Law and Innovation

It is not just a watch. It is a masterpiece of intellectual property (IP) rights. It is not just a revolutionary product. It is the next chapter in Apple Inc.’s story. Apple believes in technology designed for the wrist (such as a smartwatch), but also in a strong design patent protection strategy. To protect this wearable, as a result of their investment, Apple applied for and received several design patents. Every detail is protected: the drawer where the watches are shown, the bracelet, the “slide-in” interchangeable strap system mechanism, the digital crown, the display, the charger, the retail box, etc. Future innovations will however continue to copy this kind of consumer products and challenge the Courts. In this context, developing and/or acquiring intellectual property rights may create a solid foundation for growth and success. Indeed, a winning exploitation of IP assets, including but not limited to know-how, patents, trademarks, aligned with your passion for innovati...

Fresh and interesting article posted on TechCrunch about Pebble's fantastic smartwatch that is growing up very vast. It's not a secret anymore, the smartwatch industry and its key players are expanding. Some companies still have smartwatches in their development pipeline and many expect 2015 to be a big year for the technology. Whether or not customer adoption will follow this path as it did with smartphones, that's another story. I am currently working on an article concerning the intellectual property protection of graphical user interfaces for swartwatch that will be posted very soon.  Happy reading!  "Early this morning, we noted that the Pebble Time — Pebble’s new color e-ink smartwatch — had smashed through its $500,000 goal in an absolutely preposterous  seventeen minutes .   We don’t generally do play-by-play updates on Kickstarter campaigns, but this one is a bit too crazy not to note. The Pebble train just won’t stop. Nine hours after ...

Tech predictions for 2015 are all around: A smartphone-PC marriage , cyber attacks, the continuing rise of wearable technology (particularly smart watches), phablets, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, mobile payments system, etc. In sum, 2015 is going to be exciting!  But what about smartphones, more precisely, iPhone? It seems the iPhone generation is over. La boucle est bouclée. Most of the mobile trends to watch in 2015 articles are talking about everything related to mobile except a new iPhone... and that makes sense.  Let's take a closer look at the Apple iPhone timeline and evolution And now at the Apple iPad timeline and evolution And finally a closer look at the recent iDevices Considering how big the iPhone 6 Plus is, a new iPhone 7 seems unlikely. A "super" mini iPad too. The iDevice generation is completed. And that's a good thing. Big improvements are sometimes better than small new evolutions. Or perhaps Apple is still ...

Fresh and interesting article posted in the fashion section of the New York Times about how stylish tech bracelet, iWatch (Apple), and smartwatches will (very soon?) sink Switzerland and Swiss watchmakers. Happy reading! "It’s time we stopped calling the current crop of gadgets “wearable tech.” Instead, I propose we start giving them a more appropriate name: “ugly tech.” Because let’s be realistic, most wearables today are really, really ugly. Take the Pebble , a smart watch with a black-and-white screen, which first had its debut on Kickstarter in 2012. While geeks love the watch for its ability to show text messages and emails, the device itself looks like a small Kindle strapped to your wrist. Smartwatches made by LG, Samsung and Sony aren’t much better, with cheesy faux leather or rubber straps, and thick masculine watch faces that look as if they’re supposed to be paired with a pocket protector. The Neptune Pine watch is so large, with its 2.4-inch ...

Apple just sent out invitations for the Apple event occurring on September 9, 2014.  Only a couple of days to the big event. Let the countdown begin... 

Fresh and ( very) interesting  article posted on Wired about the imminent future of wearable technologies.  Happy reading!  "Data will not help you if you can’t see it when you need it. For Dan Eisenhardt—a competitive swimmer for more than a decade, beginning as a 9-year-old in his native Denmark—the data he needed in the water, what he could never know in the water, was his splits. His event was the 1,500-meter freestyle, the longest slog in the sport, a near-mile of grinding exertion divided into 15 laps of 100 meters apiece. As with every distance sport, pacing is all; lag your target time on the first two laps and you may never catch up, but accidentally beat it and you’ll load your tissue with lactic acid, doom your endgame. How fast was his last lap? How did it compare to his usual pace? His coach up on the pool deck could know, his parents in the stands could know. But Eisenhardt, at war in the water, could only guess. The rigors of engineering school e...

Fresh and interesting article from The Columbus Dispatch concerning a San Diego County Traffic Court case which found a California woman not guilty after being cited for wearing the computer-in-eyeglass device while driving ( i.e . Google Glass). "SAN DIEGO — A California woman thought to be the first person cited for wearing Google Glass while driving won her case last week, but legal experts predict that it’s only the beginning of numerous court battles fought in the gap between today’s laws and fast-arriving technology. Cecilia Abadie was found not guilty last week after being cited for wearing the computer-in-eyeglass device while driving. San Diego County Traffic Court Commissioner John Blair said there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the device was operating while she was driving. But Blair stopped short of ruling that it is legal to drive while Google Glass is activated. Abadie was cited under a code banning operation of a video or TV screen a...