The Patent - Invention Magazine
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patent application

Robotics

FlexiQuad: the collision-resistant ring drone from ETH Zurich

Robotics researchers at ETH Zurich have designed a quadcopter without a rigid central body that absorbs collisions without crashing. Invented by Luca Girardi and Stefano Mintchev, the ring-shaped FlexiQuad drone uses an elastic frame that flexes laterally on impact while retaining the vertical stiffness required for flight. The inventors have filed a patent application for the device, which has also earned a nomination for the university's Spark Award.

Norms & Regulation

Federal Circuit Rejects Bartering Patent Application Under Section 101

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the rejection of a patent application seeking to protect a computer-assisted bartering system. In a decision upholding findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the court held that swapping groceries for precious metals constitutes a fundamental economic practice that cannot be patented.

Giovanni Sapere

Patents

Patent System Under Scrutiny, IP Education Lags in MBA Programs

A persistent public relations campaign is actively undermining confidence in the patent system, often labeling legitimate protections as “bad patents” or their owners as “trolls” to excuse infringement [IPWatchdog - Bad Patents]. Concurrently, a new report highlights a critical gap in business education: none of the top 20 U.S. MBA programs require a course on intellectual property, despite its increasing economic importance [IPWatchdog - Intangible Investor]. These trends pose challenges to the foundational framework that supports innovation.

Letizia Giugliano