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yesMike MurphyNone
July 21, 2020
If you hold a patent in the U.S., chances are you're a man.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released Tuesday its most recent "Progress and Potential" report, which dives into the gender makeup of the people who have been awarded patents by the office over the years. Listed as a "major finding" in the report is the fact that the number of patents awarded with at least one woman inventor listed increased from 20.7% in 2016 to 21.9% in 2019. That's an increase of just 1.2 percentage points.
While patents can be awarded for innovations in just about any field, many of the top patent winners are tech companies. IBM alone has received more than 140,000 patents over the years and has been the single largest winner of patents in the U.S. each year for nearly 30 years. And according to the USPTO's report, roughly 41% of the women who win patents in the U.S. are located in four major tech-hub states: California, Massachusetts, New York and Texas.
So perhaps it's unsurprising that so few women are patent holders in the U.S., given how male-dominated the tech industry is. About 43% of Amazon employees identify as women; 37% at Facebook; 33% at Apple; 32.5% at Google; and just 29% at Microsoft. And those numbers tend to drop when you only look at technical roles within these companies — only about 26% of computing roles in the U.S. are filled by women.
But the good news is that these numbers are at least rising and not falling. While still a relatively small cadre, the percentage of women inventors has grown: It stood at less than 5% in 1980, whereas women accounted for more than 17% of the inventors on U.S. patents in 2019. The percentage of women on patents is also up in 45 states when comparing 2007 to 2016 and 2007 to 2019, the USPTO report said. (Only Hawaii, Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi and North Dakota saw a contraction during that time.)
And many tech firms on the list of companies with the most awarded patents by the USPTO also increased the rate at which they had women listed as inventors on patents. IBM, Xerox, Oracle, Microsoft, Alphabet, Intel, Amazon, Adobe, Apple, Cisco and Honeywell all saw a jump in the percentage of women on patents over the last four years. That being said, the biggest jump was from 3M, which saw only 1.35 percentage-point increase over that time.
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Mike Murphy
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
People
The future of the cell phone, according to the man who invented it
Martin Cooper comes on the Source Code Podcast.
Martin Cooper with his original DynaTAC cell phone.
Photo: Ted Soqui/Getty Images
January 21, 2021
David Pierce ( @pierce) is Protocol's editor at large. Prior to joining Protocol, he was a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, a senior writer with Wired, and deputy editor at The Verge. He owns all the phones.
January 21, 2021
Martin Cooper helped invent one of the most consequential and successful products in history: the cell phone. And almost five decades after he made the first public cell phone call, on a 2-pound brick of a device called the DynaTAC, he's written a book about his career called "Cutting the Cord: The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity." In it he tells the story of the cell phone's invention, and looks at how it has changed the world and will continue to do so.
Cooper came on the Source Code Podcast to talk about his time at Motorola, the process of designing the first-ever cell phone, whether today's tech giants are monopolies and why he's bullish on the future of AI.
<div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="no" height="200px" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/21947943-bc81-43d9-9eb3-f18341a6c8b6?dark=true" width="100%"></iframe></div><p><em>The following excerpts from our conversation have been edited for length and clarity.</em><br></p><p><strong>I want to get to the phones, but before we do I want to talk about pagers, because I have this deep obsession with pagers. I think pagers are a much better example of the direct predecessor to the cell phone than landlines. Even though you couldn't make phone calls, it seems like spiritually, pagers were cell phones before they were cell phones. You made pagers, and they were huge. And I guess my big question is, why didn't pagers get their due? We kind of skip over them, but it feels like they were a big thing.</strong></p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>Well they were, at the time we did it. In the U.S. there were, at the peak, over 50 million pagers. And the principle is freedom. Our biggest customers were people like doctors, who were trapped next to their patients because they have to be available. And the pager set them free! They could go play a game of golf and know that they could get a beep and be at the hospital at 10 minutes. So the concept of freedom, I don't want to beat it to death, is really the essence of what portability is. </p><p>And since you brought the subject up, one of the battles that I'm engaged in today has to do with education and the need for broadband for education. And the solution that the FCC is proposing is wired broadband. Cable! We're going through the same thing all over again. And I am trying to persuade them that if you want to solve the digital divide in education, it's going to have to be with wireless broadband.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p><strong>I agree. And one of the other things you're involved in right now is 5G stuff, right? I spend all of my time talking to people in tech who are, let's say, overzealous about the potential of 5G. Everybody has spent five years telling me that 5G is going to change everything, that it's the panacea of technology, and I'm not sure that I see it. Tell me what you think about 5G: Is it as big of a change in how all of this stuff works as some people like to make it out to be?</strong></p><p>Not really. I think you put your finger on it: 5G is an incremental change. It introduces a couple of new capabilities to what existed in 4G. One of them is the use of millimeter-wave where there is a much bigger bandwidth, but a big handicap is the fact that the millimeter waves don't travel very far. There are other things that are done that reduce latency. </p><p>So it turns out that those two characteristics — very high speeds and low latency — are very useful in things like running a robot. If you've got a factory and you want to run robots, you're going to need those kinds of things. Unfortunately, for people like you and me, 5G does essentially nothing. You have to understand, I think 5G is a wonderful thing, and we have to keep progressing. But I don't appreciate being deluded. And the carriers have done that: They talk about having remote operations and autonomous cars and things of that nature. And guess who's paying for the 5G? It's you and me.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p><strong>OK, let's go back and talk about the DynaTAC stuff. My favorite scene in the book was when you're at a restaurant in Chicago, and a bunch of people have brought you prototypes of this cell phone. And nobody has any idea what a cell phone is supposed to look like. What's that day like?</strong></p><p>Well, you have to start at the beginning of that, because two weeks previously, I approached Rudy Krolopp. Now, Rudy didn't work for me. He ran the Industrial Design Group for this division. But he was a visionary. I told him where we were going to build a cell phone, and he said, "What's a cell phone?" And I described what a portable phone was like, and he reassigned all the people in his group to come up with their concept of what this portable phone might look like. And so I felt I had to reward them in some way. And that's why I invited them to dinner. </p><p>Each of these guys got up and presented what his vision was, of what a portable phone would look like. And they all ended up being a vision of what actually happened. There was a slide phone, there was a flip phone, and there was what they call a capsule phone. These guys were just remarkable. </p><p>We ended up picking what we called the shoe phone — for obvious reasons — because it was simple.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p><strong>You say you picked the shoe phone because it was simple, but it doesn't seem like it would necessarily be obvious that it was simple, because again, nobody had ever done this before. Most of the parts that were required didn't really exist yet. What's your criteria for thinking, "this is the one we can do?"</strong></p><p>It was mechanically simple. It was just the box. Anytime you put hinges and sliders, things of that nature, they're going to break. We actually ended up all agreeing that this was the way to go. And I wanted to make sure that I appreciated the efforts of these other guys. So even though I picked this one, we selected this as a group. Everybody agreed that this is the way to go. </p><p><strong>I guess it makes sense to say, "We have to invent 1,000 things just to make this work. Why invent 1,001 that we don't have to?"</strong></p><p>That's exactly right. [Pulls an original DynaTAC model out.] Calling this "simple" … the insides of this phone are incredibly complex, much more so than a modern phone. A modern phone has a million times the power of this box that we're looking at now. But the complexity, the number of parts — there are like 10 times more parts in the old phone, and they were all hand-soldered together. It's close to a miracle that we got one to work. And they actually got two to work!</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
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</div></p><p><strong>The timing of all this is interesting to me, because you're in the middle of this fight against AT&T. It seems like there was something about that fight, and that moment, that made this whole project go. And I was wondering, if Motorola had been super successful, doing fine, under no real threat from AT&T and the FCC, does a project like this happen? Or does it take this kind of existential threat to push something like the phone forward?</strong></p><p>How could I ever have persuaded my management to start investing? They ended up pretty much betting the company, between 1969 when the Bell System announced their desire to continue their monopoly on cellular, and 1983 when we actually have service. This battle that we engaged in lasted 13 to 14 years, and the company spent $100 million of 1970 dollars. So how would I ever have persuaded them, if we didn't have an enemy? If we didn't have to bet our whole company against them, because they would have put us out of business?</p><p><strong>You really don't think you could have pulled it off by yourself? You had a lot of power and trust and autonomy at Motorola.</strong></p><p>We would have come up with a phone, but getting the FCC to move really took a huge amount of effort. The Bell System had 200 lobbyists calling on the FCC alone. They had two guys assigned to each of the nine commissioners. At that time, our total lobbyists force in Washington was three guys, who called on the FCC, the Congress and all the government agencies. So it really took that kind of challenge to make this thing happen. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="6">
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</div></p><p><strong>So let's talk about monopolies. You've truly been in the center of fighting against one, and now we're having these same arguments again, about Google and Amazon and Apple and Facebook. What do you make about the antitrust fight happening right now? Does it rhyme with history to you, as you see all this stuff happening?</strong></p><p>It's a different problem. But it's still a problem.</p><p>There's no question in my mind that some of the practices that Google and Amazon exercise are anti-competitive. And so we've got to do something about it. But there's a difference between that and a regulated monopoly where the government decides what the price is going to be and the monopoly just makes all the decisions, and they have no competitive pressures. That's what Bell Systems did. </p><p>The whole process was different. Bell Labs — which by the way, was an extraordinary organization — had all the funding that they wanted, because they had a monopoly supporting them. And they would invent something, and they would think, "Oh, this is interesting, let's make a product." And they would turn the product over to Western Electric, which was part of the monopoly, and they would make them all and then they would turn that over to the operating companies. And the operating companies would come to you and say, "David, this is what you want, right?" </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="7">
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</div></p><p>That's exactly backwards from what we do today. Marketers today look at what people need and want, what problems they solve and they work backwards through that process. The research guys work on, hopefully, what are going to solve human problems.</p><p><strong>But then on the flip side, then come questions about how power works differently. And especially as we get to privacy and data collection and all this stuff. Bell Systems <em>felt</em> like a monopoly: You could just look at it and be like, "this is clearly a monopoly." It feels messier now, but maybe not any less consequential.</strong> </p><p>I think the real problem is not Google and Facebook and Amazon. It's the people that think they're getting something for nothing. They're not getting anything free, they're giving up their information, which has value, and they're getting less value in return. When people start realizing that and that they have alternatives, the problem is going to get solved. So once again, it sounds like I'm being overly optimistic. And it may be that the government has to intervene in the process, but the real solution there is education.</p><p><strong>Speaking of the privacy and society side of all of this, when you were in the early days of the cell phone, were you thinking about "what does it mean for society when everyone has a phone like this?" You wrote the book that you imagined that when everybody was born, they'd be given a phone number. And were you guys asking this sort of philosophical question?</strong> </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="8">
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</div></p><p>No.</p><p>You know, it's one thing to be a visionary. And I really think that we were visionaries. We stuck our necks out on that thing. But when people asked me what I was thinking of when we made the first public call, it was, "I hope this thing works." </p><p><strong>Before I let you go, I want to talk about AI. Because I think that's another place we have a lot of optimists and a lot of pessimists, and the way you seem to think about where artificial intelligence and humanity meet is about as optimistic a take as I think I've heard. So convince me that the future of AI is mostly good news.</strong></p><p><strong></strong>When I look at a product, I define the usefulness of a product, or at least the interface, as bad, good and optimum. A bad interface is one where you need an instruction manual to work something. If you have a device or a service that is intuitive — you look at it, and you could figure out what to do without looking at an instruction manual — that's pretty good technology. The optimum technology is invisible. It's there, it works for you, it solves your problem. You don't even have to think about it. Well, if you're going to do that, something has to be behind the scenes, making decisions for you. And that's artificial intelligence.<br></p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="9">
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</div></p><p>There are people that are very optimistic about how quickly that's going to happen. And it turns out that there are some things that the brain does that we haven't even figured out how to copy. It doesn't compute very well, it doesn't remember very well. But other things? It can abstract in ways that machines cannot. And so I think it's going to be a slow process, where the machines are little by little going to take over more and more of the routine things in our lives, are going to make us more efficient. </p><p>Society is much more resilient than people think. People are more resilient. People keep saying, "Oh, no, we are going down the tubes, because the kids aren't talking to each other anymore." Yes, I do see lots of cases where kids sit around the table all looking at their cell phones, but most of them are texting each other. And it takes time for society to embrace and understand new things. </p><p>These things are all new, it's going to take a generation for us to accommodate them. But human minds are very flexible. The brain is amazing. It's going to be many generations before artificial intelligences take over. And when they do take over, we won't even notice it.</p>
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David Pierce ( @pierce) is Protocol's editor at large. Prior to joining Protocol, he was a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, a senior writer with Wired, and deputy editor at The Verge. He owns all the phones.
Power
It's the most wonderful time of the year — even for patents
Santa's getting ready to deliver presents, hopefully with this drone.
A 21st century Santa.
Image: USPTO
December 24, 2020
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
December 24, 2020
Merry Christmas and happy holidays! This week's patent roundup is a special holiday-themed edition. We're giving Big Tech the week off for the holidays and focusing on some of the zanier patents that have been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for this joyous season. Some are tech-related, and some are just … pure Christmas.
Hopefully this Christmas Eve, as you curl up with some eggnog in one hand and your phone in the other, before you drift off to dream of sugar plum fairies, you'll find a Christmas miracle or two in here.
<p>And remember: The companies file all kinds of crazy patents for things, and though most never amount to anything, some end up defining the holidays.</p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=D0800603&IDKey=175CE652A82C&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D2%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Santa drone </a></h3><p>It wouldn't be a patent roundup without some drones, even on Christmas. This patent, awarded in time for the holidays in 2017, is for a drone shaped like Santa, his sleigh and what I'm guessing is Rudolph. It's just a design patent, so we don't get any details on <em>how</em> this drone works, but it looks like a wonderful, Christmassy toy rather than something more Santa-sized. That'd be a great way to keep the kids believing in Santa a little longer, though, if one of those went buzzing by your window. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Yyoa3Lyj5EVJDcHmnhxTet2kwcw1StV_HHjabbOBmKifZEx0XOHRo0nnPmb9KTYPNALlSuYsO1DtgwMkxKQjxhNixrQZT6TSd04eQnEhAAyJLkerbYEFXIhH_7M3TRO9c6d1rViY"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=07258592&IDKey=F7488E17C9C5%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D22%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta" target="_blank">Santa Claus welcome kit</a></h3><p>This seems like an amazing grift. Instead of keeping up the facade of Santa by just putting out some cookies and milk, you can use this store-bought kit! Yet more work for overstretched parents at the holidays. It comes with a diorama of a living room that the parents set up, a fake letter from Santa and a pretend boot-print to place on the floor. The kit also tells you to put the snack on the diorama, take a bite out of it after Junior has gone to bed and to fill out the letter from Santa. Seems a bit like overkill, but maybe that's just Christmas. </p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nDaT-wdbwz3WwUQs4pyBtrzky9TxvYOj_Bw1EOvhT2KopcJgyqHcDksNQvoi2hYwk7kj6CXZYnc3LjgJXWqEdeii4r6gnWC9efQIeFdG9ArXyzNGVOMcW95kXojFm6dp6SVOFu50"></p><p><br><br></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=05523741&IDKey=1C6AD415E921%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D48%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta" target="_blank">Santa detector</a></h3><p>Yet another invention devised to fool children about where their presents come from: This one feels a bit … unnecessary? It's a light-up device that can hide in a stocking that parents can turn on to announce that Santa has come. The device could even possibly play a Christmas carol. But you know what would more easily tell kids Santa came? All the presents under the tree. </p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MQJAr-5VgBu-Y_vANrfWg-SeTlIeHgLWfmdENP6unCUhoZQIkvIIXAtAnwlHSgKan2ehAQMLBVc-fXbk7SWxNUF2wWFHTElVKib5hb18C1Iznsnur85oRkzDwNMt9FHJqJ3VAexn"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10675491&IDKey=C6411C5EC94A%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D7%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dchristmas.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas" target="_blank">Christmas tree fire sensor and extinguisher </a></h3><p>This one actually seems pretty useful, albeit very difficult to set up. Many people have unfortunately witnessed the danger of a dried-out Christmas tree sparking a house fire, and this patent builds upon past inventions to create fire detector and extinguisher systems. The homeowner would have to snake spray hoses up the length of their tree, and attach them to a box that holds a fire extinguisher and a system for communicating with emergency services if it detects fire. That could well prevent someone from losing their entire home, but would definitely require a <em>lot</em> of effort to get this set up (and taken down after New Year's) when you could just buy a fake tree and some pine-scented spray. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9HbvKiGk4DeWlFSvC2N5PHEd6c6qt4Jw-ZE1omVi5Zcb2vRxm0ecac-uPgcFb0tuy7_3MoUp0ZgEebjNxmv6wJdW88S0xotkt4TAfYqqLaC58Vmy2iOTyiwJ7Ot38GWu-jPUeMbv"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10631478&IDKey=8FD85AE9B6E7%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D12%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dchristmas.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas" target="_blank">Automated Christmas tree waterer<br></a></h3><p>But if you have your heart set on a real tree, this patent might help. One of the main reasons Christmas trees become so dangerous is that everyone forgets to water them after they're brought home, which dries them out, and they turn into a giant, decorated piece of kindling. This patent is for an automated tree waterer that you can just set and forget. You fill up the large water jug that's connected to the tree base, plug in the water pump and let osmosis do its job for the length of the tree's time in your house. Just don't forget to fill up the jug or it's all for naught. </p><p>There's also <a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=07886483&IDKey=912B7B142021%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D167%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dchristmas.TI.%2526p%3D4%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas" target="_blank"><u>this patent</u></a> for a similar device that will yell at you through a speaker if your tree's water level gets too low, which seems like a useful addition. <br><br></p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/UxA12HbM2zxVTML_jStZh-rKG0dW9Z71pQ-1rbRFxrHGlPsNnaspC6sBhuCRyT9VgHw0MQ18IeygEpJ-83_NYUN2H2DEdwik254Yg1HGMLpi8DGDIK1Kx3rCkP71dXouz4LW0huG"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=04890008&IDKey=B66AF1456044%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D8%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dchristmas.TI.%2526s2%3Dautomatic.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%252BAND%252BTTL%2Fautomatic%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%252BAND%252BTTL%2Fautomatic" target="_blank">A rotating Christmas tree</a></h3><p>You probably can't use this patent in conjunction with the last one, though. Apparently the creator of this invention didn't think the ornate decorations most people put on their trees were enough to truly celebrate the holiday. "Traditional Christmas trees are inserted in a base and cannot revolve or turn," the patent says. "Flashing of lamps alone is monotonous and lacks the effect of animation." I guess that's true, though I personally haven't ever thought, "You know what would really jazz this Christmas up? If my tree rotated on a stick like the meat at a kebab shop." But to each their own. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JJVjTPpNkzphCMpYr3NXX7XS28N1GCIEBto3Dqx6Z5u72S5sSkYX-hGC9fb5XAsgoFUY07hGui90_niyzqqzNXysi8rs8_DvJeNotFrR0hJNpD7novVSUr6dsMrw5IzTnGK-NJvi"></p><p><br><br></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=05233680&IDKey=39C96C007FFE%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D94%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dwreath.TI.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fwreath%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fwreath" target="_blank">Electronic wreath with scent generator</a></h3><p>Have you ever wanted to have a light-up wreath, but not wanted to deal with dead needles? This might be the solution for you: It's a patent for a wreath-shaped object with electric lights and a heating element for "volatile aromatic liquid" — basically a wreath-shaped vape for pine-scented oil. I wouldn't recommend putting any other substances in there, though. </p><p><br><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p9UJPB_4lZIIwfvlieIHtVln4ZkT01UgQ5iXLs3uPNICob1yvrts_T9NQm7GuSnst9BrK2lZrTSAnZVHg5WnQahPhlNIybuR4fAlve_xcXfF0Xy_WwDvBWPXjvc0bTwr1vqQg09r"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=D0696491&IDKey=C15133F769CE%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D119%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dchristmas.TI.%2526p%3D3%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fchristmas" target="_blank">A bauble head</a></h3><p>"I said I wanted a bobble head for Christmas."</p><p>"Yeah, a bauble head." </p><p>"Bobble."</p><p>"Bauble?" </p><p>Maybe this is how the conversation played out that led to this fine piece of holiday headwear. Or maybe someone really just wanted a hat shaped like an ornament. Perhaps we'll never know, but I'm so glad that someone felt compelled to make this, hire lawyers and seek out a patent for it. </p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Y543Cq3It5CNw6qDqlLbBjDrLLWsqSSLRlL1yTf--yMUNKcW5uzfGDFSG71JaGDpFaeXamceNVY-RU0YwImhrrUuWqXCtiy-mM0uPQIGiNDpc5Cv3Ix-LYof-7VsifH9h3X5TJaF"></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=D0772523&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dreindeer.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Freindeer%2526RS%3DTTL%2Freindeer&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page" target="_blank">Christmas food</a></h3><p>There are, unsurprisingly, a lot of patents about food items related to Christmas. A few of my favorites: <a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=D0333546&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D58%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page" target="_blank"><u>Santa-shaped</u></a> and <a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=D0352372&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D21%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522candy%252Bcane%252522.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2F%252522candy%252Bcane%252522%2526RS%3DTTL%2F%252522candy%252Bcane%252522&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page" target="_blank"><u>candy-cane-shaped</u></a> pasta (for all your Christmas-themed mac and cheese bakes); <a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=D0772523&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dreindeer.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Freindeer%2526RS%3DTTL%2Freindeer&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>constructable reindeer pastries</u></a> (I guess you bake the pieces and put them together to make Donner and Blitzen?); and this terrifying <a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=D0511313&IDKey=5C357AE5A3FA%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D26%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>corncob</u></a> thing that looks like a gaunt Santa face, for some reason: </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/PsLN9U84rl4c8Uvfu4vPV7IgnF7bkxmxRca_90mmmDaUkMFTnyqnPsIxpOoDvyd42n_L5vjAdSxY5CdJood3AfEPxfppk5xkIGNAQ9R_5xw2HX5twu_YZOzV7Mad0mj2Vvc2xJdV"></p><p><br><br></p><h3><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=D0779171&IDKey=5FFF74B9CA85%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D3%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dsanta.TI.%2526OS%3DTTL%2Fsanta%2526RS%3DTTL%2Fsanta" target="_blank">Santa baseball cap</a></h3><p>For when it's Christmas time, but you're still worried the sun might get in your eyes as you pick off a runner stealing second. Just don't try to wear it backwards. </p><p> <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SJdiB3-gTc1iVAOBIlB7Nm6hvocXCb-EHrRnPjEYEBwTwq_RjWkSjJSv2CQqcvfXxkz6EvLZAFLyiS4YWE-L9L2_7jf_J8PftqWjAuaTInkBxQtocMJcr1xJ-OEJp-xVRga3qQQW"></p>
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Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
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Inside tech’s efforts to invest in Black banks
Tech companies are facing escalating calls to go beyond deposits.
Yelp is the latest company to announce it will be depositing $10 million across three Black-owned banks, including Carver in New York.
Photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Getty Images
December 21, 2020
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
December 21, 2020
Aaron Mitchell, the director of HR for Netflix Animation Studio, had already been working for months on a proposal to address the racial wealth gap when the killing of George Floyd rocked the country in May. Suddenly, it seemed like every company was coming out of the woodwork with pledges to invest and diversify and do better.
On May 27, Mitchell sent an email to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings asking him what he thought of a plan to invest $100 million in Black banks, a unique strategy to funnel more capital back into Black communities struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, no other corporation had made a similar public commitment. Mitchell said the $100 million was an arbitrary amount of money with symbolic significance: It was the same amount that Netflix spent on "House of Cards," a flashpoint in the company's history.
<p>"I said, 'What do you think about this as an action? There's a lot of angst, a lot of people calling for action, and I think we have something that might work,'" Mitchell told Protocol. "His answer was yes, let's work it out."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>Within 30 days, Netflix became the first large tech company to declare that it would deposit up to 2% of its holdings with Black-owned and Black-serving banks, an effort to put real money toward the fight to end the racial wealth gap.</p><p>In the months since, tech companies have become some of the most aggressive corporate players to dive into the reinvigorated "Bank Black" movement, depositing millions of dollars in financial institutions and funds serving majority-Black populations amid escalating public pressure. Netflix, Twitter, Square, PayPal and Uber have entered the fray with their own slightly different plans to invest, pledging — in widely-circulated press releases — to do their part in creating economic equality. Yelp last week became the latest company to announce it will be depositing $10 million across three Black-owned banks: Carver in New York City, Broadway in Southern California and Citizens Savings Bank in Memphis.</p><p>"We were inspired by other companies' examples of doing this and the question that almost every leader in our company is asking themselves: 'What can I personally do … from my station inside the company?'" said Miriam Warren, Yelp's senior vice president of engagement, diversity and belonging.</p><p>"Putting some money into deposit in a bank is not a crazy, radical move," Warren added. "This is something that makes sense and is obvious and, frankly, why haven't we thought about this before now?" </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p>In typical Silicon Valley fashion, the process has become almost competitive, with each company touting its strategy as the best model for others to follow. Some, like Yelp, are putting cash directly into Black-owned banks, while others are investing money in funds that have broader reach. One example: Twitter has committed $100 million to launch the Finance Justice Fund with the Opportunity Finance Network, which will invest in a network of community financial development institutions across the U.S. Twitter said it hopes its partnership will develop into a model that other companies will follow. </p><p>There's some mistrust of the Silicon Valley companies as they elbow their way into the space, considering their less-than-stellar track record on racial justice and diversity issues. And leaders in the "Bank Black" movement, including bank owners and advocates, say tech is only skimming the surface if their intention is to make a real difference in closing the country's deeply entrenched racial wealth gap, which has left white families with an average net worth that is nearly 10 times higher than the average Black family's. </p><p>"I don't think it's enough to say we're going to move deposits over, which is a great step," said Ryan Williams, the CEO and co-founder of real estate startup Cadre, who has been pushing for tech to partner more closely with Black-owned banks. "There also has to be a more holistic view on how else we can accelerate the growth and multiplication of capital these institutions are able to deploy among their communities." </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><h3>Different models</h3><p>Netflix was the first and largest tech company to choose to put money in Black-serving financial institutions this year. So far, the company has deposited $10 million with the Hope Credit Union and $25 million in financing for a new fund, the Black Economic Development Fund, which injects capital into Black-led banks, anchor institutions and business transactions. (The Black Economic Development Fund is run by Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a nonprofit.)</p><p>Last Monday, Enterprise Community Partners announced that Netflix committed $25 million toward its "Equitable Path Forward" fund, an effort to support historically marginalized housing providers. </p><p>Shannon Alwyn, Netflix's director of treasury, said more announcements are coming. She's working with a small team at Netflix to figure out where they'll put the rest of the money, in consultation with dozens of outside experts and organizations. </p><p>"When we started, we knew nothing," Alwyn said. "As I got a little more sophisticated in this, I see there's this spectrum in things you can do. On the one side it's something you'd think would be very easy, which is depositing money, which is what we did. Then the other side is creating a fund to tackle exactly what you want to do." </p><p>Each of the companies involved in the growing movement has its own model, typically using a mixture of direct deposits and investments with mission-driven funds, which provide an extra layer of distance between the companies and their money. A Twitter spokesperson said, while capital infusions directly to minority-owned banks can be beneficial, there are often limits to how much they can accept, so the Opportunity Finance Network is better equipped to handle large capital infusions. (Most community banks are not prepared to deal with an influx of millions of dollars.) </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p>In September, Square committed $25 million in direct deposits with CDFIs and minority deposit institutions, or MDIs, as well as $50 million more to separate outside funds (as well as $25 million "reserved for future investment into social impact projects"). PayPal created a $500 million economic opportunity fund and has so far committed $50 million to early-stage Black and Latinx venture funds, $50 million in LISC's Black Economic Development Fund, and $50 million to Optus Bank, which has a stated commitment to ending structural racism. </p><p>Dominik Mjartan, the CEO of Optus Bank, said he was skeptical of PayPal's announcement when it first came out over the summer. "I really was suspicious of these big announcements coming because I've seen for years how community development banks, and particularly minority-owned banks, get used for PR stunts or for purposes that may not be aligned with the genuine needs of our communities," Mjartan said. But ultimately, he reached out with an offer to talk and found himself on the phone with PayPal executives within a few days. He said PayPal's commitment is not "just noise."</p><p>To Mjartan and others, the key now is keeping up the momentum and continuing to push for the best models possible to actually make a difference. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
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</div></p><p>"I think it's a good first step — and it's very incomplete," said Rodney Foxworth, CEO of Common Future, a network that pushes for economic equality. </p><h3>Calls to go further</h3><p>Ultimately, it's not particularly onerous for a tech company to switch a small percentage of its deposits from one bank to another. It's not a donation, so the company isn't parting ways with any money, and it doesn't put its cash at risk. "Deposits and this drive to deposit money into Black-owned banks or community development banks is a great start, but you cannot solve 400 years of systemic disparities with those deposits," Mjartan said. </p><p>So Black business leaders are pushing for more: equity investments. Mjartan said equity investment was one of his initial proposals to PayPal, and he's been advising other tech executives to follow the same route, though he hasn't found much success yet. Brian Betts, the president and chief financial officer of Operation Hope, which is partnering with Twitter, said he made the same suggestion to Twitter during initial conversations, but he recognizes it's a much tougher ask. </p><p>"The easiest way [to invest] is to put deposits in, but they're less impactful," Betts said. "The longer you commit to that deposit, whether it's five or 10 years, that does improve the ability to make more of an impact. And then, of course, equity's going to be the biggest bang for the buck. It's going to make the biggest impact."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="6">
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</div></p><p>Equity investments are a much riskier and longer-term commitment, and there's often hesitance from companies' treasury departments to tie up capital for years. Netflix's Alwyn said the company realizes "that is the ultimate need," but buying shares in particular banks proved outside of the company's investment policy. "We weren't ready to make that full change as of yet," she said. </p><p>Experts agreed equity investments could become the next frontier in supporting Black financial institutions — as long as companies are willing to take the plunge. "It's my sense that that's a very unfamiliar place to the treasury departments of these tech firms," Foxworth said. </p><p>In the interim, leaders of Black banks and economic justice nonprofits are adapting to this new reality. Tech companies are cautiously forming new relationships on the ground within the movement, including with the banks and funds they're investing in, to see where the momentum will ultimately take them. </p><p>And of course, there's fear, even among some of the people partnering with tech, about the staying power of this movement and whether the powerful companies will pull their money or abandon their relationships with local banks as the public's attention wanes. </p><p>"We are making business decisions based on this movement," Mjartan said. "We are counting on this support that then allows us to lean in more than we would have otherwise. And if we lean in and they cut the ropes, we're going to crash. And that's my fear." </p><p>Cadre's Williams said companies should act aggressively now. "If we revert to the status quo and pretend there aren't real and growing disparities, five or 10 years from now, there's going to be another version of what we saw this past year," he said. "And you're going to be forced to reckon with, 'Why did you not do anything? What was the justification for inaction?'" </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="7">
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Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
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Microsoft wants to use AR to see through fog and smoke
Apple autonomous cars, AI coffee orders, emailing help and other patents from Big Tech.
See what isn't there.
Image: Microsoft/USPTO
December 13, 2020
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
December 13, 2020
It's beyond dark out at 5:30 p.m. these days, so perhaps, as you're stuck at home with nowhere to go, you're tempted to log off your bad screen and onto your good screen a little earlier than you should. Perhaps that's what happened over at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as this was a bit of a fallow week for patents from Big Tech.
That being said, there were still a few neat ones out there: Microsoft is looking into using AR to actually augment what you see; Apple is hard at work on autonomous vehicles; and Facebook, for some reason, is very concerned about the longevity of magnetic tapes.
<p>And remember: The big tech companies file all kinds of crazy patents for things, and though most never amount to anything, some end up defining the future. </p><h3>Alphabet</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=23&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=google.ASNM.&OS=AN/google&RS=AN/google" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Determining what's newsworthy</strong></u></a></p><p>There have been absolutely no problems with using algorithms to program the content that people see on their social feeds, so I can't see any issue with this patent idea. Essentially, the patent outlines crawling the web for new videos posted to sites and blogs online, and using a corpus of knowledge about the topic at hand, determining whether someone interested in that topic would find this new video interesting, and then alert them to it. It's not entirely clear how this system would moderate what it's finding and showing to people, but I can't imagine how that would be an issue. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/zu-KbFV9PD2FsHJg5gyhUxCoY63Fd7QWFXujNkPhmfNQKkU_ugeCbTLO2RVwumWGn2EHTWyVZp11zCMUndhaEeOf6nwips_QCC7KM9fM0m5tpTUkdbGGhjoGbtr4qUgVtwFhZx8_"></p><p><br><br></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10857963&IDKey=533B0027C8E8%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D2%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dwaymo.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Fwaymo%2526RS%3DAN%2Fwaymo" target="_blank"><u><strong>Encasing passengers in airbags</strong></u></a></p><p>This reminds me of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKqdgvsbfFQ" target="_blank"><u>inflatable bubble thing</u></a> James Bond used to save his life in "The World Is Not Enough." Waymo's patent outlines several different ways of automatically encasing passengers in something safe in the event of a crash, ranging from a netting and curtain design that would just hold the passengers in place to a full-on squishy safety bubble. If a self-driving car with me in it has to crash (I hear a lot of talk about Trolley Problems or some such), I hope I'm in the squishy kind. </p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/iSpVxtimzP4sorP9WAnx4dASv8vCL3XPrIfqG21DV4uRhrEumGeyX6J47m3m9uvPFvaHc4MWJs5Yen8-OWe99XL9GgohCeS9S5xtrDjwKHycRi4zYBM5jCbhwJUvMaKSbmmtgZsW"></p><h3>Amazon</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=16&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=amazon.ASNM.&OS=AN/amazon&RS=AN/amazon" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making sure you're emailing the right person</strong></u></a></p><p>Have you ever had one of those mortifying moments when you meant to email John Smith at Microsoft and you accidentally emailed John Smith at Apple? It's awkward, to say the least. But Amazon is apparently looking into helping you pick the right email addresses. Using a combination of understanding what the email writer is saying and who they've picked as the recipient would help Amazon's system determine whether they meant to choose who they have. As the patent itself says, "'Stephen is a terrible manager' is probably acceptable to send a friend in a personal interaction, but sending 'Stephen is a terrible manager' to Stephen is probably not okay."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><h3>Apple</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860034&IDKey=1F7FB7AB7355%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D63%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522apple%252Binc%252522.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522" target="_blank"><u><strong>Autonomously finding barriers</strong></u></a></p><p>Apple reportedly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-08/apple-shifts-leadership-of-self-driving-car-division-to-ai-chief" target="_blank"><u>reorganized</u></a> its vehicle project to report to the company's AI chief, John Giannandrea, and this sounds like the sort of work his team would be useful for. The patent covers the sorts of detections that autonomous vehicles will be doing as they venture out into the world, mapping static objects like barriers, fences, walls and the like, and determining that unlike people, vehicles or animals, they likely won't be moving into their path — and if they do, there's probably a bigger issue at play. </p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=55&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&s1=%22apple+inc%22.ASNM.&p=2&OS=AN/%22apple+inc%22&RS=AN/%22apple+inc%22" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making dragging and dropping on iPad a little easier</strong></u></a></p><p>Apple is slowly acknowledging the fact that, on the iPad, doing complicated stuff with a mouse and keyboard is often easier than with your fingers. But dragging and dropping content from one app to another still leaves a bit to be desired. This patent outlines a future iPad operating system where users could use multiple fingers to drag multiple images (or other files) from one program to another. It also seems to suggest a future where you can have more than two or three programs onscreen at once — rather like windows on a computer. But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-whats-a-computer-ad-sparks-anger-2018-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>what really is a computer</u></a>?</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><h3>Facebook</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=26&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=facebook.ASNM.&OS=AN/facebook&RS=AN/facebook" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making magnetic tapes last longer</strong></u></a></p><p>This probably isn't the first area of innovation that you'd expect a young tech giant to be researching. Facebook's new patent revolves around magnetic-tape data storage systems for archival purposes. Physics and entropy being what they are, these tapes tend to degrade over time, especially with continual use. This patent outlines ways to check on the health of the tapes, how often they're read and written, and to flag to administrators if they're failing. It also includes, according to the patent, a "predictive analysis method used to predict a future health status of the archival tape." Or you could, you know, just stop using tape. </p><h3>Microsoft</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860587&IDKey=563855505624%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D51%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Using AI to get your pumpkin spice latte</strong></u></a></p><p>Microsoft has a new patent about designing a conversational AI assistant that would actually be somewhat enjoyable to talk to; think the assistant in "Her," but more about selling you more stuff than achieving singularity. In one of the examples given, the user wants to know how long pumpkin spice latte season will last at their favorite cafe, BigCoffeeChain. The AI tells them it lasts well into the new year (those must be some resilient pumpkins they over there!), and uses context later in their interaction with the user to provide them with a coupon for a PSL, and later, a few questions about one of the chain's locations. It's a smart way to get more data out of customers in a rather unassuming fashion. At least there's cheap PSLs involved. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Oha5E4L8ci7IL503tnbUida4aJJjFeWu8q0ifmOSSTaV0MirTxs7VhrP80k9X0bps7fT9vQiGJZsQlCXY4a9b5T9-oX8p0m2kWXCeksitvs60BdISR2xKATW5M_z_gIHiBqEFfuL"></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860100&IDKey=43C0020DED14%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D71%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" target="_blank"><u><strong>AR glasses that can see through fog</strong></u></a></p><p>A lot of work in augmented reality seems to focus more on adding things on top of reality rather than actually … augmenting it. But this patent has some interesting ideas on how to augment the real world: It outlines using AR glasses to, among other things, see through things that impede the vision of our mere mortal eyes. Small particulates, like those in smoke, dust or fog, could be filtered out by a digital vision system, and the clearer picture could be overlaid onto the wearer's glasses. This could be useful for your average jogger or commuter, but could be life-saving for emergency services personnel. </p><p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/URzhfe1Kk4iS1HX-WcXwsCEBTAtYpGw0Qp6__24aEypBzSJhRqPfJ3YfLAsHFM6tWyzeyQAysQHU_vAcAocNXcyxPNVXpzNGYemE9c5UG_Cdrw1YAA_-US6886DMwU5rcwOYgIot"></p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=28&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=microsoft.ASNM.&OS=AN/microsoft&RS=AN/microsoft" target="_blank"><u><strong>Auto-detecting out of office</strong></u></a><br></p><p>Sometimes, when it's late on a Friday and a much-needed vacation is staring you in the face, the last thing you remember to do before leaving the office is turn on your out-of-office message. Who wants another moment in Outlook when the beach is calling? Microsoft seems to be working on a solution to this with its patent. It describes a system built into your email that could detect whether you're likely working that day or not. It would see if your usage matches how much you check your email on the weekend, and if it's about the same, it could flag to colleagues who email you that you're not likely to respond. It could also do the same thing if you forgot to turn off our OOO when you're back at work, tan and rested and still thinking about the daiquiris from last week. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
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Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
Power
Microsoft wants you to live on as a digital chatbot
Drone blimps, emotional video editing, better Apple Watches and other patents from Big Tech.
Is this the future of customer service or a really creepy way to honor loved ones who've died? Maybe both!
Image: USPTO
December 7, 2020
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
December 7, 2020
Hello patent roundup readers! It's been a while since I've brought you the latest Big Tech filings from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Blame Thanksgiving and the latest Protocol Manuals. But never fear: We're back now, and there were some truly great patents from the last few weeks. Amazon wants to edit content when it thinks you're sad and blanket the world in drone blimps; Apple is thinking about making long-living wearables; and Microsoft wants to digitally resurrect your dead loved ones.
And remember: The big tech companies file all kinds of crazy patents for things, and though most never amount to anything, some end up defining the future.
<h3>Alphabet</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=74&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&s1=google.ASNM.&p=2&OS=AN/google&RS=AN/google" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>News digests</strong></a></p><p>Keeping up with the news is a difficult task, even on slow news days (remember those?), but Google thinks it can solve it with <em>automation</em>. Based on things people have searched for and their general popularity, Google could send people daily or weekly digests of headlines. The system's algorithm would rank each item on how important it thought it would be to the user. A much easier solution: just <a href="https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/sourcecode/" target="_self">sign up for Source Code</a>. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><h3>Amazon</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10846517&IDKey=F0C0377E480F%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D95%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Damazon.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Famazon%2526RS%3DAN%2Famazon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Editing content if you look sad</strong></a></p><p>Sometimes after a rough day, we turn to music, books, games or movies to cheer us up. But what if the content we ingested was specifically tuned to reverse whatever mood we're in? Amazon is thinking about using facial recognition to try to determine what mood a person is in by their facial expressions, and then tailoring — or even editing — content to fit the mood. If you're exasperated and just want something to zone out to, the system probably wouldn't show you "Love in the Time of Cholera." Maybe if you keep wearing a mask, the system won't know what sort of content to program for you. </p><p> <img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/WTu451_5RzeaQXxBoIA6RLHTwqUg_bYxwYZxDBBAkoinKTvpXBZP0FI4eZJd9qUyeY6DqALiB-_dRD7Ogt4_-gxYdNUYCwGMXjsT3t6Zf486y3wEN-mbn8vIAbo13RT8LKPkoWIn"></p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=23&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=amazon.ASNM.&OS=AN/amazon&RS=AN/amazon" target="_blank"><strong>Connected containers that reorder more products</strong></a></p><p>Ever get down to the end of your jar of coffee beans and realize you don't have enough left for that morning cup you need? If so, Amazon's new patent might be welcome news. It outlines an internet-connected container that can gauge the weight of what's in it; if it's getting light, it can automatically reorder what you usually get. In this case, that could mean never being without your organic fair-trade medium roast coffee grounds ever again, which means more booked revenue for Amazon. </p><p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/vREx9cB_oXRKpaQTZNF_P6DFETFw2ASEkEohkNSenMXi_eEmt1r0nn0YFVEudkhBZJ5JdWf3659En9ZviONIh6n_EIjYBuy2sJE07x1SURgqHdyXJmBg4TMgidGYyKfFoILrp9cZ"></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10847041&IDKey=C38E5D387F41%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D81%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Damazon.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Famazon%2526RS%3DAN%2Famazon" target="_blank"><strong>Drone-monitoring blimps</strong></a></p><p>This looks like something out of Space Invaders. Apparently not content with the possibility of covering the sky in small delivery drones, Amazon seems to be looking into using blimps to monitor those drones, flying above them to track whether they're all doing as told. Can't wait to see Prime Air blimps replacing Goodyear at all major sporting events in the future — and everywhere else. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/pfST3BBDEb4dTuVxdbejAekPc_NTKjacNGevHsXJFYWSJ89jVUJGeg6Dgx_IbHJfJ_TNxMhPQdAz2VPzjoD1okDaBNBfRp33X2BBw5WyCs9F6Cg3IieX04lRVmbcTxEAUVZlY-dP"></p><h3>Apple</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=76&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&s1=%22apple+inc%22.ASNM.&p=2&OS=AN/%22apple+inc%22&RS=AN/%22apple+inc%22" target="_blank"><strong>Batteries in a watch band</strong></a></p><p>The Apple Watch is great, but all of the new features the company has introduced — like the always-on display and sleep tracking — really eat up a lot of battery. This new patent, though, could potentially go a long way to adding more battery capacity to Apple's watches without adding much more thickness. The idea is to basically incorporate tiny tubular cells into the design of the watch band — creating something that doesn't look wildly different from some of the bands Apple already sells today — that would still allow the watch band to be flexible. Just don't catch that band on anything! </p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fW1KfwNeg3SyViUJjbcVX2Kx0rxd4XO5czp3b9cA6NaF5BoAQqftlBdvs0oaLEQD9vmRPakvi7s4PMZXbePL_IbFgRK8ZG_gzg4wLUfMaymI9d9cL2lq3IVQboYS0i3FpYcquRtM"></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10849557&IDKey=140A921C480F%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D74%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522apple%252Binc%252522.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522" target="_blank"><strong>All-fabric wearables</strong></a></p><p>Apple is also looking into making wearables that might feel a little less like wearing a small iPhone on your wrist. This patent outlines incorporating circuits into stretchy fabrics that could even withstand being put through the wash. While I'd prefer an Apple Watch that can last more than a day or two between charges, it would probably be pretty nice to have one that I can easily wash; they do get pretty grimy after a while! </p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ZRy8idBJsHFTjmcDezHH8yZjlYE5kSA2SSeZuqupm9kgIzhzf9pwK-WWq8T1jSUtRru0arKA7Z4H6uCl1BQKQXoaPcmNtguW91o-Wmv2UTgPzrCvfGfl1q2u_BYQLT7aaVvileKb"></p><h3>Facebook</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10839313&IDKey=A15B62E53BAB%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D98%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dfacebook.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Ffacebook%2526RS%3DAN%2Ffacebook" target="_blank"><strong>Guessing who you are online</strong> </a></p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p>On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog — apart from maybe Facebook. The company is looking into how it can recognize people even if they're not logged into the social network. The patent outlines some more obvious ways — such as cookies that follow your browser around the web — as well as some deeper tracking, such as remembering logged-in users' MAC addresses, IP addresses, device serial numbers and device model numbers. Very little stays secret online these days. </p><h3>Microsoft</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10853717&IDKey=6E72242A6301%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D31%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Turning someone into a chatbot</strong></a></p><p>This is a concept I'm endlessly fascinated by. I wrote <a href="https://qz.com/1698337/replika-this-app-is-trying-to-replicate-you/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a very long story</a> about the idea of turning all your digital correspondence with another person into a simulacrum of that person and the nature of humanity, and whether we are more than the sum of our digital parts. Turns out, Microsoft appears to be exploring that very question itself. This patent envisions a system for taking digital content from a person ("images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages, written letters," the patent says) and using machine learning to train a chatbot on replicating how that person would sound. Is this the future of customer service or a really creepy way to honor loved ones who've died? Maybe both! </p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10853736&IDKey=52EB7737F123%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D29%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Combatting "notification blindness"</strong> </a></p><p>If you're not extremely ornery like me, you've probably given up trying to maintain inbox zero and keep all the apps on your phone free of unread notifications. You'll have probably missed a few important notifications in the sea of spam emails, meeting invites, podcast reminders and whatever else pings your phone each day. Microsoft is working on determining the likelihood that displaying a notification badge will cause a user to either read the notification and do something about it, or to turn notifications off for that app entirely (something I do with merciless frequency). If the system decides it's more likely that they'll turn notifications off altogether, it might not show a badge. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10852825&IDKey=DB1FA16281DB%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D64%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Playing basketball on your own</strong></a></p><p>We're having to do a lot on our own these days, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to have fun on our own. Microsoft is working on wearables that could be programmed to restrict motion to certain parts of the body, which would give the wearer a sensation of weight or touch. Done correctly, this could be used to simulate something like holding and shooting a basketball. Pair that up with an augmented reality system like HoloLens, and you've got virtual H-O-R-S-E on your hands. Who needs the NBA Bubble?</p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/CStlGCcMi-hmTmJhSRstQjewMvbuxZvGctLTVgo5j3PnKQGORTMuIJXyyDd4O9Exx1PrOUsEaCtCE0SMYYpO-VSDNFaMgguFdXbEO53czPOq9suNpH-WRvFbOrQ0b71P-edmGOIc"></p>
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Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
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