You'd just have to pull, retract and twist this section to capture your ideal shot.
Samsung imagines a wraparound smartphone display
If that whole folding smartphone thing doesn't work out, Samsung has lot of other ideas cooking. It recently received patent approval for a continuous display that covers the front, while folding around the top and part of the rear of the phone, as spotted by Let's Go Digital. That would make for some interesting applications, like letting subjects see how they look before you take a photo or showing live language translations on the rear display.
Google shows how it could make a cloud-savvy game controller
If Google ever makes hardware to go along with its rumored game streaming service, you might have an idea as to how it will work. Yanko Design has spotted a recently published Google patent application for an internet-connected game controller that would be independent of any one host device. It could receive notifications for chat, play invitations and other content, and could launch the relevant app on any relevant device -- you could jump into a multiplayer match on your tablet if the TV is in use, for instance.
National Inventors Hall of Fame honors creators of Unix, power drills and more
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) joined Engadget on stage today at CES to announce its 2019 class of inductees. While the official induction ceremony won't actually happen until May 2nd at the National Building Museum in DC, we can tell you that 19 separate innovators representing 12 different inventions will be honored. The group ranges from relatively obscure creators of a programming language used by engineers and scientists, to house hold names like S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker -- or Black & Decker -- the inventors of the first portable handheld drill. The festivities will be hosted by Danica McKellar, best known as Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years, but also an accomplished academic and mathematician.
Google envisions smart roller skates for walking endlessly in VR
Right now the solutions for walking through large virtual reality environments are quite limited. You're typically looking at either a 360-degree treadmill or playing in a gigantic physical space. Google, however, might have a better solution -- although we're not sure if we'd call it elegant. The company has applied for a patent on VR shoes (really, roller skates) that would let you walk anywhere in VR without bumping into a very real wall. The technology would track your feet and use motorized wheels on the footwear to bring you back to a "return zone" whenever you venture beyond a safe area. You'd avoid embarrassing collisions -- though you'd also look like a massive dork, if Google's less-than-flattering illustrations are any indication.
Ford patent would turn autonomous car control into a mobile game
Future self-driving cars might be reliable enough to ditch the steering wheel. But what happens if you do need to take over in a pinch? With Ford, it might be as simple as pulling out your phone. The company recently obtained a US patent for two driving modes that would use a touchscreen device to steer an otherwise autonomous vehicle once you receive permission. The first mode, as Autoblog pointed out, would mimic the tilt-to-steer mechanic from games like Real Racing 3 -- your device's accelerometer and gyroscope would guide the front wheels. It'd be intuitive, if a little disconcerting when it would involve a ton of real metal hurtling down the road.
Nintendo could make a playable Game Boy phone case
Now that Nintendo has a couple of nostalgia-inducing consoles under its belt, there's a common question: how would it tackle the Game Boy and other handhelds of yesteryear? We might have an idea. The USPTO recently published a Nintendo patent application for a folio case that would turn a smartphone into a functioning Game Boy replica, complete with physical buttons that translate presses into touchscreen input. It's more than a little familiar if you've tried a device like Hyperkin's Smart Boy, only here you wouldn't need to plug in cartridges to play officially sanctioned game copies.
Samsung could use AR Emoji as stand-ins during video chats
Samsung's AR Emoji may be useful for considerably more than the occasional funny reaction GIF. The tech giant recently received a US patent for a "hybrid visual communication" system that would replace live video of a person with an augmented reality 3D model (basically, AR Emoji) that reflects their facial expressions in real time. This virtual self would stand-in for you during video chats when your connection is flaky, so you could hold a call without the stops and stutters that come with low bandwidth. We'd add that it could be helpful for those moments when you're less-than-presentable but still want to talk face to face. Just got out of bed? You won't look quite so groggy.
Amazon dreams up a drone that will understand your hand signals
Amazon was just issued a patent for a UAV that can interpret gesture and vocal commands, a device that could in theory be used to deliver packages. First spotted by GeekWire, the patent describes a drone-like device outfitted with various sensors, cameras and other equipment that could recognize gestures such as a person waving it towards them or someone shooing it away. In some very entertaining illustrations, the patent shows the UAV approaching a human who's waving at it wildly.
TiVo wins one of its patent fights with Comcast
TiVo has good news going into the holiday season: The International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Comcast's X1 set-top boxes violate two of TiVo's patents related to setting recordings from a mobile device. As a result, there's now an import ban on "certain" X1 boxes that violate the patents, but older models won't be affected, Reuters reports. An import ban would mean that offending gadgets that've already been brought into the country can't be sold. This ban could be overturned by the Trump administration during the presidential review period. Bloomberg writes that that sort of thing happening is a pretty rare occurrence.
Uber is working on tools to fight motion sickness in self-driving cars
Motion sickness is a real problem in self-driving cars. As you're not in control of where the car is going, you might feel queasy when the vehicle moves in ways you weren't anticipating. Uber clearly needs to minimize that urge to hurl if it's going to create an autonomous fleet -- and accordingly, it's exploring technology that could make you feel at ease. It's applying for a patent on a raft of technologies that would counter motion sickness by stimulating your senses as the car moves, distracting your brain.
Walmart may use a blimp to deploy its delivery drones
Hey, Amazon: you aren't the only one who pictures blimps full of delivery drones. Walmart has applied for a patent on "gas-filled carrier aircrafts" that would serve as airborne bases, helping courier drones fly to homes they couldn't reach if they flew from a fixed location. The concept isn't completely new, of course (Amazon filed for a similar patent in 2016) but Walmart goes into exacting detail. Blimps would fly at altitudes up to 1,000 feet and talk to a remote scheduling system that indicates when drones should fetch packages from inside the blimp and head to their destinations.
Motorola designed a phone screen that repairs itself
Motorola doesn't just want to make phone screens that are shatter-resistant... if it has its way, what cracks that do show up could be fixed on the spot. It recently applied for a patent on a phone screen whose shape memory polymer heals damage when you subject it to rapid changes in heat. The phone itself could produce the heat (Motorola even envisions an app that tells the phone where to start repairs), but your body heat, a dock or a plug-in panel might also work.
