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Genie Energy Ltd. to Present, Live, at "The Shale Revolution" Virtual Investor Conference on July 11th
Company invites Main Street and Wall Street investors to attend interactive real-time virtual conference
NEW YORK, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA) today announced that Avi Goldin, Chief Financial Officer, will present at RetailInvestorConferences.com.
DATE: July 11, 2013
TIME: 1:15 PM EDT
LINK: www.retailinvestorconferences.com > click the red "register / watch
event now" button
This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time - both in the presentation hall as well as the company's "virtual trade booth." If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an on-demand archive will be available for 90 days.
It is recommended that investors pre-register to save time and receive event updates.
About Genie Energy Ltd.
Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA) is comprised of IDT Energy and Genie Oil and Gas (GOGAS). IDT Energy is a retail energy provider supplying electricity and natural gas to residential and small business customers in the Northeastern United States. GOGAS is pioneering technologies to produce clean and affordable transportation fuels from the world's abundant oil shales and other fuel resources. GOGAS resource development projects include a conventional oil exploration program in Israel and in-situ oil shale projects in Colorado, Israel and Mongolia. For more information, visit www.genie.com.
About RetailInvestorConferences.com
Since 2010, RetailInvestorConferences.com has been the only monthly virtual investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for presenting companies to meet directly with retail investors using a graphically-enhanced online platform.
Designed to replicate the look and feel of location-based investor conferences, Retail Investor Conferences unites PR Newswire's leading-edge online conferencing and investor communications capabilities with BetterInvesting's extensive retail investor audience network.
SOURCE Genie Energy
/CONTACT: Genie Energy Investor Relations - Bill Ulrey, 973-438-3848, invest@genie.com; RetailInvestorConferences.com - Bradley H. Smith, bradley.smith@prnewswire.com, 201.942.7157
/Web site: http://www.genie.com
Implant Sciences Sells 11 Quantum Sniffers for Critical Infrastructure Protection to Saudi Arabia
Press Release: Implant Sciences Corporation – 19 minutes ago.. .
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WILMINGTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2013) - Implant Sciences Corporation (OTCQB: IMSC), a high technology supplier of systems and sensors for homeland security and defense markets, today announced it has won a contract for 11 Quantum Sniffer™ QS-H150 handheld explosives trace detectors (ETDs) from a customer in Saudi Arabia. The units will be deployed for critical infrastructure protection in a multi-layered security environment.
"Our systems perform consistently in environments with wide temperature variations and in windswept and sandy conditions. The ability to perform in these settings is absolutely vital for ETD equipment in the Middle East," stated Implant Sciences' Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Dr. Darryl Jones. "Further, the low cost of maintenance and user-friendly interface make them the preferred choice for a growing number of customers worldwide."
About the Quantum Sniffer™ QS-H150 Handheld Explosives Trace Detector
The Quantum Sniffer QS-H150 utilizes Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) technology, providing fast, accurate detection of trace amounts of a wide variety of military, commercial, and homemade explosives. Built with no radioactive materials and featuring a low-maintenance, self-calibrating, and self-clearing design, the QS-H150 provides very high levels of operational availability. The QS-H150 has been proven to perform well in a wide variety of temperatures and challenging environments, from humid jungles to dry, sand swept deserts.
About Implant Sciences
Implant Sciences is the leader in next generation Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) technology. In January 2013, the Company became only the third ETD manufacturer, and the sole American-owned company, to have product approval from the US Transportation Security Administration. Implant Sciences has developed proprietary technologies used in its commercial explosives and drugs trace detection systems, which ship to a growing number of locations domestically and internationally. Implant Sciences' QS-H150 portable explosives trace detector has received Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology Designation and, in addition to receiving TSA approval for air cargo screening, the Company's QS-B220 has also received a Developmental Testing & Evaluation (DT&E) Designation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technology Act of 2002 (the SAFETY Act). For further details on the Company and its products, please visit the Company's website at www.implantsciences.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks that our explosives detection products and technologies (including any new products we may develop) may not be accepted by the Transportation Security Administration or by other U.S. or foreign government and law enforcement agencies or commercial consumers of security products; economic, political and other risks associated with international sales and operations could adversely affect our sales; our business is subject to intense competition and rapid technological change; the risks that our markets are subject to technological change and that our success depends on our ability to develop and introduce new products; and other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions which could differ materially from the forward-looking statements.
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Contact:.
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Terrorism still a threat for East Africa embassies
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press
Published: Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 3:17 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 3:17 p.m.
As President Barack Obama prepares to visit East Africa, nearly 15 years after terrorists bombed two U.S. embassies here, security experts say that the region still faces threats from militants.
Obama is scheduled on Monday to visit Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of Tanzania, which along with Nairobi was the site of near-simultaneous embassy attacks in August 1998. The attacks killed 224 people, mostly Kenyans, but also a dozen Americans. Obama is likely to visit the memorial for the victims of the Tanzania attack.
The threat of terrorism has increased since the Osama bin Laden-masterminded attacks, said a top Kenyan security official who added that intelligence capabilities have also increased and that the situation "is under control." Obama is not visiting Kenya.
The latest U.S. State Department Country Report on Terrorism for Tanzania said that the country has not experienced a major terror attack since the embassy bombing, but that Tanzania's National Counterterrorism Center said the June 2012 arrest of an al-Shabab associate shows that terror groups have elements inside Tanzania.
Kenya, though, faces more security concerns, given its shared border with Somalia. Scott Gration, the immediate past ambassador in Nairobi, worries that security at the Nairobi embassy has been "complacent" and may not have had adequate priority in the recent past.
Gration, a retired U.S. Air Force major general, told The Associated Press this week that during one period of his yearlong tenure as ambassador the American security staff saw its personnel numbers cut in half because of things like personnel changeovers known as gaps.
"When it cuts down to 50 percent, including the head guy, that's a little bit much and to me that indicates there wasn't the sense of urgency that there needs to be, or maybe we've become a little bit complacent and arrogant, and that became an issue for me," said Gration, who still lives in Nairobi and runs a technology and investment consultancy.
"You know what Kenya's like. There are grenades going off, in Mombasa, in Wajir, even in Nairobi," he said.
The period of the 50 percent reduction occurred about four months prior to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, he said, in which four Americans were killed, including the ambassador, on Sept. 11, 2012.
The Nairobi Embassy is ranked as a "critical" threat posting for terrorism and crime by the State Department.
"There are 179 countries (with embassies). Take your gaps other places, but don't take your gaps in a high threat area. So it was surprising to me that we would take a reduced capability in a place like Benghazi, Nairobi and other places, though I think that this has been corrected by the investigations and by the media" scrutiny, said Gration.
Hilary Renner, the State Department spokeswoman for the Bureau of African Affairs, said she could not comment on specific security operations, measures or personnel assigned to the Nairobi Embassy.
"The safety and security of U.S. personnel serving abroad is one of the State Department's highest priorities," she said by email. "We continually assess and evaluate the security of our missions, and make appropriate adjustments, as needed."
Gration also declined to say how many security personnel work in Nairobi. But an official familiar with the security arrangements said the embassy has only about five American security personnel, meaning a reduction of 50 percent would have been two or three people. The embassy also employs Kenya security personnel. The official said he was not allowed to be quoted by name.
Though no major attacks against U.S. interests have occurred in East Africa since 1998, the region has its share of terrorists, including al-Shabab militants in neighboring Somalia, a group with ties to al-Qaida.
Also, Kenyan officials last year arrested two Iranian agents said to be from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite and secretive unit, who were found with 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of the explosive RDX. Kenyan officials have said the two may have been planning attacks on American, British or Israeli interests.
The new U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were built far off the street, with multiple layers of physical security, making a repeat of the truck bomb that tore through the street-side Nairobi embassy in 1998 unlikely.
Renner said the U.S. works closely with host governments on security matters. And the U.S.-Kenya security relationship - in particular the relationship the FBI has with Kenya's Anti-Terrorism Police Unit - is seen as strong.
The threat of terrorism is high in East Africa, as a result of decades of instability in Somalia, said a top Kenyan police official. The official, though, said he doesn't think al-Shabab or al-Qaida can carry out large-scale attacks in Kenya, and instead have resorted to small-scale attacks with grenades. The official spoke on condition he wasn't identified because he was not authorized to share the information.
Kenyan police last September said they disrupted a major terrorist attack after they found four suicide vests, two improvised explosive devices, four AK-47 assault rifles and 12 grenades in Nairobi's main ethnic Somali community, Eastleigh.
More than three dozen presumed terrorist incidents were reported in Kenya in 2012, mostly grenade attacks, that were generally attributed to al-Shabab, according to the latest U.S. State Department Country Report on Terrorism for Kenya. It said Kenya showed persistent political will to secure its borders, apprehend terrorists and cooperate in regional and international counterterror efforts.
The Benghazi attack has greatly increased the focus on security on overseas embassies. The State Department's diplomatic security budget increased from about $200 million in 1998 to $1.8 billion in 2008. But a recent Government Accountability Office report found that there has been little long-range strategic planning for embassy security.
Gration said he was in the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia during the 1996 bombing that killed 19 Americans. He was also in the Pentagon when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Despite the criticism of the U.S. security posture during a two-month period in Nairobi, he said: "I truly believe the State Department is doing a great job. They're working hard. There was some small aspects of things that I disagreed with."
Gration was a national security adviser to Obama's first presidential campaign and resigned his job as ambassador in June 2012 ahead of a U.S. government audit critical of his leadership.
Gration said that as he's thought about security over the years, he's concluded that it's impossible to protect oneself completely.
"So yes we're still vulnerable when we're overseas or in America to an attack, and it can be well organized, or it can be disorganized and they can still do a lot of damage," Gration said. "So it's a false security to think we can ever be free of attacks against our interests overseas or even in the homeland."
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Associated Press reporter Tom Odula contributed to this report.
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District Judge William H. Orrick Joins San Francisco Division
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is pleased to announce that United States District Judge William H. Orrick, the court’s newly-appointed Article III judge, has joined the court’s San Francisco division, filling the seat vacated when Distict Judge Charles R. Breyer took senior status.
Prior to his nomination to the court, Judge Orrick served in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2009-2012, most recently as the deputy assistant attorney general supervising civil immigration litigation. A graduate of the Boston College Law School and Yale University, Judge Orrick began his legal career as an attorney with the Georgia Legal Services Program in Savannah, Georgia from 1979-1984. Judge Orrick was a long-time partner with the law firm of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP in San Francisco, where he practiced civil litigation from 1984 to 2009 and for the past ten months while he awaited confirmation. His father was a member of our court from 1974-2001.
Judge Orrick received his commission on May 16, 2013 and was sworn in by Chief Judge Claudia Wilken on May 20, 2013. He will begin receiving cases from the assignment system at the end of June, including both new cases and reassignments from other judges. Judge Orrick will hold proceedings in Courtroom 2 on the 17th Floor. The court warmly welcomes Judge Orrick to the federal bench.
Israel natural gas exports worth $60bn over next 20 years
By John Reed in Jerusalem
©Lihee Avidan
The Sedco Express drilling rig above the Tamar gas field in the Mediterranean
Israel’s government on Wednesday said it had reached a long-awaited decision on exports of its offshore natural gas, which it said would bring the country a windfall of $60bn of profits over the next two decades.
Government officials led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that they had decided to reserve 60 per cent of the gas for domestic use. They said this amount would be enough to meet Israel’s gas needs for at least the next 25 years.
The proportion of gas Israel is reserving for its domestic market is slightly higher than the 52 per cent recommended by a government committee charged with devising export policy, which presented its findings last year.
The Israeli government’s decision on the Tzemach committee’s findings had been awaited by investors in the sector, led by Noble Energy of the US and Israel’s Delek. The two companies began pumping gas at the offshore Tamar field earlier this year, and wanted clarity on government’s export guidelines before moving to exploit the larger Leviathan field.
Analysts say that Israel’s Mediterranean gas finds, among the largest of their kind in the world in recent years, have the potential to boost the economy for years to come and could transform the Middle East’s energy map.
Noble and Delek are studying projects around exporting liquefied natural gas or pumping the resource via pipelines to Turkey, Jordan, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and possibly Egypt.
Israel’s government is set to keep 60 per cent of profits from gas exports for itself, it said on Wednesday, in line with its current royalty policy.
Gas from the Tamar field, which for now supplies only the Israeli market, is due to contribute nearly one percentage point to the country’s GDP growth this year.
Mr Netanyahu said he had reached the decision on gas exports in conjunction with Yair Lapid, finance minister, Silvan Shalom, energy and water resources minister, and Stanley Fischer, outgoing governor of the Bank of Israel.
His government said the decision “balances the need to ensure a source of available and affordable energy for the citizens of Israel and the need to export gas from which the state will generate profits to be invested in the welfare and safety of citizens.”
It will be submitted for approval by Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet on Sunday.
The decision comes in the context of growing resource nationalism in Israel, championed by a new cohort of populist members of parliament that took power after January’s national election.
Earlier this week Mr Lapid announced the establishment of a committee due to examine the royalties paid by private entities profiting from Israel’s natural resources other than gas.
The committee will be headed by Eytan Sheshinski, who headed an earlier committee that advised government on natural gas taxation policy in 2011. Shares in Israel Chemicals, which produces potash fertiliser at the Dead Sea Works, plunged on the news.
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Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Times Square bicycle bomber video released; FBI offers reward
video provided by the FBI shows the moment of detonation in the March 2008 Times Square bombing in New York. (FBI / AFP/Getty Images)
By Tina Susman
June 18, 2013, 1:02 p.m.
A bicycle-riding bomber who attacked a Times Square military recruitment station may have been involved in two similar unsolved bombings in New York City, the FBI and police said Tuesday as they released video of the suspect and offered $65,000 for information leading to his capture.
The video runs for 7 minutes and 8 seconds and shows the bomber cycling down 7th Avenue through the heart of Times Square at 3:38 a.m. March 8, 2008. When he reaches the Armed Forces Recruiting Station at 43rd Street, he places the bomb near its entrance, lights a fuse, and pedals away.
Despite the hour, several people and cars pass by the station, which is at one of the city's busiest intersections. The bomb explodes about 3:40 a.m., sending a massive white cloud into the sky. Within one minute, a police car swerves into view and stops at the scene.
Nobody was wounded in the bombing, which broke windows and damaged walls. But officials said the blast -- built using ammunition commonly found on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan -- could have caused "significant casualties" if people had been nearby when it exploded.
"The fact is, the bomber narrowly missed killing or injuring passers-by who can be seen clearly in the vicinity, moments before the blast," New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Authorities released the video now in the hope of generating leads in the 5-year-old case.
In a statement, the FBI office in New York said the details of the bombing were similar to one that occurred in May 2005 outside the British Consulate in New York and another in October 2007 at the Mexican Consulate. Those bombs also were delivered by someone on a bicycle and detonated between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
"Someone, somewhere knows something about a bomber who's still on the run," the FBI's assistant director-in-charge in New York, George Venizelos, said in a statement.
The video shows the bomber, clad in a hooded sweatshirt, cycling through midtown Manhattan from various angles but never provides a clear view of his face. His blue Ross bicycle was found dumped near Madison Avenue and 38th Street. It was captured by surveillance cameras set up throughout New York City and used by law enforcement in criminal investigations
Radiation causes cancer!
Mar 29, 2010 ... Does ionizing radiation cause cancer? Ionizing radiation is a proven human carcinogen (cancer causing agent). The evidence for this comes ...
Ms FrankBooth7 get an education!
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/medicaltreatments/radiation-exposure-and-cancer
That is what my post was pointing out!!
IMSC is non radio
and the rest cause cancer..
From Ted M a poster on SI:
Thanks for the post about Smith's approval for its portable device.
Questions:
1. Is it now on the 'approved' list? The PR didn't say it is.
2. How is approval for portables different than approval for bench-tops?
3. What is supposed to happen with the portables that expire at the end of June? Are they to be replaced by other portables, or bench-top?
4. Why isn't IMSC's portable being tested with the TSA?
5. Why is all this so confusing?
MMTD Radiation Source
63Ni, sealed 15 mCi
--------------------------
http://www.smithsdetection.com/mmtd.php
MULTI-MODE THREAT DETECTOR
enlarge
Feature Highlights
Department for Transport, Aviation security screening approved for cabin baggage, cargo, hold baggage and passengers
Rugged hand-held detector that identifies of explosives, narcotics, toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents in one system
Simultaneous detection and identification of explosives and narcotics from a single sample
Proprietary scan sequencing to detect conventional and home-made explosives
Truncated alarm for faster clear down
Additional Highlights
Remote, unattended operation capability with Wi-Fi/Ethernet
Intuitive, easy to use interface using a Windows® CE based platform
Unlimited data storage via SD memory card
Up to 5 hours of uninterrupted operation with hot-swappable battery
Integrated USB
The Multi-Mode Threat Detector (MMTD) takes portable threat detection to a new level without compromising portability or functionality. Designed to IP54 rating for operation in extreme environmental conditions, the MMTD is a rugged, portable hand-held system for the rapid detection and identification of explosives, narcotics or CWA/TICs, featuring an optimized detection capability for peroxides, taggants and methamphetamine precursors.
Four operating modes are available, including a dual mode setting for simultaneous detection of explosives and narcotics from one sample. Operators can also quickly switch between particle or vapor analysis methods to utilize the best method for detecting the suspected threat.
Other features include up to five hours of uninterrupted operation with the two hot-swappable batteries (included); remote, unattended operation for one or more units with alarm and status information reported to Command & Control via Wi-Fi/Ethernet; unlimited data storage via SD card; and USB port for exporting results. The included software allows advanced operators to perform more in-depth data analyses and print results via network connection.
The MMTD is for anyone who needs a hand-held system to detect a broad range of threats. Its tough exterior design is ideal for the soldier on the front line and the security agent working in harsh elements (e.g. Border/Ports). Its wide range threat detection capability and portability makes it ideal for aviation, special event and border security.
Specifications
Technology
Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS)
Radiation Source
63Ni, sealed 15 mCi
Richmond International Airport Evacuated After 'Serious' Threat
The Richmond International Airport was evacuated this morning after a threatening phone call.
The airport, located in Richmond, Va., received the threat just after 6 a.m., according to the Associated Press and the airport's Twitter page. The airport was then evacuated, as customers left the terminal en masse.
Police and canine units began sweeping the airport after 8 a.m. By 9 a.m., all public areas had been cleared, and only the restricted baggage areas were left to check.
Opps This posted 3 times? Why?
"J&J had to admitt, that they have no patent on the Strips"
"J&J had to admitt, that they have no patent on the Strips"
I love this;0)
Top 25 Global Freight Forwarders
Largest Providers by 2010 Gross Revenues and Freight Forwarding Volumes*
https://www.3plogistics.com/Top25_FF.htm
If DECN is successful in Medicare Competitive Bidding Program
Hopefully DECN managment cannot afford to do a buyout, and other
companies will gladly pay a much higher premium.
If DECN wins
there will be a buyout most likely
Thank you.
Hopefully in every drug store very soon.
================
Try this out:
On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson
Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed.
Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken.
(Now the fun part begins.)
Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement:
'Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson &Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized. '
Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times,'I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson.'
HAVE A NICE DAY; AND REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE WITH A JOB THAT IS MORE OF A PAIN IN THE ASS THAN YOURS!
Nice
Were can I buy them?
Wow
What is DECN stock price on that date?
VBG
As of today May, 2014:
today May 21. 2014 the verdict came out: Nestle lost and Denner can now sell its capsules for Nespresso-Machines.
On key software decision, top patent court grinds to a stalemate
Ten judges, seven opinions, 135 pages, zero legal precedent.
by Joe Mullin - May 13 2013, 9:32am EDT
LAWSUITS PATENTS
68
Munir Squires
Over the course of the past year a case about four financial software patents has taken on great significance. In 2007, Alice Corp accused CLS Bank of infringing its patents on a type of computerized trading platform that used "shadow accounts." In the years since then, the Supreme Court has significantly tightened up the rules about what is patentable. In 2011, Alice's patents were thrown out by a federal judge, who ruled they didn't cover patentable subject matter.
Last year, Alice won a surprising reversal. An appeals panel ruled 2-1 that Alice's patents should be allowed after all, suggesting only the most abstract of claims should be barred from winning patents under Section 101. The third judge, US Circuit Judge Sharon Prost, wrote a blistering dissent, suggesting that the ruling violated Supreme Court guidance, by allowing a patent on a financial technology that was "literally ancient."
With the waters thus muddied, the Federal Circuit, which hears all patent appeals, made the choice to reconsider CLS Bank v. Alice Corp. as an "en banc" case that all the judges would weigh in on. It became a highly anticipated decision, with many observers wondering what the nation's top patent court would have to say about software patents in the wake of several Supreme Court rulings giving more strict guidance about the patent system.
The answer is now clear: not much at all. A lengthy opinion issued Friday reflects nothing but division, with ten judges essentially splitting 5-5 on key issues. That means that the lower court decision will stand, and CLS Bank will be free to operate without making patent-related payments to Alice. It also means that no binding precedent will come from the ruling, since no portion of the document is signed by a majority of the judges. In a footnote on the front page of his opinion, Chief Judge Randall Rader wrote:
No portion of any opinion issued today other than our Per Curiam Judgment garners a majority. The court is evenly split on the patent eligibility of the system. Although a majority of the judges on the court agree that the method claims do not recite patent eligible subject matter, no majority of those judges agrees as to the legal rationale for that conclusion. Accordingly, though much is published today discussing the proper approach to the patent eligibility inquiry, nothing said today beyond our judgment has the weight of precedent.
The decision is reflective of a total division on the most important patent-related court in the country, and it will bring little relief to companies seeking guidance on what their chances are if they are confronted by a competitor or a "troll" seeking royalties.
A five-judge faction sees a path to narrow patent grants
Notably, this high-stakes patent battle came from the world of finance, where trading and banking methods have come to be patented only in recent years, usually with patent claims that also mention software and computers.
Reformers certainly had wanted the lower court decision to stand. Tech companies like Google, Red Hat and HP, as well as reform groups like Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, had urged such a result. But they also wanted case law that would make it clear some technologies—like financial innovations—simply aren't appropriate for patenting.
That didn't happen. CLS and its reformer allies barely won today. The victory came about as the result of a deeply split court, with the real division in the opinion coming down to what the judges think about "system" claims, where the judges effectively deadlocked 5-5. Seven of the judges agreed that other types of claims, the "method" and "computer-readable media" claims, aren't eligible for patents (although for different reasons.)
Five of the judges wanted to throw out the patents on "Section 101" grounds ruling that they were too abstract to be patented. Reviewing five relevant Supreme Court cases ranging from 1972 to 2011, this faction of the court concluded there should be an "integrated approach" to Section 101, finding primarily that patents "should not be allowed to preempt the fundamental tools of discovery" which must remain "free to all."
In Mayo v. Prometheus, for instance, a Supreme Court decision banned a patent on a diagnostic medical test, even though it described specific steps like "giving a particular man-made drug to a patient" and "drawing and testing blood." But the patented method boiled down to a natural law and added only steps that were "well-understood, routine, conventional activity, previously engaged in by researchers in the field."
With background of Supreme Court decisions, the judges found that Alice Corporation's idea of reducing risk by facilitating trades through a "third-party intermediation" was too abstract to be allowed. "[I]t is a 'disembodied' concept... a basic building block of human ingenuity, untethered from any real-world application," wrote the judges.
The system claims just take those method claims and add the words "apply it" on a computer, the judges suggest. By allowing the claims, the dissenting judges are ignoring Supreme Court precedent. "Not only has the world of technology changed, but the legal world has changed," they write. "The Supreme Court has spoken... on the question of patent eligibility, and we must take note of that change. Abstract methods do not become patent-eligible by being clothed in computer language."
Chief Judge: A computer without software “collects dust, not data”
The five-judge opinion shutting down the Alice patents is followed by a four-judge opinion that would allow the patents or at least their so-called "system" claims. The group of four judges, led by Chief Judge Randall Rader, made it perfectly clear that the decision as a whole means almost nothing.
Rader's four-judge group affirmed the broad scope of what is eligible for patenting under Section 101, written in 1952. "Both inventions and discoveries are eligible for patenting," wrote Rader. "Before 1952, the courts had used phrases including 'creative work,' 'inventive faculty,' and 'flash of creative genius' which compared the existing invention to some subjective notion of sufficient 'inventiveness' as the test for patentability."
In the view of these four judges the 1952 Act, written largely by a patent judge and a chief patent examiner, got rid of that "flash of creative genius." It simply stated that to get a patent, an idea couldn't be obvious. This simple test for "nonobviousness" would be more "objective" than a test for inventiveness.
The four-judge opinion is a full-throated defense of software patents. In one passage, the judges justify the software patents covering the "wonders" of the "smart phone" by citing Diamond v. Diehr, a 1981 Supreme Court case on a patent on a rubber-curing process that is a key decision relied on by software patent supporters. Rader wrote:
The combination of new software and a computer machine accomplishes wonders by reducing difficult processes—like determining where someone is on the earth, instantly translating Chinese to English, or performing hundreds of functions in a hand-held device called a “smart phone”—into a series of simple steps. For example, the Supreme Court upheld precisely this kind of combination for the computer-implemented parameters to run a rubber press—breaking the known steps into tiny mathematical calculations that advanced a known function beyond prior capabilities. See Diehr, 450 U.S. at 179. Indeed, much of the innovative energy and investment of the past few decades have [sic] focused on software improvements that have produced revolutions in modern life, including the “smart phone.”
That software-hardware combination must be allowed to be patented, Rader argued. "Machines are expressly eligible subject matter. Having said that, however, were it not for software, programmable computers would be useless. A computer without software collects dust, not data."
In Rader's view, allowing software patents just isn't that different from allowing patents on more physical electronics. An inventor could claim a machine "with circuitry, transistors, capacitors, and other tangible electronic components precisely arrayed to accomplish the function of translating Chinese to English," wrote Rader. "The fact that innovation has allowed these machines to move from vacuum-tube-filled specialized mechanical behemoths, to generalized machines changed by punch cards, to electronically programmable machines that can fit in the palm of your hand, does not render them abstract."
Fearing “the death... of thousands” of business method patents
From there the defenses of software patents got more strident and more alarmed. Noting that the court is "irreconcilably fractured" over these patents, Judge Kimberly Moore writes that "there has never been a case which could do more damage to the patent system than this one." In her section of the decision, Moore grieves for "the death of hundreds of thousands of patents, including all business method, financial system, and software patents" that would take place, she believes, if the side voting to block Alice Corporation's patents prevailed.
In 2011 more than 42,000 patents were granted in computer software and hardware fields, she notes. If the other side prevailed, she calculates that up to 20 percent of them could have been rendered invalid, which would "decimate the electronics and software industries." That's actually "quite frankly a low estimate," writes Moore, who also fears for the "financial system, business method, and telecom patents" that could be at risk.
Finally, Judge Pauline Newman wrote her own opinion which seems to suggest Section 101 should never be used to kill patents. She suggested the idea that patents can inhibit research and innovation is just a vast misunderstanding. "[T]he popular press has accepted the theory that experimentation is barred for patented subject matter, as have my colleagues" she wrote, footnoting recent articles in The New York Times and The New Yorker which pointed out—accurately—that research scientists and doctors can and were being stopped from examining their own patients' genes by the owner of certain genetic patents.
Newman sees the fractured court as being an invitation for "opportunistic litigation" that could block innovation, but she sees the opportunists as those attacking the patent, not companies seeking to defend themselves from patent attacks.
Clarity on software patents will likely remain elusive without a clear Supreme Court ruling or legislative action on the issue. At the end of the day, the appeals court given control of the US patent system appears more divided than ever in the wake of the Alice Corp v. CLS Bank decision. A core of at least five judges is intent on protecting the wide grasp of the current patent system, resisting strategies—like a more strict reading of Section 101—that could chip away at its energetic sprawl.
READER COMMENTS 68
PRESS RELEASE
May 9, 2013, 6:00 a.m. EDT
IZEA and Handpicked Media Announce Strategic Partnership
U.S.-Based Influencer Marketing Firm Joins Forces to Extend U.K. Reach
ORLANDO, FL, May 09, 2013 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- IZEA, Inc. (otcqb:IZEA), the pioneer of Social Media Sponsorship, announced a strategic partnership in the United Kingdom with Handpicked Media, a leading female-focused network of social influencers.
Handpicked Media is built-upon founder Krista Madden's vision of accumulating websites and blogs written by passionate Brits attracting a mass-engaged audience. Leveraging her 20+ years of experience working with beauty and fashion clients and 13 years of being an independent publisher, Krista began 'hand-picking' sites that went well together and formed Handpicked Media in 2009.
With over 650 registered influencers focusing on categories ranging from lifestyle and beauty to parenting and travel, Handpicked Media offers a diverse array of opportunities for advertisers to leverage in their Social Media Sponsorship campaigns.
As a strategic partner, brands will be able to access both IZEA's family of over 750,000 influencers around the world along with Handpicked Media's publisher-base in England, Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland for added scale and localization.
"Influencer marketing is not just an American or British trend, but a global phenomenon that has changed the way brands connect with consumers. It has and will continue to alter the entire advertising ecosystem," said Ryan Schram, Chief Operating Officer at IZEA. "By combining forces with partners in key geographies around the world, IZEA is able to extend unprecedented access to our clients to work with passionate, social influencers. We are thrilled to be working alongside Handpicked Media in the U.K. and look forward to announcing additional partners throughout 2013."
"The power of independent publishers and bloggers on social platforms is stronger than ever. We have established a network of key influencers in the U.K. at Handpicked Media who brands want to connect with," said Krista Madden, Founder and Managing Director at Handpicked Media. "Working with IZEA opens up the opportunity of expanding our reach globally and promoting our local talent on a much larger scale. We are very excited to be working with such a reputable company with the same passions as us. Thinking globally but acting locally is how online media works best."
Brands and agencies looking for more information on sponsorship opportunities in the U.K. can contact Jenni Sandells, Account Director/United Kingdom at jenni@izea.co.uk or visit the company online at www.izea.co.uk.
About IZEA IZEA, Inc. is the pioneer of social media sponsorship, operating key influencer marketing platforms Staree, Sponsored Tweets and SocialSpark. IZEA connects brands with social media influencers, helping them monetize their online and offline presence. The company has completed over three million social media sponsorships for customers ranging from small local businesses to Fortune 50 organizations. For more information about IZEA, visit http://izea.co.uk.
About Handpicked Media Handpicked Media (@HandpickedMedia) is an established
Finger Stick Has Promise as Prediabetes Test
from MedPageToday.com - medical news plus CME for physicians
PHOENIX (MedPage Today) -- Measuring capillary blood via finger stick assay was as accurate as venous blood sample assays in predicting 5-year likelihood of diabetes, researchers reported here.
Facial-recognition software precision may be years away
Low resolutions, tilted heads still confound
By Hiawatha Bray
| Globe Staff
April 29, 2013
It looks simple in the movies. The hero uploads a digital image of a suspect and software matches it with millions of data files to make a positive identification.
You have to hit your congressmen on the head with IMSC.
Tell them about IMSC technology directly.
Subtle does not work.
Good Luck All
Gio
Summit NW Corp operates out of three facilities. Summit NW in Portland is located near the Portland International airport at 5330 NE courier Ct., Suite 400 Portland, OR 97218 (view location). The facility consists of a 50,000 sq. ft of warehouse equipped with an interior / exterior color, digital camera system and motion security alarm system. Our station is equipped with a 10,000 sq. foot fenced area for secure container storage. To reach our ocean import and dispatching terminal, call 503-255-3826 or fax us at 503-255-3846.
Our 16 dock door station in Seattle, located at 2460 S. 161st St., SeaTac, WA 98158 (view location), is also equipped with a color, digital camera system. You can reach our import or dispatch team by calling 206-214-0109 or by fax at 206-214-0111.
Our terminal in Vancouver B.C. is operated in conjunction with our partner in Canada and gives our customers the ability to move cargo between Vancouver, B.C. and the Willamette Valley in Oregon overnight as well as provide our customers with seamless cargo transit between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
At Summit NW, we take pride in what we do. We offer quality service, premium customer service, and reliability. Our customers are the reason we're here and we strive to offer them the best service possible. Whether using our local pick up and delivery service, our linehaul services, warehousing or container devanning, SUMMIT NW DELIVERS.
In-Situ Processes
In-situ processes can be technically feasible in
deeper, richer deposits where the rock has natural
permeability or where permeability can be created by
fracturing.
True in-situ processes involve no mining.
?? The shale is fractured, air is injected, the shale is
ignited to heat the formation, and shale oil moves
through fractures to production wells.
?? Difficulties in controlling the flame front and the
flow of oil can limit oil recovery, leaving areas
unheated and some oil unrecovered. (Figure 3)
Modified in-situ (MIS) may involve mining below
or above the target shale deposit before heating to
create void space of 20 to 25 percent.
?? The shale is heated by igniting the top of the
target deposit and recovering fluids from
ahead of or beneath the heated zone.
?? Modified in-situ processes can improve
performance by heating more of the shale,
improving the flow of gases and liquids
through the rock formation, and increasing
volumes and quality of the oil produced.
Environmental Caveat: Both true and modified insitu
processes are challenged by the potential for
contamination of groundwater by pyrolized oil and
other metals and toxics that may be left behind.
Shell ICP: Shell’s new in-situ conversion process
(ICP) could produce high quality fuels in a more,
economic and environmentally sound manner. In this
substantial modification of the “true in-situ” process:
?? Electric or gas heaters, placed in closely spaced
vertical wells, slowly heat the shale for 2-4 years.
?? The slow heating creates microfractures in the
rock that augment natural permeability and
enhance fluid flow from heated zones to
production wells.
?? Resulting shale oil and gases are moved to the
surface by conventional wells and vapor recovery
technology.
?? Slow heating improves product quality; subsequent
product treating is less complex, than for
surface retorts or other in-situ approaches.
?? Much more oil and gas may be recovered from a
given area as shale oil and combustible gas
products can be produced at greater depths than
are accessible by other oil shale technologies.
?? The ICP process involves no subsurface
combustion of the resource, reducing
environmental impacts.
?? Close spacing, adjustable heat sources, and
modern downhole monitoring technologies vastly
improves temperature control.
?? Innovative “freeze wall” technology is being
tested to isolate production areas from intrusion
of groundwater until shale heating, production,
and post production flushing has been completed.
Shell is currently operating a modest field research
effort in northwestern Colorado’s Piceance Basin to
test ICP’s viability on the basin’s world-class oil
shale reserves. Critical issues include:
?? Development of reliable heater technology
?? Improvements of heater durability relative to
down hole rock mechanics
?? Validation of efficacy of freeze wall
technologies.
Figure 3: Conventional True In-Situ Process Schematic
Increasingly SURE FEB 02
Tight Overburden
Low Perm Shale Lower Seal
Lean Shale / Fracture porosity
Rich Shale
Rich Shale
Rich Shale
Producer Heaters
well
Freeze wall
barrier
Please send an Email detailing IMSC to Jimmie
Google this line her email and phone number come up:
Jimmie Oxley, professor of chemistry at the University of Rhode Island
J&J drug reps hand these things out like free candy.
They just want them used with their strips. J&J does not care if someone else sells them as long as the people who buy them use J&J strips.
JnJ's intention is to give a free meter to everyone on the planet and they do not give a damm if you sell it.
Once something is given to you ,if you want to sell it that is your right. Doctor or patient decides to sell.
This does not mean J&J are selling them.
Decision Diagnostics Corp. and Its Subsidary PharmaTech Solutions Seek to End Pharma Giant's Alleged Restraint of Trade Tactics
Press Release: Decision Diagnostics Corp. – Fri, Apr 5, 2013 9:20 AM EDT
DECN
0.2389
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 5, 2013) - Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTCBB: DECN), the exclusive world-wide sales, service and regulatory processes agent for the Shasta GenStrip, the revolutionary at-home glucose test strip specifically designed to work with the Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan family of glucose testing meters, announced today that on March 28, 2013 the company and its subsidiary PharmaTech Solutions, Inc. filed antitrust counterclaims against LifeScan, Inc. and LifeScan Scotland Ltd. (collectively, "LifeScan") in a patent action brought by LifeScan (2011cv04494) that is presently pending in the Northern District of California. DECN and PharmaTech are defendants in that action. DECN is a leading provider of prescription and non-prescription diagnostics, home testing products for the chronically ill and a premier developer of revolutionary cell phone centric e-health products and technologies.
The counterclaims assert violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which carry with them, if successful, awards of treble damages, attorneys' fees, and injunctive relief. DECN and PharmaTech allege that the LifeScan parties, which are subsidiaries of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, have violated both Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Section 1 makes illegal every "contract, combination ... or conspiracy in restraint of trade." Section 2 forbids monopolization and attempts to monopolize a product market. DECN and PharmaTech allege in their counterclaims that both prongs of the Act have been violated, by among other things, LifeScan's instituting of baseless patent litigation against PharmaTech and DECN intended to exclude the Shasta GenStrip from competing in a market dominated by LifeScan.
LifeScan and Johnson & Johnson have long claimed to be the market leader in the home blood glucose monitoring market, boasting an over thirty percent (30%) share of that market. The market is highly concentrated, dominated by four major pharmaceutical companies which together control 83.5% of that market. Blood glucose monitoring systems are comprised of a monitor and testing strips. Significantly, until the potential entry of the Shasta GenStrip, all four market leaders paired their propriety blood glucose meters with their own testing strips, forestalling any competition from competing strips, which could offer substantial costs savings to consumers. The FDA's recent clearance of the GenStrip for use with certain OneTouch Ultra meters clears the way for such competition and for the substantial consumer savings it would bring.
The antitrust counterclaims allege that, to maintain its much-vaunted market leadership in the blood glucose monitoring market, LifeScan has illegally "tied" the use of its popular OneTouch Ultra meters to its own proprietary testing strips. Tying arrangements violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act because they force purchasers to forego free choice in the marketplace. These "tying" transactions are often declared to be illegal "per se," that is, so plainly in contravention of antitrust principles that they require no further analysis of effects on competition.
The counterclaim alleges that, to the extent that LifeScan claims its meters (glucose measuring device) are protected by patent, which DECN and PharmaTech vehemently dispute, LifeScan has no right to expand any such rights to control the sale of strips. There is no functional reason to require consumers to use the LifeScan strips, nor is there any patent justification. PharmaTech and DECN claim that LifeScan has taken numerous steps, including the institution of baseless patent litigation, to eliminate competition and to exclude the GenStrip from the market so as to require exclusive use of the LifeScan strips with the OneTouch Ultra meter. These tactics violate longstanding and fundamental antitrust principles. They injure consumers by forbidding competition from the lower-priced GenStrip. Second, DECN and PharmaTech also allege that LifeScan has monopolized and is attempting to monopolize the market for test strips compatible with LifeScan's meters and has created a dangerous probability of success. These acts have no basis in any patent or functional principal, and only serve the purpose of preserving LifeScan's market dominance.
Disclaimer:
GenStrip™ test strips are a product of Shasta Technologies, LLC and are not manufactured, distributed, endorsed, or approved by nor associated with LifeScan®, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson® Company, manufacturers and distributors of the OneTouch® Ultra® Family of Meters and OneTouch® Ultra® test strips.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Forward-looking statements are statements made herein which do not address historical facts and, therefore, could be interpreted to be forward-looking statements. We can give no assurance that the expectations indicated by such forward-looking statements will be realized. There may be other risks and circumstances that we are unable to predict. When used in this release, words such as "believes," "expects," "forecasts," "intends," "projects," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although there may be certain statements not accompanied by such expressions. Such statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of March 31, 2013. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments may cause our views to change.
.
.
Contact:.
.
Keith Berman
Secretary and CFO
info@decisiondiagnostics.com
2660 Townsgate Road
Suite 300
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Ph: 805-446-2973
Fax: 805-446-1983
.Court overturns $482M patent decision against J&J
Heir to Johnson & Johnson fortune dies at 76
J&J recalls all OneTouch Verio blood sugar meters
News Summary: J&J recalls blood sugar meters
Thank you for that. Is GNE now waiting for an environmental permit
or have they already started work?
The day Israel gives GNE the ok to drill.
What will the share price be?
$ 25? 40? 50?
thanks
Thank you;0)
I needed that!
MKRS
Does their admiral have any juice?
What happened to their radar system that they finished last year?