A Taiwanese chipmaker Elan Microelectronics is suing Apple over the use of multitouch technology in several products, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and forthcoming iPad. They filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission accusing Apple of violating an Elan-owned patent that covers “touch-sensitive input devices with the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers.”
For more information visit:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20001424-1.html
US judge rules cancer gene patent invalid 31 March
The company Myriad Genetics patented the BRCA1 and 2 genes that could be used to gauge a woman’s susceptibility to certain types of breast and ovarian cancer. The American Civil Liberties Union and individual breast cancer patients took the case to the federal court, arguing that the patent stifled medical research
For more information visit:
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2860484.htm
No to software patents in New Zealand – 31 March
Open source software champions have been influential in excluding software from the scope of patents in the new Patents Bill. A broad range of developers at a Computer Society meeting in Wellington hailed the change as a good thing.
For more information visit:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/thumbs-down-for-software-patents-in-nz