Electronics and Semiconductor Patents - an Evolution Scenario

Electronics and Semiconductor Patents - an Evolution Scenario
Author: Ash Tankha

In recent years, there has been an extensive boost in technological concepts related to electronics and electrical domain. Electronic engineering is a constantly changing and widening branch of technology. Electronics and semiconductor engineering is one of the largest and fastest growing industries. This growth has entailed a wide range of patent filing, all through. Electronics and semiconductors covers a wide range of applications we use daily, such as Television, Radio, computers, telecommunication etc, which make our life easier and enjoyable.

It helps us see, hear and communicate over enormous distances and accomplish tasks faster. Electronics plays a major role in industries like oil, energy, agriculture and many other important sectors of economy. Electronics and semiconductor patents form a subclass of electrical patents. The electrical patenting class is broadly classified into many subclasses based on the area of nce. Some subclasses include Digital Electronics, Analog Electronics, Micro Electronics, Fuzzy Electronics, Application Specific Integrated Circuit Design, Semiconductors and Semiconductor devices, etc.

Patents are further classified based on the development of their active elements involving the design and testing of electronic circuits that use the electronic properties of components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes , microcontrollers, microprocessors and transistors to achieve a particular functionality. For example, 326 is the generic class for patents related to electronic digital logic devices, circuitry and sub combinations thereof, wherein non-arithmetical operations are performed upon discrete electrical signals representing a value normally described by numerical digits. It further has subclass 12 for redundant logic having a flip flop and subclass 37 for a multifunctional or programmable logic having a flip flop.

Integrated circuits and processing architectures are other categories protected by patents. Different aspects of these technologies such as architecture, applications or designs are protected by employing different intellectual property laws. As an invention, hardware architecture and their applications are protected as utility patents while Integrated circuit designs are protected as design patents. Hence, both design concepts and hardware are protected by patents. In discharging its patent-related duties, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examines patent applications and grants patents after establishing the patenting class and patentability of an invention. The claims of a patent serve as a guide in patent prosecution and infringement law suits.

There has been a steady growth in electrical, electronics and semiconductor patents being filed and granted by U.S. patent office since 1996. About 8, 16,349 electrical patents are being granted till December 31st 2004 and every year approximately 60,000 electrical patents are granted. U.S. Patent office has approximately granted 3, 70,000 semiconductor patents, 19,279 global positioning system patents, 75,109 electronics and communication patents.

Since its inception, the patent system has attempted to balance the tension between 2 competing objectives. On one hand, the law rewards technical innovation by granting exclusive rights to individuals for worthy inventions. On the other hand, it also seeks to increase the welfare of the society as a whole by providing it with the benefits of innovation. Electronics and semiconductor patents provide public with valuable information about how to use and implement new technology once it enters public domain.

One way to trace the development of electronics and semiconductor technology is to follow the development of its active elements, the switches and valves of electronics systems. A more recent trend in circuit design is to build custom integrated circuits that include as much circuitry as possible, often combining both analog and digital circuitry on a single substrate. This area is known as application specific integrated circuits (ASIC); the designers work with relatively small prefabricated circuits commonly called macro cells. In recent years there has been an increase in patent filing because in many industries and product development companies a division of innovative labor is emerging, resulting in the licensing of existing and prospective technologies. Hewlett Packard, Sanyo and Sony are some of the leading electronic companies in the world with a growing patent portfolio over the years.

How to Qualify for Expungement

How to Qualify for Expungement
Author: Frank Benjamin Lee

Now people living in the US have an online access to qualify for an immediate expungement service. To make things simpler and faster, the Web site http://www.expunge123.com offers a 5-step expungement services’ guide. This guide provides quick expungement assistance with all the forms and detailed instructions on how to get your case expunged without an attorney. However, to know whether you qualify for expungement service, you may appear for a 60-second pre-qualification quiz. This quiz is based on the information about the basic eligibility requirements within 50 states of the US.

If you qualify for our expungement services, you become eligible for a special limited time offer and start expunging your criminal records immediately.
The expungement service offered by expunge123.com comes at an incredible price that guarantees you to expunge your criminal records within 30 days. Once you have identified whether you are eligible for website’s expungement services, just need to click the link next to your state. This link will display 2 easy options to choose from:

-No Holds Barred Full Expungement Service at $149·
-No Holds Barred Do-It-Yourself Expungement Service Kit at $85

If you opt for the first option of ‘No Holds Barred Full Expungement Service,’ the Expunge123.com specialists would handle your case from start to finish. They will research the case, fill out all the necessary forms, make the phone calls, and arrange the paperwork for you. Whereas if you opt for ‘No Holds Barred Do-It-Yourself expungement service kit,’ you’ll get all document and petitions for expunging your case in one state. You’ll also get stepwise instructions to expunge your criminal case.

However, if you need more than one criminal case expunged, sign up for the Gold package worth $299. This expungement assistance comprises a comprehensive ‘Do It Yourself Expungement Kit’. By using this kit, you can go for unlimited number of expungements in any state within the USA. This gold kit comes with various bonus gifts in addition to free unlimited consultation assistance throughout your expungement process. However, if you order the silver package worth $199, you can get just one case expunged in any one state of the US. This silver package comes with a Do-It-Yourself expungement kit, which provides you a stepwise and foolproof process to clear your DUI, misdemeanor, or felony record. Additionally, you will get various other free bonus gifts worth $360 with the silver package.

All these packages come with full 180 days’ satisfaction guarantee with a zero risk. The expungement assistance offered by expunge123.com is helpful for those who have a serious intention to clear their criminal records.

To know more about expungement assistance & services. visit
http://www.expunge123.com.

The Human Immune System: the Body's Defense Against Disease

The Human Immune System: the Body's Defense Against Disease
Author: malo

It is the most basic instinct of any living thing to fight to survive. It is for this same reason why the history of mankind has been constantly marked by various armed battles. Disputes arise because of conflicts between ideologies and religion. The desire to acquire others' resources and dominate other territories have spawned wars. Since the beginning of time, man has not experienced a respite from bitter struggles that have brought terrible death and destruction.

In a smaller scale, another battle rages on. Bacteria, viruses and other molecular elements can be seen as parties in conflict inside the new battlefield --- the human body. People are already familiar with the methodology of warfare maybe because it has been frequently taught in history classes and shown in movies. However, maybe only a few are aware of how this same process occurs within the human body.In this case, a person's body is considered the territory with all its abundant resources. The division that protects the territory, just like the armed forces in different countries, is called the immune system. If the armed forces makes use of a group of people and weaponry for defense, the immune system also has its group of cells and chemicals. As a systemic and carefully organized scheme is needed in fighting in order to win, the protecting system of the human body also makes use of what seems to be a well-planned strategy. Like any other system, however, human immunity also has its weaknesses and imperfections.

The immune system is created to protect the body from dangerous intruders called pathogens. A pathogen, upon invasion of the territory, will seek to utilize its resources in order to survive. The survival of the pathogen within the body results to infections. The type of infection that develops corresponds to the kind of pathogen that has formed it. It can either be a viral infection such as in common colds, a bacterial infection like cholera, a fungal infection such as candidiasis (yeast infection) or a parasitic infection like malaria. Either way, infections cause diseases that are detrimental people and may further lead to their death. However, the human body, just like any other territory, will not just stand by during the invasion. Upon detection of intruders, its immune system will automatically react with the similar instinct to survive.

Coded instructions within cells and other substances enable a strategically implemented process of protection. When pathogens enter the initial barrier of the body, they instantly harm the cells that they come upon. As the cells are injured or infected, it instantly releases eicosanoids and cytokins. These two serve as signals that will cause further reaction within the immune system. Eicosanoids cause the blood vessels to dilate so that the blood will rush in to the area and it also attracts white blood cells to respond. The increased blood flow results to inflammation which is characterized by redness and and swelling. Cytokins on the other hand help in the communication between white blood cells that will eliminate the pathogen, attract more immune cells like killer T-cells and promote healing of the area damaged by pathogens. This mechanism of the immune system, however, as said earlier has its weaknesses and imperfections.

Some pathogens, being more complicated to destroy, sometimes have better chances of survival and to proliferate. When a human's immune system is not anymore able to fight, external help is already needed such as antibiotics. Several antibiotics, however, are not 100% efficient and leave some bacteria to survive. These remaining bacteria often develop antibiotic resistance, particularly to those that have already been used against them and can cause a more dangerous health problem. Newer antibiotics are then necessary in these situations.

Dental Implants: Say Goodbye to Teeth Loss

Dental Implants: Say Goodbye to Teeth Loss
Author: Brad Taylor

Everyone smiles in the same language said someone and probably that is the reason why people try to repair and make their smile perfect. We use different means to try and make our teeth perfect so that we can smile with confidence. Today immense advancements have been made in the field of dentistry and due to this almost any kind of dental defect starting from stained yellow teeth to dental implants can be done easily. Dental implants are a simple procedure through which missing teeth or tooth can be replaced. A person can have missing teeth at any point of time due to different reasons like an infection, gum disease, an accident, certain medical conditions and old age. Artificial tooth replacement can be easily done by dental implants; all you need to do is find out an efficient dentist for this.

For dental implants a metal screw is placed at the jawbone, where the artificial tooth or teeth are placed. The surface where the artificial tooth will be placed is treated by plasma spraying or by sandblasting to increase the possibility of successfully doing the implant. A hole is then carefully drilled in the jawbone and the implant is placed there. The dental implant surgery is performed under a general anesthesia by a dentist who is professionally trained to do the procedure. There must be enough bone in the jaw for the dental implant to work out successfully.

However if there is not enough bone in the jaw this can be taken care of through a process called bone augmentation. The bone in the jaw and the adjoining gums must also be in good condition for dental implants to work out successfully. Before you go for the procedure, you must make sure that you have a talk with the dentist and be familiar with all the things that will be involved with the procedure. It is only after you come to know about the whole process you can decide if you want to do dental implants or not. If you are not clear about any aspect of the procedure, make sure that you make this clear and get all the answers that you are looking for. If you take a look back to history you will find instances where dental implants have been in use since very early years. Mummies from ancient Egypt have been found to be wearing gold wire and semi precious stone dental implants. Evidence of dental implants has also been found in ancient Roman and European civilizations.

Dental implants have come as a boon for people who lose their teeth an early age due to any medical condition or an accident. After undergoing dental implants make sure that you follow all the dos and don’ts as advised by your dentist. Make sure to take proper care of your teeth by following simple procedures like brushing your teeth twice daily, reducing the intake of beverage that are either too hot or too cold and eating a healthy balanced diet.

Is This the End for Spreadsheet Based Reconciliation Certification, Tracking, Control and Compliance?

Is This the End for Spreadsheet Based Reconciliation Certification, Tracking, Control and Compliance?
Author: Ted Sparrey

Since the well publicised events surrounding the collapse of Barings Bank, Enron, WorldCom, and other high-profile financial disasters – both in the US and internationally - an increasing array of legislation has been put in place to try to mitigate the future risk of a repeat of these catastrophic (in the business context) events.

In the US, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 demanded a much greater level of accountability for Directors and in the UK, similar demands of business stakeholders were made through the Combined Code on Corporate Governance originally published in 1998 (revised 2003) and in the revised Companies Act 2006.

The result has been a significant increase in corporate cost, both in terms of in-house operational and management costs as well as external Audit, Consultancy and other specialist fees to achieve and maintain compliance. A substantial portion of this cost has been as a result of defining and implementing additional, time-consuming (and often manual), control processes, review structures, and certification processes all geared toward the provision of documentary evidence of control around the processes organisations already had in place. Having achieved compliance first time round, the number of organisations electing to replace these manual control processes with technological, best of breed, process automation and improvement tools has increased significantly. Few more so than in the area of GL account control, reconciliation and certification.

Today, the vast majority of organisations world-wide still rely heavily on (Excel) Spreadsheets to manage this critical process. Spreadsheets are used to accept a download of accounts from the GL; to track responsibility for ownership of the reconciliation and review; to track the completion of the reconciliation, review, and sometimes Approval, of each reconciliation; to track queries (open reconciling items); and to attempt to aggregate the value and categorisation of those open reconciling items for the purposes of assessing materiality.

Specialist (Web-based) tools for the automation of the GL account certification process have been developed (resulting in the elimination of Spreadsheets from the process). These tools are comprehensive, encompassing reconciliation preparation, review/approval, quality assurance testing (Audit), aggregation of open reconciling items, reporting and improved program management. The solutions are starting to make major inroads in helping organisations with thousands (to hundreds of thousands) of GL accounts to finally take complete control of the process - whilst driving real monetary benefit through efficiency and time-saving at the same time as ensuring compliance.

Organisations with a distributed National or International infrastructure are particularly well suited to this type of Web-based technology that provides for global visibility into the status of the reconciliation program.
For more information contact Ted Sparrey.

Spreadsheet Risk Management and Compliance

Spreadsheet Risk Management and Compliance
Author: Ted Sparrey

The increasing focus on continuous process improvement, risk management and compliance within financial control functions as a result of the introduction of Sarbanes Oxley and other legislation has identified a potentially critical weakness for many corporates.

The reliance on Spreadsheets for critical financial reporting processes, consolidation, reconciliations, commission calculations, revenue recognition and other finance processes leading up to the release of financial statements is a major risk for many major corporates.

The lack of risk management processes around these Spreadsheets is another major audit and compliance risk.

Recently, a clutch of software companies have launched technological solutions to help organizations tackle the risk involved in the utilization of Spreasheets in critical financial reporting processes. Some have extended the reach of control to include Access Databases too.

What we have seen is a range of solutions, some basic - some very elaborate, that feature a range of activities including federated search, inventory, risk assessment, remediation, secure storage, access control, version control, change management, link migration management, cell by cell auditing and dashboard reporting features.

The leading provider right now is Prodiance Inc. www.prodiance.com a partner of Trintech Inc. www.trintech.com a leading provider of reconciliation, compliance and risk management technologies. Competition comes from Cluster Seven, Finsbury and a clutch of others that have tried and failed to match Prodiance's lead in the market place.

For more information on Spreadsheet Controls and Risk Management, don't hesitate to contact me at ted.sparrey@supaworld.com.

Structured Settlement Factors

Structured Settlement Factors

Author: Samuel Towers

What Do Factors Do?The term 'factors' might be a little confusing to the layperson. Typically, the word is used in the sense of causative factors that lead to some result. In the financial world, however, factors are like bankers, a class of financiers. Factors buy future payments from present recipients and pay them a discounted sum as the price of the payments. They then collect the payments direct from the payers in due time. This works because the original recipient is legally able to assign the right to receive payment to the factor.

Traditionally, factors bought 'accounts receivable' from business entities that sold on credit. The business might have to give credit to increase sales volumes. However, the business could do with immediate cash for its operations. In such a situation, the accounts receivable were assigned to a factoring company that paid a discounted sum as immediate payment.

With the increasing demand from structured settlement recipients for immediate cash, a new class of factors, known as structured settlement factors, have appeared in the market. These factors buy future payments under such settlements and pay the recipients a sum based on the 'present value' of those payments.

What Do Discounting and Present Value Mean?

The terms 'discounting' and 'present value' relate to the 'time value' of money. Money in hand today has more value than the same amount received at a future date. If you have 1000 dollars in hand now, and invest it in a security that pays 6% interest every quarter, your 1000 dollars would become 1061.36 dollars at the end of one year. It is assumed that you don't take out the interest, instead allowing it to be added to the principal at the end of the quarter. Next quarter's interest would then be computed on this interest-added principal.

The above case is an example of compound interest. Compound interest could make even small sums into big sums over the course of many years. Discounting is always done at a particular rate of interest. The discounted value of a future payment is what we call present value. In the above example, if you receive 1061.36 dollars at the end of one year, its present value would be 1000 dollars. There are formulae, and readymade tables, to compute present values of sums received at any future date. The structured settlement factor discounts each of the future payments that you are selling, and total them up to arrive at the present value of the payments. They would pay you a sum based on this present value.

Can You Just Go to A Factor and Sell Your Structured Settlement?

Unfortunately, the process of accelerating your cash receipts by selling future payments is not a simple one. Structured settlements are considered socially more desirable because people tend to dissipate large sums in wasteful ways. Hence, laws have made it a complicated process to accelerate the payments.

Typically, you would need permission from a court to assign your future payments to a third party. Before giving such permission, the court would look at all relevant aspects and determine whether the sale is in your best interests. The court process takes a little time.

There would also be a lot of negotiations between you and the structured settlement factor. You seek the help of your attorney for the negotiation. In some states, it is mandatory to involve an attorney. These too take some time. Assuming everything goes well, you could get your money in about four to six weeks.

Chances of court approval and quick conclusion are brightened if you deal with an experienced structured settlement factor, who deals with you ethically and up front.For more read at http://www.structuredsettlements.bz

Law Firm's Malpractice Causes Nightmare for Pre-law Students

Law Firm's Malpractice Causes Nightmare for Pre-law Students
Author: Lsat Fraud

Law Firm's Malpractice Causes Nightmare for Pre-Law Students

For several years LSAT students across the country have been defrauded by a Houston business passing itself off as our company. Students visiting the www.testmasters.com website—which is controlled by the Houston company—often mistake it for our website and pay over $1000 each to enroll in the LSAT courses advertised on the site. These students think they are signing up for the TestMasters LSAT Course but end up getting "the worst course on the market", to quote one of the confused consumers. When students discover that they have signed up for the wrong course and seek refunds, the Houston company either refuses to give the students their money back or requires that the students sign legal waivers and gag orders in exchange for refunds.

TestMasters has created thewebsitewww.duanemorriscommitsmalpractice.com to inform consumers about this scam and its underlying causes. The site reveals how one of the country’s largest law firms—Duane Morris—enabled the Houston business to cheat aspiring lawyers out of their time, their money, and in many cases, their futures.

For More information please visit www.duanemorriscommitsmalpractice.com

On May 22, 2007, Duane Morris attorney Felice Schonfeld telephoned the TestMasters office and spoke to one of our customer service representatives. Ms. Schonfeld was seeking to enroll two of her sons in the TestMasters LSAT course, but previously had been misdirected to the imposter company. She began the conversation by stating that she was "very confused." When Ms. Schonfeld learned that two different LSAT preparation companies with the same name were operating in the same geographic markets, she described the situation as "awful… I have never seen anything like this… This is terrible." She then went on to proclaim, "You’ve got confusion here… I’m a trademark attorney, for God’s sake. There’s nobody that’s going to be less confused than me, and I was confused. You’ve got the worst confusion situation, frankly, that I have ever seen in my thirty years of practicing." Ms. Schonfeld correctly observed that TestMasters is suffering great damage as a result of the confusion: "You’re losing, I am sure, a tremendous amount of income here."

"Get outta here—where’s your trademark attorney?" asked Ms. Schonfeld. That’s exactly what I was wondering when I found out about the Fifth Circuit’s decision. No one at Duane Morris informed me of the decision until six days after it was rendered, and by that point the deadline to file an emergency en banc appeal had drawn dangerously near. When I demanded to speak to Mr. Redano, I was told that he had gone to Alaska on a two-week fishing trip the day after he had learned of the Fifth Circuit’s decision. I tried repeatedly to contact Mr. Redano, but like a coward he refused to take my calls. As a result, we had no choice but to hire a different law firm at the last minute to file the emergency appeal. After collecting almost one million dollars in attorneys’ fees, Mr. Redano was suddenly nowhere to be found. Having lost our federal trademark and put our company’s future in jeopardy, he decided it was time to hang the Gone Fishin’ sign on his office door. Apparently we were no longer of any use to Mr. Redano.

This untenable situation—in which two different LSAT preparation companies are operating under the same name in 48 states—is precisely what trademark law is designed to prevent. Had Duane Morris provided TestMasters with competent legal representation, this situation would never have arisen. If our federal trademark had been upheld, the imposter company would have been legally precluded from using the TestMasters name outside of Texas. In addition, since we would have gained control of the www.testmasters.com domain name, the imposter company would not have been able to use that domain name to deceive consumers on the internet. Since the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in 2002, TestMasters has spent millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees in an attempt to remedy the situation, but to no avail. The federal courts have projected the Fifth Circuit’s ruling indefinitely into the future, taking the position that we can never establish trademark rights because we failed to do so back in 2001. As hard as we try, we can never seem to get out from under the wreckage that has resulted from Mr. Redano’s malpractice.

Orange County Defense Attorney Firm

Orange County Defense Attorney Firm
Author: Ron Victor

Orange county criminal defense lawyers play the dominant role in the market. Criminal lawyers play the essential role in the market and huge number of clients who are involved in the activity of criminal. The responsibility of criminal defense lawyers pertains to be higher. Orange county criminal defense attorney provides excellent services to the client for reasonable prices. Criminal defense lawyers are available in more numbers and they provide service with regards to proper guidance and profession. Orange county criminal attorney will handle all kinds of criminal cases of the state clients.

Criminal defense lawyers comes under different categories and they are categorized as Orange county DUI attorney, Orange county defense attorney, Orange county Burglary Attorney, Orange county DMV lawyer, Orange county Abuse attorney, Orange county dui attorney, Orange county Felony attorney, Orange county Drug lawyer and many other kinds of criminal lawyers are available in the market. Orange county criminal defense lawyers are licensed lawyers and they provide lawyer service. Each defense lawyers follows some of their procedures and finally makes the people to be relived of the crime. Criminal lawyers defend the criminals for reasonable and affordable price consideration.

Orange county criminal lawyer are available in all over the states and they all provide the excellent services either individually or group. Criminal defense lawyers team helps to defend the clients who are arrested has criminal under court of law. The arguments and proceedings of the criminal defense lawyer will be different from individual to another. With regards to various statute and laws of the state and federal government, criminal defense lawyer will handle the case differently. Generally, orange county defense lawyer should have obtained license in the state to perform the function of defense lawyer.

As per the responsibility, the orange county defense attorney will perform the service as per arrestment of the client for the criminal activity. When the client has been arrested for any accuse, then the client will be defined under category wise. In Orange County there are huge number of defense lawyers available and each attorney compete with each other. Defense lawyers are the person who represents themselves for the criminals or accuse and they works legally and lawfully for the clients of different states. Generally, defense lawyer satisfies the requirement of the client and enables the client to come out from the site.