The NIH and Moderna Are Fighting Over Who Owns Their Vaccine; Intelligencer, November 10, 2021

Matt Stieb, Intelligencer; The NIH and Moderna Are Fighting Over Who Owns Their Vaccine

"While last year the government was calling the shot the “NIH-Moderna COVID-19 vaccine,” the biotech giant filed a patent made public this week in which it found that “only Moderna’s scientists” designed the vaccine. The patent, filed in July, is specific to the genetic sequence creating spike proteins, which allow vaccine recipients to build antibodies to block the virus when the body is actually exposed. As the New York Times reports, the NIH was surprised by the attempt at a solo effort. If the two parties cannot figure out a way to split the credit, the government will have to determine if it will take the expensive step of going to court. Already, the U.S. has paid $10 billion in taxpayer funds for Moderna to help create the vaccine, test its efficacy, and provide shots for the federal government."

Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus; Associated Press, February 6, 2020

Joe McDonald and Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press; Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus

"China has the right under World Trade Organization rules to declare an emergency and compel a company to license a patent to protect the public. It would be required to pay a license fee that is deemed fair market value. 

The government might be able to avoid that fee if the patent were granted to the Wuhan institute, part of the elite Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

The institute said it applied for a “use patent” that specifies the Wuhan virus as the drug’s target. Gilead’s patent application, filed before the virus was identified, cites only the overall family of coronaviruses."

Apple looks to patent yoga calorie counting; Axios, February 22, 2018

Ina Fried, Axios; Apple looks to patent yoga calorie counting

"Ever wonder how many calories you are burning doing yoga? Well Apple has applied for a patent for a way to do just that...

Standard patent disclaimer: Patents represent an idea that a company has but don't always mean something is coming to market."

Amazon Has a New U.S. Patent to Protect Its Drones; Fortune, 12/22/16

Madeline Farber, Fortune; Amazon Has a New U.S. Patent to Protect Its Drones:

"Amazon received a technology patent this week to give its drones extra anti-hacking protection when making deliveries, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Amazon filed for the patented technology covering countermeasures against threats to drones, or uncrewed autonomous vehicles (UAV), because it said that third parties could interfere with a drone's wireless communications system using a wireless signal jammer...

The drones, or UAVs, are used for Amazon's Prime Air delivery service. Earlier this month, the e-commerce giant successfully delivered its first package with a drone in the United Kingdom. The drones are designed to deliver packages of up to five pounds in less than 30 minutes, according to Amazon. Currently, Prime Air has development centers in the U.K., U.S., Austria, and Israel. The company has yet to get regulatory approval to fly drones in the U.S."

Apple's new patent proposes a way to eliminate 'butt dialing' once and for all; Digital Trends, 9/24/16

Kyle Wiggers, Digital Trends; Apple's new patent proposes a way to eliminate 'butt dialing' once and for all:

"From the boneheadedly pragmatic to the wildly impractical, Apple’s patents run the gamut of usefulness, but one of the newer patents filed by the Cupterino, California-based company falls squarely in the latter category. On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple filing, titled “detecting stowing or unstowing of a mobile device,” that presents a solution for the infamous “butt call” to which absentminded cellphone users too often fall victim...

There’s no certainty it’ll ever see the light of day, of course. (Patents aren’t a particularly reliable indicator of forthcoming features.) And Apple is notorious for filing applications that tend more toward the whimsical than feasible — last week, the iPhone maker patented “bleached sulfate” shopping bags with “rough and dull … [finishes].” But the idea of tapping the contextual prowess of smartwatches isn’t a new one, and is perhaps simple enough to implement in an over-the-air software update. Who knows: next time you inadvertently sit on your shiny new iPhone, it might just know who not to butt dial."

Apple patents bold new innovation – a paper bag; Guardian, 9/20/16

HAL 90210, Guardian; Apple patents bold new innovation – a paper bag:

"Apple has patented remotely disabling iPhone cameras. It’s patented Gear VR-style headsets, and watch-controlled photography. It’s even patented the sliding function to unlock the phone – deceased as of iOS 10 – and the concept of a phone with a bezel and rounded edges.

Now it’s gone one step further, and applied to patent a paper bag."