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  Magnequench International Files Suit Against Microsoft and Philips; Patent Infringement Alleged
Time: 11:16 EST/16:16 GMT | News Source: PR Newswire | Posted By: Byron Hinson

Magnequench International, Inc., the patent holder and a world leader in the manufacturing of specialized magnetic powders and magnets, today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis against Microsoft and Philips, alleging patent infringement of its magnetic powders in their products. The suit is part of a major effort to eliminate patent infringement of magnets used throughout the electronics industry.

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  The time now is 11:48:38 PM ET.
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#1 By TechLarry (3776 Posts) at 7/14/2004 12:27:31 PM
How the hell can you patent a powder ?

Oh, right. This is the US. Anything is patentable....

#2 By mooresa56 (2863 Posts) at 7/14/2004 3:34:50 PM
you can patent a powder-based DRUGS and powder-based PAINTS... so this makes plenty of sense.

I understand the frustration with the US patenting system, techlarry, but you're off base on this specific example.

#3 By Boomslang (13 Posts) at 7/15/2004 10:36:02 AM
If you know anything about this company, they have put in extensive R&D into the manufacturing processes to make the powders and in the applications of those powders.

This alone gives them the right to patent the manufacturing process, the recipe for the percentages of the materials used and the application process. The ideas are not what is important, it is how those ideas are implemented and executed, the process involved.

Not a real hard concept to get your mind around if you understand that the patent process was about giving exclusive use of a working idea for 17 years in exchange for putting it into public record as opposed to business secrets that can get lost when a person dies or a company gets destroyed.

Where we have a problem with this whole patent thing is where someone patents a broad idea with no implementation, research or working plan.

For instance, I decide to patent the idea "magnetic ink". It is pretty obvious and the patent really serves no purpose but to obstruct progress.

Now if I figure out how to make the magnetic ink, make it stick to the page, and then read what it says; this probably took a bit of time, cost a bit when I found out that there are a lot of ways that magnetic ink will not stick to a page, before coming up with the three ways it will, and also the fact that I'd better figure out a useful readable pattern so the reader can actually extract the information. Now we have a real, valid patent that is highly enforceable.

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