This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art. 

While references dated before October 28, 1996 will be accepted as prior art, the preferred date for prior art is October 28, 1995.

The ideal reference would describe a method of forming a MOSFET transistor by first forming a (1) disposable gate structure over a defined channel region of a substrate, then (2) forming raised source/drain regions by selective epitaxy adjacent to the disposable gate structure.  Then, depositing a (3) dielectric layer over the raised source/drain regions and the disposable gate structure.  During the subsequent process steps, a portion of the dielectric layer overlying the disposable gate structure is removed to (4) expose the disposable gate structure.  Then, the (5) disposable gate structure is removed; a (6) gate dielectric layer is formed over said defined channel region, in the area just cleared of the disposable gate; followed by the (7) formation of a gate electrode over the gate dielectric layer.  The gate electrode comprises a (8) metal layer and a titanium nitride layer.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art. 

While references dated before July 31, 1988 will be accepted as prior art, the preferred date for prior art is June 2, 1986.

Prior art of interest will include descriptions of:

A processor containing one or more breakpoint registers, where a value stored in said register or the configuration of said register can be controlled via a serial scan interface.

When enabled, the breakpoint register should cause a processor interrupt/exception upon a matching condition.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art. 

ABSTRACT:

A computer network includes a first processor for maintaining a Web page having an embedded first code module and accessible through a Web address. A second processor supports a Web browser for downloading the Web page and executing the first code module. When executed, the first code module issues a first command to retrieve a second code module from a server system. The server system includes a database having a service response associated with the Web address. A processor assembles the second code module having the service response. When the second code module is retrieved, the first code module issues a second command to initiate execution of the second code module to provide added function to the Web page.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art. 

Prior art of interest will include disclosures of constructions of two-sided printable arrays of printable media (e.g., business cards) releasably secured (e.g., with adhesive strips) to surrounding carrier material so as to be capable of being fed through a printer.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patents that is not already known. The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

This Study is a request for a “state of the art" collection.  The Reward is guaranteed to be paid.  The Reward will be paid for the 1-2 references that best describe the highest level of development of the technology described in the Requirements to Match field as of the Latest Dates for Prior Art. There are 2 Prior Art Dates for this Study. Features 1-4 have a LDPA of December 31, 2003, while features 5-15 have a LDPA of December 31, 1999.  The references will include descriptions of the features that teach how the feature functioned or was performed.

A smartphone is a mobile phone that offers advanced computing ability and connectivity. A smartphone runs operating system software that allows the user to install and run advanced applications based on a specific platform. Prior art of interest will provide descriptions of mobile communication devices with the following features:

[LDPA - 12/31/2003]

1. Touchscreen;

2. Screen and list orientation;

3. Search capability;

4. Ability to download, install and run user selected applications;

[LDPA - 12/31/1999}

5.  Inter-process communication mechanism;

6.  Application programming interface;

7.  Object-oriented programming;

8.  Wireless telephone;

9.  Internet access;

10.  Digital camera;

11. Power management,

12. Power consumption management software;

13. User selected graphics;

14. Security; and

15. Operating system.

This Study is a request for a “state of the art" collection.  The Reward is guaranteed to be paid.  The Reward will be paid for the 1-2 references that best describe the highest level of development of the technology described in the Requirements to Match field as of the Latest Date for Prior Art provided above. The references will include enabling descriptions of the features of the system, i.e., teachings that demonstrate that the feature is functional at the time of disclosure.

Cloud Computing refers to large, hosted datacenters, usually geographically distributed, which offer various computational services on a “utility” basis. The configuration and provisioning of these datacenters is usually highly automated. Additionally, the datacenters typically use hypervisor based virtualization as a technique for delivery of these services.

Prior art of interest will provide descriptions of distributed computing systems with the following features:

1.    Multi-processor computing environment;

2.    Requesting systems;

3.    Shared and private caches for the storage of data;

4.    Java object database and server;

5.    Dynamic multi-level cache management;

6.    Automatic distribution of data to storage;

7.    Methods for viewing data;

8.    Applets operable to provide services to multiple users;

9.    Security; and

10.    Access rights management.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study Claims that is not already known.   The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

The English translation of the French patent claims is provided via the link below. The claims presented in this translation are the Study Claims.

A copy of the French patent as issued is not available, so a copy of the EP equivalent is provided via the PDF link below. A copy of the English translation of the French patent is provided via the Word link.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, which provides a path to invalidity for the Study patents that is not already known.   The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art.   

Prior art of interest will be directed to devices for wireless communication including the following features:

1. the device comprising a housing with an external mounting element for connecting to a strand in proximity to a cable;
2. the device containing a modem;
3. the device containing a radio transceiver;
4. the device containing a radio processor card;
5. the device containing a power supply;
6. where the modem is connected to the radio transceiver, the radio processor card, and the power supply;
7. the device containing a splitter connected to the cable;
8. where the splitter splits an RF signal from the power;
9. the device containing at least one heating and cooling device.

This Study is a request for prior art that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

Prior art of interest will include references discussing the technology described in col. 4, l. 30-38 ("a slight temperature increase of a component...), the limitation in claim 1 d "on the basis of a combined assessment of several overruns or underruns of limit values which causes these limit violations...." and in particular the phrase of this claim 1 d limitation "combined assessment of several..."

Please note, a copy of the US counterpart is provided via the WORD link below in order to provide an english translation of the specification. A copy of the EPO search report for EP 1 410 205 is provided via the Known Prior Art link below. These references are not eligible for the Reward or profit sharing points.

This Study is a request for a “state of the art" collection.  The Reward is guaranteed to be paid. The Reward will be paid for the 1-2 references that best describe the highest level of development of the technology of the claims as of the Latest Date for Prior Art provided above.

The technology relates to technology using biometric readings for the identification of potentially fraudulent acitivity pertaining to electronic transactions as set forth in US 7,565,545.

This Study is a request for a “state of the art" collection. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid. The Reward will be paid for the 1-2 references that best describe the highest level of development of the technology of the claims as of the Latest Date for Prior Art provided above.

The technology relates to the use of a diffusion barrier formed on a substrate where the diffusion barrier includes at least 2 dielectric films as set forth in the claims of US 6,726,996.

This Study is a request for prior art that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the submitted reference provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

Prior art of interest will discuss all of the elements of Claim 8, including but not limited to, references directed to frequency-hopping systems that use a punch-out mask, or similar representation, to identify channels that are “bad” (i.e., not suitable for communication), and develop, based upon a unique seed value associated with a communicating unit, a pseudo-random frequency hopping band plan that avoids those channels. Systems may include early secure home telephone systems where the receivers use a 49 MHz frequency band to connect back to the base unit. Other potential sources of art of interest are the developers (people and companies) of the frequency-hopping physical layer of the  IEEE 802.11-1997 Standard's FH PHY (e.g., §14 et seq.)

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art.

US 6,769,258 (the '258 Patent) issued from a c-i-p application filed on July 26, 2002. Therefore new disclosures added in that application have a LDPA of July 25, 2001. US 7,343,746 issued from a continuation of the c-i-p application, therefore it has the same LDPA as the '258 Patent.

Please see the individual details pages for the applicable LDPA.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art.

US 7,178,492 (the '492 Patent) issued from a continuation-in-part application filed on September 3, 2004. Therefore, the Latest Date for Prior Art may be as late as September 2, 2003 for some of the elements of the '492 Patent.

Prior art of interest includes references that discuss the elements of claims 10 through 19 of the '492 Patent or the claims of the '213 Patent.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art.

The 852 Patent issued from a continuation-in-part application filed on November 20, 2001 and claims priority to a provisional application filed November 20, 2000. Therefore the disclosures that were added in the November 20, 2001 application can have a LDPA of November 20, 2000 or, if the new material is also in the provisional application, November 20, 1999.

This Study is a request for prior art, including non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent claims that is not already known. The Reward is guaranteed to be paid to the Advisor who submits the highest quality prior art. 

Find publications showing speech recognition systems which have any of the following combination of features:

• Allows continuous speech input containing a mix of commands and text (such as “insert text this is some new text”) where the command part (“insert text”) may be treated as a command in one context and as text in another context (before November 12, 1994)
• Same as above but without the continuous speech requirement (before November 12, 1994)
• Same as above using a grammar for the command part and an open model for the text part (before July 6, 1998)
• Speech recognition systems using some form of discriminative training for acoustic models (before May 1, 1999)

Priority will be given to publications from outside of the US.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent that is not already known.   The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.

Prior art filed in Reexamination Proceeding 90/009,305 is not eligible for the Reward or profit sharing points.

Prior art of interest includes descriptions of mechanical or electrical paper towel dispensers, more particularly references that are directed to the mechanism for dispensing the towel and that describe any specific orientation of the dispensing mechanisms that make it easier to replace the rolls of towels.

One known prior art reference is US 2,278,029, a copy of which is attached in the Known Prior Art link below.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent that is not already known.   The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.  

Prior art of interest will be directed to software systems for Web-based businesses that sell products; and/or that enable Web-based businesses to process customer service requests, such as the return of merchandise.

The '275 Patent is a continuation of the '690 Patent, therefore the patents share the same specification.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent that is not already known.   The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.  

Prior art of interest will be directed to  devices including the following features:

1. the device storing audio files
2. the device producing audible output based on the audio files
3. the device receiving a playlist file (from, for example, a computer) and storing that file, which establishes the order in which audio files are to be played.
4. where the order established by the playlist file is an endless circular loop of audio files to be played
5. where the audio files are continuously reproduced in the order established by the playlist file in the absence of a user control command
6. the device having a control allowing a user to input commands
7. the device detecting control commands from a user, such commands including:
1. a skip forward command where the device stops playing the currently playing audio file and instead begins playing the next audio file as established by the playlist file;
2. a skip backward command where the device stops playing the currently playing audio file and restarts playing that same audio file from the beginning; and
3. two consecutive skip backward commands where the device stops playing the currently playing audio file and instead begins playing the previous audio file as established by the playlist file.

This Study is a request for prior art, preferably non-patent literature, that provides a path to invalidity for the Study patent that is not already known.   The Reward is payable to an Advisor if the Study results in prior art that provides a path to invalidity that is not already known.  

Prior art of interest will be directed to a device including the following features:

1. the device having a communications port for downloading a playlist file from a computer.
2. the device having a communications port for downloading audio files from a library of available audio files on a computer.
3. the device having memory for storing downloaded: (i) audio files; (ii) a playlist file; and (iii) program description records.
4. a unique identifier identifying each stored audio file in memory
5. the playlist file being separate from the audio files and establishing the sequence in which audio files are to be played
6. the playlist file storing the unique identifiers for each audio file to be played
7. the device having a display that can display: (i) a scrollable listing of audio files in the sequence established by the playlist file; (ii) the scrollable list allowing a user to select an audio file for playback; and (iii) the currently playing audio file.
8. the device producing audible output via speaker or headset, based on the audio files.
9. each program description record being associated with a particular audio file via the audio file’s unique identifier.
10. each program description record specifying text that is displayable on the device display.
11. a processor for continuously playing a succession of audio files in the sequence established by the playlist file in the absence of a user control command.
12. manual controls on the device
13. the processor also detecting control commands from a user via manual controls on the device, such commands including:
1. a skip forward command where the device stops playing the currently playing audio file and instead begins playing the next audio file as established by the playlist file;
2. a skip backward command where the device  stops playing the currently playing audio file and restarts playing that same audio file from the beginning if the currently playing audio file has already played for a preset period of time;
3. a skip backward command where the device  stops playing the currently playing audio file and instead begins playing the previous audio file as established by the playlist file if the currently playing audio file has not played for a preset period of time;
4. a selection command where a user selects a particular audio file for immediate playing from the list of audio files displayed on the audio player’s display.
14. where the processor treats the playlist file as establishing a bidirectional endless loop of sequenced audio files when responding to user control commands. Thus:
1. where the device is playing the last audio file specified by the playlist file, a skip forward command will result in the device skipping forward to the first audio file specified by the playlist file.
2. where the device  is playing the first audio file specified by the playlist file, a skip backward command will result in the device skipping backward to the last audio specified by the playlist file if the currently playing audio file has not played for a preset period of time.

Techradium claims that the patents cover a "mass notification" system. According to the complaint, Twitter’s system (aka “tweeting”) infringes on the systems and methods of the ‘389, ‘183 and ‘165 patents. Tech Radium also refers to its system as IRIS - the Immediate Response Information System - which "simultaneously delivers uniform, reliable and verifiable emergency messages to an unlimited number of contacts within seconds, across all means and devices of communication."

Please note that prior art dated as late as December 16, 2007 may be relevant to the study.