The Short Names

Open Invention Network^SM (Another way to fight Patents!), an intellectual property company that was formed to promote Linux by using patents to create a collaborative environment has now unveiled a new program called Linux Defenders, with the aim of making prior art more readily accessible to patent and trademark office examiners. It also fore see an increase the quality of granted patents and aid to eliminate or revoke poor quality patents.

Following is the press release about Unveiling of Landmark ‘Linux Defenders‘ Program;

Durham, NC (December 9, 2008) – Open Invention Network (OIN), a collaborative enterprise that enables open source innovation and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux, today unveiled the Linux Defenders program, which is designed to make prior art more readily accessible to patent and trademark office examiners, and increase the quality of granted patents and reduce the number of poor quality patents.

“Linux Defenders offers the Linux and broader open source community a unique opportunity to harness its collaborative passion, intelligence, and ingenuity to ensure Linux’s natural migration to mobile devices and computing,>” said Keith Bergelt, chief executive officer of Open Invention Network. >”This landmark program will benefit open source innovation by significantly reducing the number of poor quality patents that might otherwise be used by patent trolls or strategics whose behaviors and business models are antithetical to true innovation and are thus threatened by Linux.>”

Co-sponsored by the Software Freedom Law Center and the Linux Foundation, Linux Defenders is a first-of-its-kind program which aims to reduce future intellectual property concerns about meritless patents for the Linux and open source community. The program is designed to accomplish this by soliciting prior art to enable the rejection of poor quality patent applications; soliciting prior art to enable the invalidation of poor quality issued patents; and soliciting high quality inventions that can be prepared as patent applications or defensive publications.

The Linux Defenders program is expected to enable individuals and organizations to efficiently impact the patenting process by enabling the contribution of relevant prior art, and by creating defensive publications which will establish a body of new prior art. The prior art can be used by examiners to screen patent applications more effectively and ensure only truly novel ideas are patented. The net effect of higher patent quality will be to provide greater freedom for the open source community to build on the Linux platform. Linux has enjoyed adoption in many industries and market segments around the world, and this program will help facilitate future progress in the expansion of the Linux footprint. Use of Linux Defenders is free of charge to contributors of prior art or inventions, and the hosting of defensive publications on databases accessible by patent and trademark office examiners around the world is borne by the program’s sponsors. The Linux Defenders website is located at http://www.linuxdefenders.org.

“A large number of poor quality patents have the potential to stifle innovation,” said Eben Moglen, chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center. “The Software Freedom Law Center is pleased to co-sponsor Linux Defenders with the goal of ridding the world of patents that unscrupulous organizations use to cripple the innovation inherent in freely redistributable, open source software.”

“This is an important program that will give the community additional confidence in the code they develop,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of The Linux Foundation. “The open source community is getting an IP rights tool that will limit distractions created from organizations that like to play the FUD game. We enthusiastically encourage the Linux and open source communities to contribute to Linux Defenders.”

“We are pleased to be working with Open Invention Network, Software Freedom Law Center and the Linux Foundation, as Linux Defenders is a natural extension of our ‘Peer to Patent’ and ‘Post Issue’ platforms and our explicit goal of working with industry to address core issues effecting the integrity of the patent system,” said Mark Webbink, executive director of the Center for Patent Innovations at the New York Law School.

A Note on Defensive Publications
Defensive publications, which are endorsed by the United States Patent & Trademark Office as an IP rights management tool, are documents that provide descriptions and artwork of a product, device or method so that it enters the public domain and becomes prior art. This powerful preemptive disclosure prevents other parties from obtaining a patent on the product, device or method. It enables original inventors to ensure that they have access to their inventions by preventing others from later making patent claims against them. It also means that they do not have to shoulder the cost of patent applications.

The Defensive Publications program, a component of Linux Defenders, enables non-attorneys to use a set of Web-based forms to generate defensive publications. It relies on substantial participation from the open source community using a “Wiki”-like contribution model. OIN plans to work with participants to ensure that each defensive publication is an effective disclosure. The completed defensive publication will be added by OIN to the IP.com database, which is, in turn, used by IP attorneys and the patent and trademark office to search for prior art when examining patent applications.

About Open Invention Network
Open Invention Network^sm is a collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux by acquiring and licensing patents, influencing behaviors and policy, and defending the integrity of the ecosystem through strategic programs such as Linux Defenders. It enables the growth and continuation of open source software by fostering a healthy Linux ecosystem of investors, vendors, developers and users.

Open Invention Network has considerable industry backing. It was launched in 2005, and has received investments from IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony. For more information, visit www.openinventionnetwork.com.

Media-Only Contact:
Ed Schauweker
Ketchum for Open Invention Network
ed.schauweker@ketchum.com
703-963-5238

Tags: Open Invention Network, Another way to fight Patents, Linux, OSS, Linux Defenders

BBC is carrying on a tiny article and a video clip of Doug Engelbart, the inventor of the computer mouse, doing the first demo of the device that we have come to be a part of day to day computing.
The computer mouse is now 40 years old and Dr Engelbart used the mouse made of wood containing single button to demonstrate novel ways of working with computers on 9 December 1968. You will smile when you see the protruding scroll wheels!
Since BBC does not allow to embed here is the complete demo from Youtube.

Tags: Doug Engelbart, the inventor of the computer mouse

If you own a mid-size or large company, you will most likely have many computers, one or many servers and a host of networking switches, routers,firewalls, telecommunications and security products. (backup, power failure protection, etc.). Keeping all that equipment running can be quite expensive if you always buy brand-new items. That’s why you always have to consider whether a refurbished product can do the same job as a new one (while saving some serious money in the process) while allowing your budget to stretch without compromising quality and reliability.

Of course, regardless of whether you go for new products or refurbished products, you must make sure that you are obtaining these products from reputable manufacturers such as 3Com Corporation,  Dell, CheckPoint Network Security Solutions, Norstar, etc. This is the only way you can rest assured that the products will be able to handle the workload and that you are not wasting your money. And that’s where Infinit Technology Solutions comes to the rescue.

This company offers products from the most reputable companies around the globe so you can buy quality switches, routers, servers, firewalls, telecommunications and security products, etc., all at the same place and most importantly, knowing that your money will be well spent and you won’t have to suffer from defective products ever again. Infinit Technology Solutions is the best provider of new and refurbished Cisco routers and switches, Nortel routers, telecommunications equipment from Avaya and many more renowned companies.

How to Choose Your Mobile Phone

A vast majority of the adult population has got a mobile phone, and people are constantly changing, upgrading or replacing their handsets as old models become obsolete or handsets are lost, stolen or break. Thankfully the market is brimming with incredible handsets that are always becoming more affordable as the technology moves on, and picking up a great phone for an even better price is simple. But what should you be looking for in a mobile phone and what might sell a particular handset to you? Here`s a top ten of the phones that have a particular feature or function that makes them worthy of your ownership and helps them stand out from the bustling crowd. It`s best to bear in mind what you`re going to be using your phone for when choosing a handset and always compare handsets and price plans before committing.

1. Apple iPhone – Probably topping a lot of reviewer`s top ten lists as well as a lot of consumer`s wish lists, the iPhone 3G is still the most desirable and the most impressive handset available. A large, well performing touch sensitive display, good on board storage and virtuoso internet and gaming performance make this a great all round media and smart phone. The main downside is the feeble camera.
2. LG Renoir – The Korean manufacturer have expanded on the success of last year`s Viewty with the Renoir, a slightly pretentiously named photo and video based phone, with an 8 megapixel camera and 8GB of onboard storage. It`s got a nice touch screen too
3. Sony Ericsson W910i – This is a great mid range phone that has come down in price massively over the last few weeks. It is a slim slider phone with excellent music playing abilities, hence the W in the name, referring to the Walkman brand.
4. Blackberry Storm – Blackberry`s attempt to rain on the iPhone`s parade has had mixed reviews, but the `clickable` touch screen, which is like one big button, and the excellent email and web performance make it a unique and useful choice. It`s just a pity that it lacks WiFi connectivity.
5. Nokia N96 – This is the phone for the person who must have every gadget, as this handset stuffs itself with more features that you`ll know what to do with. 5 megapixel camera, 16GB of storage, big screen, double slide action and all of the latest web technology makes this a pretty future proof media powerhouse.
6. Sony Ericsson C902 – The latest in the camera phone range from Sony Ericsson has loads of cool photography technology including face detection and a powerful xenon flash.
7. Samsung Pixon – Another contender for the 8MP camera phone crown, this too has a touch screen but lacks the refinement of the Renoir`s interface.
8. Nokia 6500 Slide – Better than the 6500 Classic nokia handsets, if you like photography and media functions, and great value, but a little bit large for some tastes.
9. LG Viewty – This is still a great phone to recommend even if it`s been superseded. Awesome touch screen and picture capture capabilities.
10. Motorola V8 RAZR2 – One of the few remaining flip handsets, it`s still good for the price range and one of the most stylish handsets available.

If you love sports the chances are you share your love of the game with your kids. Now there’s a site where you and your kids can create your own sports characters and explore a virtual world. The site is both safe and fun for kids from six to fourteen, and it’s free to create your own sports avatar.

The site is called ActionAllStars.com. At Action All Stars, your kids can have fun dressing their avatars, choosing hair and eye color, even which sneakers to wear. The game features several servers on which you can explore, visit stores to purchase items for your sports star as well as meet other sports fans.
The kids can play any of the many games found throughout the virtual world and interact with other kids.

Action All Stars lets parents monitor their children’s accounts to ensure their safety on the net. Action All Stars, in partnership with ConnectSafely.org, is concerned with your child’s safety on the net, while providing a fun environment for them to socialize and play games.

With two levels of Safe Chat, you can be sure your child won’t be exposed to inappropriate language. The precomposed greetings and messages are perfect for the young child just learning to read but eager to communicate.

Kids will love dressing up their avatars, playing games and socializing with other kids who like sports the way they do. Parents will love knowing that their kids are having fun while keeping their internet experience a safe and rewarding one.