Links 04/04/2024: Attacks on the Press and Patent System Adopting Illegal Kangaroo Courts Controlled by Corporations
Contents
- Leftovers
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Leftovers
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[Repeat] James G ☛ Using random boolean networks in compression
A (brief) introduction to random boolean networks
Random boolean networks follow a set of predefined rules. A network has: [...]
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Ruben Schade ☛ Melbourne’s apartment cityscape
We’re coming to the end of my Melbourne travel posts, which may be a feature depending on what you originally came to this weird blog for! This post talks less about a specific experience, and more a general observation having spent a week wandering around.
I’ve been to Melbourne on business dozens of times, but 2006-07 was the last time I came down here seriously for a holiday to explore. The one thing struck me more than anything coming back was just how much the CBD has transformed. Southbank is practically unrecognisable, and large swaths of what locals call the Hoddle Grid have completely changed their purpose.
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Science
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New York Times ☛ NASA Picks 3 Companies to Help Astronauts Drive Around the Moon
The agency’s future moon buggies will reach speeds of 9.3 miles per hour and will be capable of self-driving.
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Science Alert ☛ NASA Investigates Mystery 'Space Object' That Fell Into Florida Man's Home
Where did it come from?
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Science Alert ☛ Damaged DNA Could Warn of Parkinson's Long Before Symptoms
Early detection allows early intervention.
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Science Alert ☛ Largest Ever Bird Genome Study Unveils New 'Tree of Life', But One Species Is a Mystery
A new picture of post-dinosaur evolution.
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Science Alert ☛ NASA Is Creating a 'Moon Standard Time'
"Time passes differently."
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Discover 'Unusual' Third Path to Multicellular Lifeforms
Evolution throws another curveball.
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Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals Dusty Chaos May Be Key to Formation of Life-Building Space Molecules
Some astrochemical mysteries solved.
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Education
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RFA ☛ Free textbooks for North Korean students who can pay for them in scrap paper
With a shortage in raw materials, valuable paper must be recycled and it’s on students to provide it for book printing.
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Hardware
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Tom's Hardware ☛ MSI admits faulty heatsink design for cracked Z790 chipsets, begins replacing faulty units
A statement from MSI confirms the findings of YouTuber and repair technician Joshi Repair regarding Z790 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard failures .
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese chipmaker gains traction replacing American processors - Longsoon ships 10,000 chips into schools
China's schools adopt Loongson processors as the country transits away from foreign CPUs.
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Hackaday ☛ A NanoVNA As A Dip Meter
A staple of the radio amateur’s arsenal of test equipment in previous decades was the dip meter. This was a variable frequency oscillator whose coil would be placed near the circuit to be tested, and which would show an abrupt current dip on a moving coil meter when its frequency matched the resonant frequency of what it was testing. For some reason the extremely useful devices seem hard to come by in 2024, so [Rick’s Ham Shack] has come along with a guide to using a nanoVNA in their place.
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Hackaday ☛ Make A GPS Antenna Compatible With Same Manufacturer’s Receiver
GPS can be a bit complex of a technology – you have to receive a signal below the noise floor, do quite a bit of math that relies on quantum mechanics, and, adding insult to injury, you also have to go outside to test it. Have you ever wondered how GPS antennas work? In particular, how do active GPS antennas get power down the same wire that they use to send signal to the receiver? Wonder not, because [Tom Verbeure] gifts us a post detailing a mod letting a fancy active GPS antenna use a higher-than-expected input voltage.
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Hackaday ☛ A Fun Exploit For Canon Printers Brings GDB Gifts
Modern printers make it all that much more tempting to try and hack them — the hardware generally tends to be decent, but the firmware appears to be designed to squeeze as much money out of you as possible while keeping your annoyance level consistently high. That’s why it’s nice to see this exploit of the Canon imageCLASS MF74XCdw series (MF742Cdw/MF743Cdw) by [blasty], triggerable over a network connection, with a story for our amusement.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Science Alert ☛ One Animal Spreads More Viruses Than Any Other And It's Not What You'd Think
The most disease ridden of vermin.
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Science Alert ☛ Are Weight-Loss Drugs Like Ozempic For You? Consider These Risks (And Benefits).
It's just part of the solution.
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New York Times ☛ Patient With Transplanted Pig Kidney Leaves Hospital for Home
Richard Slayman, 62, is the first patient to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig. Two weeks after the procedure, he was well enough to be discharged, doctors said.
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Stanford University ☛ Founder’s Campfire: Shobha Dasari on empowering chronic disease patients with Flair Health
Shobha Dasari, a Stanford and YC alum, founded Flair Health to tackle chronic disease management, drawing from her own health challenges. In her interview with Tran Le, Dasari highlights her journey, the creation of "Hacking Healthcare" and Flair Health's innovative approach to integrating health coaching into clinics.
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Federal News Network ☛ VA research into this disease will benefit the entire health system
Chronic kidney disease affects veterans in greater proportions than in the general population.
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Science Alert ☛ Thinking You Look Younger Has A Curious Link to How You Age
Perceptions shape our health more than we think.
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teleSUR ☛ Somalia: 31 Mln USD Deal to Boost Food Security
The project aims to reach 30,000 Somali households over eight years while giving priority to the most vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth, who face heightened risks from climate change and conflict-related challenges.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Hackaday ☛ Making The Halo 2 Battle Rifle Real
We’ve just been shown a creation that definitely belongs on the list of impressive videogame replicas. This BR55 rifle built by [B Squared Mfg] not only looks exactly like its in-game Halo 2 counterpart, it’s also a fully functional firearm chambered in 5.56. The attention to detail even brings us a game-accurate electronic ammo counter.
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Dedoimedo ☛ Windows Update shenanigans, 2024 version
Progress! New is always better, right? Here's an article slash rant about a range of problems with recent backdoored Windows Updates, including slow patching, search box added without asking, unnecessary WinRE & BitLocker update that fails to install, Copilot and other Hey Hi (AI) features, metadata errors, various other annoyances, and more. Oh ye plebes.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Latvia ☛ Cash may no longer be king in Latvia [Ed: Surveillance instead?]
The latest 'Payment Radar' data published by the Latvian central bank (Latvijas Banka, LB) contains some interesting data about the financial habits of the average Latvian resident.
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Don Marti: GPC all the things!
(this post is subject to change as I come up with more places. Get in touch if you want to suggest one.)
Now that we have Global Privacy Control for the web, can we do better? Where else do we need it? Not everything is on the web.
The big risk of having GPC for web but not for other systems is that surveillance companies will start forcing or nudging you to interact with them in other ways—if the surveillance options are too easy to use elsewhere, then more companies will use deceptive practices to drive us to all use communications technologies where browser privacy features can’t protect us.
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EDRI ☛ 2023 Digital Rights Update: Eastern Partnership CSO Meter
Countries of the Eastern Partnership region continue digitalisation efforts and some implemented promising data protection legislation. However, the expansion of surveillance and spread of disinformation put digital rights under constant pressure in 2023.
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EDRI ☛ EDRi-gram, 3 April 2024
After our light-hearted April Fool’s edition, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. In this issue, we delve into the European Court of Justice’s landmark decision declaring the EU regulation on fingerprint IDs invalid—a significant victory.
We’re also peeling back the layers of the Artificial Intelligence Act, offering you an in-depth look at the legislation’s intricacies and its implications for your digital rights. Furthermore, we shine a spotlight on the concerning trends in surveillance expansion and disinformation spread across Eastern partnership countries.
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Defence/Aggression
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New York Times ☛ U.S. and China Continue to Talk, but Economic Divide Remains Wide
Election-year rancor will make it difficult for Washington and Beijing to find areas of cooperation on trade and investment.
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RFA ☛ ASEAN is now more pro-China than US: survey
Bloc’s leaning shifted to China in just one year but members Vietnam and the Philippines still prefer the U.S.
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RFA ☛ China calls on Mexico to 'speed up' probe into drowning deaths
Eight Chinese nationals have drowned off the Mexican coast in a 'migration situation,' local officials say.
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RFA ☛ Arab politicians praise China’s policies in Xinjiang
Experts say Beijing orchestrated the visit to conceal its persecution of Uyghurs while trying to expand its global influence.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Phone call sees Joe Biden and Pooh-tin Jinping clash but seek to manage tensions ahead of US officials’ visit to China
Presidents Joe Biden and Pooh-tin Jinping clashed in a telephone call Tuesday about US trade restrictions on technology and on Taiwan, but they looked to manage their tensions, with two top US officials heading shortly to Beijing.
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Atlantic Council ☛ In the Pacific Islands, US delay is an invitation for China to step in
China’s recent efforts to lure Pacific Island governments into alignment with Beijing’s policy preferences heighten the importance of a consistent US focus on the region.
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RFA ☛ US committed to Australia nuclear subs deal, diplomat says
Backlogs at American shipbuilding yards threaten a pillar of the AUKUS defense pact.
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NYPost ☛ Mysterious light show over California was Chinese space junk falling to earth
The heap of space debris was the orbital module of China’s Shenzhou 15 spacecraft, astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell confirmed in a social control media post.
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YLE ☛ Wednesday's papers: Shooting aftermath, clean steel decision and winter's return
Tuesday's school shooting in Vantaa dominated the news agenda in Finland on Wednesday.
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YLE ☛ Flags fly at half-mast as Finland mourns shooting
Two of the victims remain in hospital with serious injuries.
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YLE ☛ Police: Bullying motive in school shooting
The sixth-grade suspect told the police he was bullied at school.
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New York Times ☛ Fears Grow That Syria Strike Could Spur Retaliatory Attacks on Israel and U.S.
Current and former American officials say the airstrike on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus was a serious blow to Tehran.
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JURIST ☛ Israel PM Netanyahu announces death of 7 aid workers in Gaza from ‘unintended strike’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday the death of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza from Israeli strikes. The workers are from World Central Kitchen. In a press release, Netanyahu stated, “Unfortunately, in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.
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France24 ☛ 🔴Live: UK govt under pressure to suspend arms export licenses to Israel
The UK government faced growing pressure Wednesday to suspend arms export licenses to Israel, after an Israeli strike killed three Britons and four others all working for a food charity in Gaza. The news came as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez demanded more details into the deadly attack and said Israel’s explanation for the aid workers' killings was "insufficient and unacceptable". Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments in the Israel-Gaza war.
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France24 ☛ The Israeli raid on Damascus, an ‘unprecedented’ escalation of tensions
Among the victims of Monday's air strike in Damascus against the Iranian consulate was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Guards, his deputy Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers. While Iran has blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to retaliate, some analysts suspect that Iran remains unwilling to provoke a full-scale war.
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NYPost ☛ Biden slammed by Democrats and Republicans over response to Israeli airstrike that killed 7 aid workers in Gaza
President Biden has received criticism from Democrats and Republicans this week over his response to an Israeli airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on Monday.
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NYPost ☛ Chef José Andrés alleges Israel targeted aid workers ‘car by car’ in deadly airstrike, Israel calls it ‘grave mistake’
Chef José Andrés, founder of the World Central Kitchen (WCK), accused Israel of targeting his aid staffers “systemically, car by car” when seven of them were killed in an airstrike Monday delivering desperately needed food to hungry Gazans.
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Environment
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Energy/Transportation
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Mexico News Daily ☛ Korean EV supplier breaks ground on new plant in northern Mexico
Seojin Mobility is expecting to invest US $300 million in the new manufacturing facility.
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teleSUR ☛ 9 Dead in 7.3-Magnitude Quake in China's Taiwan
About 821 people were injured following the earthquake that hit the sea area near Hualien.
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RFA ☛ Largest quake in 25 years strikes Taiwan, killing 9, injuring 900
TV images show collapsed buildings in the eastern part of the island.
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European Commission ☛ Commission opens two in-depth investigations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in the solar photovoltaic sector
European Commission Press release Brussels, 03 Apr 2024 Today, the Commission launched two in-depth investigations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Central and Eastern Europe needs to rethink its approach to energy security
The upcoming Three Seas Initiative Summit is an opportune time for Central and Eastern European leaders to pivot toward clean, affordable, and local renewables to build energy security.
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Population
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YLE ☛ "This could slowly kill our village": Rural depopulation hits services in one Finnish lakeland community
Finland's villages are emptying out, and that means services are declining too.
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Finance
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Silicon Angle ☛ PitchBook: US venture capital deal activity hits five-year low in Q1 2024
Venture capital deal activity in U.S. dropped to its lowest quarterly average since 2017 in the first quarter of 2024, according to a first-look report released ahead of the quarterly PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor scheduled to be released next week.
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BIA Net ☛ Turkey’s inflation surges to 68.5% in March
The ENAG calculated the inflation rate at 124.63%, nearly twice as high as the official rate.
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New York Times ☛ Inflation Cools in Eurozone, Nearing Central Bank’s Target
Prices in the countries that use the euro rose 2.4 percent in the year through March, coming closer to the European Central Bank’s 2 percent inflation target.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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CS Monitor ☛ Georgia residents could gain new power to strike fellow voters from the rolls
Georgia Republicans are seeking further restrictions on who can cast a ballot. Lawmakers passed a bill that allows “vigilante” challenges to large numbers of voter registrations, a move opponents say could see legitimate voters struck from the rolls.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Netcraft ☛ UN? FBI? World Bank? Deepfake police chief used for compensation scam video
Advance fee fraud campaigns are using generative Hey Hi (AI) in both text and video to speed up responses, evade filters, and make scams more convincing.
Large Language Models and other forms of Generative Hey Hi (AI) (GenAI) promise to make many people more productive, and cybercriminals are no exception. Fraudsters are using GenAI to enhance all kinds of scams, from consumer-focused bulk campaigns to highly targeted business email compromise attempts. High-profile cases have involved losses of tens of millions of dollars.
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Defence Web ☛ Reports of SANDF troops captured in the DRC dismissed as fake news
The South African Departments of Defence and International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) have dismissed reports that several South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers have been captured by M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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Censorship/Free Speech
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AccessNow ☛ Protect rights online and off: Uganda’s court upholds criminalization of LGBTQ+ advocacy
The Constitutional Court of Uganda has upheld the Anti-Homosexuality Act, dealing a deadly blow to human rights.
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Techdirt ☛ Supreme Court Does Not Go Far Enough In Determining When Government Officials Are Barred From Censoring Critics On Social Media
After several years of litigation across the federal appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court in a unanimous opinion has finally crafted a test that lower courts can use to determine whether a government official engaged in “state action” such that censoring individuals on the official’s social media page—even if also used for personal purposes—would violate the First Amendment.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Press Gazette ☛ How publishers will need to change subscription policies due to Digital Markets Bill
Impacts of Digital Markets Bill for publishers will go beyond the much hoped-for payments from platforms.
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Reason ☛ Kansas Police Facing Lawsuit After Conducting 'Illegal' Raid Against Small-Town Paper
Last year, the offices of the Marion County Record were raided by police. A new lawsuit claims the search was illegal retaliation against the paper.
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RFERL ☛ Criminal Case Against Kyrgyz News Agency Suspended
One of Kyrgyzstan’s first online news websites, 24.kg, reported on April 3 that the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) has suspended a criminal case against it.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Techdirt ☛ Republicans Keep Taking Credit For Local Broadband Projects Funded By Federal Bills They Voted Against
There’s an historic $50 billion in broadband subsidies currently heading to the states courtesy of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). There are plenty of potential hiccups on stuff like mapping that could screw things up, but, any way you slice it, this money should still have an amazing, positive impact on affordable broadband expansion in the U.S..
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Patents
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Dow Chemical’s 1945 ‘Perfectly Plain’ Test for Obviousness
The pending obviousness petition in Vanda v. Teva has prompted me to look back on some of the key Supreme Court cases cited in the briefs. Last week, I wrote about Atlantic Works v. Brady, 107 U.S. 192 (1883) in a blog post titled The Quest for a Meaningful Threshold of Invention. Today, I’m looking at Dow Chemical Co. v. Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Co., 324 U.S. 320 (1945), an obviousness case decided just a few years before a rewriting of the 1952 Patent Act.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ In re Xencor: USPTO’s Inaction Following Federal Circuit Remand
On January 23, 2024, the Federal Circuit granted the USPTO’s request for a remand in the case of In re Xencor, Inc. The appeal focused on two important issues concerning written description requirements for means-plus-function (MPF) and Jepson claims in the context of antibody patents. The USPTO had indicated that it wanted to reconsider its approach to these issues and convene its newly established Appeals Review Panel (ARP) to clarify its position. (ARP is the new POP). As part of its justification for remand, the Federal Circuit noted its expectation “that proceedings will be conducted expeditiously.”
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Rader on 101 and the Statutory Text [Ed: Rader is corrupt, he got caught, and he's still lobbying with help from patent extremists]
Over on Gene Quinn’s IPwatchdog page, former chief judge Rader has written an article about the Supreme Court’s 101 jurisprudence.
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Kangaroo Courts
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Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ UPC “saisie-contrefaçon” Part IV: the appeal against the “saisie” order [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional; to restore legitimacy of the EU it needs to be abolished ASAP. This is a case of EPO corruption spreading.]
Last week, we had the opportunity to review the texts regarding the UPC “saisie”, the ex parte orders issued in the OERLIKON and C-KORE cases.
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ Summary Judgment Motion Backfires: C.D. Cal. Dismisses Kate Spade Appeal of TTAB Opposition Defeat
Kate Spade moved for summary judgment in its Section 1071 civil action for review of the Board's decision dismissing its opposition to registration of the mark WOLV & Design (shown below left) for watches. The Board found the mark to be too dissimilar to the KATE SPADE word mark and the "spade logo" mark to support Kate Spade's Section 2(d) likelihood-of-confusion and Section 43(c) dilution-by-blurring claims. [TTABlogged here]. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California not only denied Kate Spade's motion for summary judgment but affirmed the Board's decision. Kate Spade LLC. v. WOLV INC., Civil Action No. CV 22-4392 FMO (SSCx) (C.D. Cal. March 25, 2024).
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Copyrights
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Digital Music News ☛ Bankruptcy Judge Rejects ISP Frontier Communications’ Dismissal Arguments in Long-Running Infringement Battle
A federal bankruptcy judge has rejected ISP Frontier Communications’ arguments in favor of tossing copyright monopoly infringement claims levied against it by the major labels.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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