Monthly Archives: September 2021

Patent application filed a year and a half ago

  • September 29, 2021
#patent

When a year and a half is passed since the filing of a patent application, a publication bulletin is issued, and everyone can know the contents of the application. It was on January 16, 2020 that the first infection of the new coronavirus was confirmed in Japan. After that, the latter half of January and February 2020 was the beginning of the Corona disaster. A patent from just that time has recently been published. (As of September 16, 2021, patent applications with filing dates up to around March 6, 2020 have been published, with exceptions such as early publication.)

So, I checked to see if there were any patent applications that were the first to describe terms such as “Three Cs,” “Social Distance,” “refrain from going out,” “stay home,” and “unnecessary and nonurgent,” which have come to be used a lot in the Corona disaster, but I could not find any. Based on the tendency of utility model bulletins to be published within three or four months of filing, we can guess that corona-related terms began to be included in application specifications probably from applications filed around April 2020.

So, when I was looking at the search screen to see what applications had been filed around February 2020, I happened to see an application by GURUNAVI INC. for “information processing system, information processing method, and program”. GURUNAVI INC. is a company that operates the GURUNAVI website, which accepts restaurant reservations and delivery orders.

https://gurunavi.com/

GURUNAVI INC. has been consistently filing patent applications related to information processing for some time now; from 2017 to 2019, the company filed about 70 applications per year, an average of 5 to 6 per month. In contrast, I was curious to see that 12 applications were filed in the month from January 23 to February 21, 2020, which is double the average of the previous year. It may not be directly related to Corona, but was there any strategy behind it? I can only guess now, a year and a half later, that each company must have been thinking of various strategies in the early days of the Corona disaster. (Conan)

The technology of deliciousness

  • September 24, 2021
#patent #trademark

I like Ichimasa Kamaboko’s “Karikko” snack series, and whenever I see them at the supermarket, I can’t resist buying them. The texture is chewy and hard, and I can’t stop eating them. There are three types: sardine (Karikko Iwashi), shrimp (Karikko Ebi), and seaweed & hijiki seaweed (Karikko Wakame&Hijiki), but sardine is my favorite.

Karikko Iwashi

On the back, there is a patent number for the manufacturing method. (Japanese Patent No. 3816037)

Karikko Iwashi

I felt that the crunchy texture with the flavor of fish is supported by this kind of technology.
In addition, “Karikko Iwashi” and “Karikko” have been registered as Japanese trademarks.

This product is often found in supermarkets, not in the confectionary section, but in the section where fish paste and fish sausage are sold, so if you are curious about it, please look for it. (Marron)

KAKUSAN

  • September 17, 2021
#trademark

The other day, my friend gave me a KAKUSAN face roller (beauty massager) as a birthday present.

KAKUSAN face roller beauty massager

When I used it the first time, my impression was painful. It was a feeling of being pulled while being pinched.
However, as I continued to use it, I got used to it and the pain disappeared.
Recently, I’ve been using it every night, so it doesn’t hurt as much as it did at the beginning, and I can easily roll around while watching TV.
“KAKUSAN” was registered as a trademark on February 26, 2016 (Japanese Trademark Registration No. 5829303), and the right holder is “深▲セン▼市カクサン有限会社(Shenzhen KKS Tech Co., Ltd.)” from China.

I rarely show my face now because of masks, but I would like to continue using it.
(Rabbit)

Gohei Mochi from Yotsuya Senmaida (Thousand Rice Paddies of Yotsuya)

  • September 8, 2021
#trademark

The other day, I went to Toshika Shrine in Toyokawa City to have my car purified.
After the prayer, I was given a set of Gohei mochi as a gift. It was a set of vacuum-packed Gohei mochi and Hatcho miso sauce.
The rice used is Mineasahi rice grown in the Senmaida rice field in Yotsuya, and the skewers are made of cedar wood from near Horaiji Mountain. In addition to a leaflet on how to eat it, three pamphlets were enclosed, showing the many particulars and thoughts of the producers.

Gohei Mochi from Yotsuya Senmaida

According to J-PlatPat, the product name “Yotsuya Senmaida” branded on the skewers has been applied for as a Japanese trademark application. As the application is under examination, I read the argument in response to the notice of reasons for refusal and was able to catch a glimpse of the applicant’s contribution to regional revitalization through “Yotsuya Senmaida,” a regional and tourist resource.
I would like to enjoy the Gohei mochi while thinking about the Senmaida rice field in Yotsuya, which I have yet to visit. (Cacao)

Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)

  • September 5, 2021
#patent

Today, I would like to introduce an invention related to September 5. What I will introduce this time is dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) devised by American electronical engineer and inventor Robert H. Dennard (1932.9.5 ~). Today, September 5th, is his 89th birthday.

DRAM is a type of semiconductor memory. It has the disadvantage of constantly consuming power for refreshing (memory retention operation) because information is lost when it is discharged, but it is widely used in computers’ main storage devices, digital televisions, and digital cameras, etc. due to its large capacity and low cost.
Currently, all the main storage devices of computers are DRAM. In recent years, DRAMs that specialize in low power consumption have also appeared.

The DRAM we use every day was conceived by Dennard in 1966 at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. The following year of 1967, a patent application was filed, and it was registered in 1968 (US3387286A). Dennard also won the Kyoto Prize in 2013.

By the way, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center is a research division of IBM. In addition to Dennard, it is known that many prominent scientists such as Benoit Mandelbrot in mathematics and Leo Esaki in physics also worked there.

Related Link: Robert H. Dennard – Wikipedia

(blink)