Final Week Blog 2 - Summary of Google's Losses

Since this is my last post for this class, I thought it would be nice to end with a summary of one of my primary findings, which were Google's losses. There was a nice article on Foss Patents that discusses how disastrous last month was for Google. In my blogs for the last few weeks, I have talked about how they were losing some essential lawsuits, and even if they won on some occasions their gain was much less than what they had asked for. Therefore, as the author of this article states, Google is definitely on the losing track.
Well, Google actually started off with a WIN last month, because Apple's slide-to-unlock patent was invalidated in Germany. However, this wasn't a huge win. It was just one of numerous patents that Apple holds and besides, as we can see from Android smartphones nowadays, they have come up with alternative solutions.
Next came a LOSS for Google, as the ITC ruled that Android's text selection infringed on Apple's patents. This was not a major loss, but was still bad news for Google. After this ruling, Google faced some major defeats. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, several companies signed license agreement deals with Microsoft for its Android and Chrome devices. This means that these companies admitted that such devices of theirs were infringing on Microsoft's patents. While Google has not negotiated anything with Microsoft about this yet, I think we can expect to hear something about this in the near future.
There were several other cases in which Google had "minor" wins but "major" losses. Moreover, the author of this article mentions how the previous month for Google was as bad as it was for them last month. This seriously makes me raise the question, "Was Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility a waste?" I certainly hope not, not only because I like Google, but because they spent a lot of money on that.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/april-was-disastrous-for-google-on.html

Final Week Blog 1 - A Silly Patent

Because I used to play golf, this "silly" patent immediately caught my eye. It's a linear putter device of a golf club. Basically, it is a rod that you can attach to the end of your club so that the putter becomes long enough that you can connect it to your chin. With the putter constantly connected to your chin throughout your stroke/swing, this patent inventor claims that the golf club is moved in a more consistent and linear manner.
Now, the questions to ask are: Is it
1. novel? I claim it is not. There are tons of devices out there that help improve your stroke in a similar fashion. However, I have never heard of a device that actually connects the club to your chin...
2. useful? Absolutely not. It it were useful, many golfers would be using this right now so that it would improve their scores and results. Also, using such a device when playing a round of competitive golf is prohibited by the rules of golf. Therefore, even if someone found it useful, they would be only able to use this while practicing.
3. nonobvious? It is obvious that, having the club connected to one part of your body will improve the consistency in your stroke. There is actually something called the belly putter, which is a very long putter so that you can keep the end of the club attached to your belly while you make your stroke.
I think that this patent does satisfy the enablement requirement as it does have the potential to improve your stroke. It might not help everyone improve their golf games, but it can work for some.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6659880.html