Canadian Company Secures Patent for Space Elevator

Thoth Technology of Ontario, Canada recently secured a patent for a space elevator.  The device would extend 12 miles above the earth's surface, allowing materials to be transported to and from space.  The company estimates that an elevator of this nature could save more than 30 percent of the fuel of a conventional rocket.

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Is a 3D Printed Organ a "Human Organism" under Patent Law?

As 3D printing technology improves, the potential for printing human organs is becoming a reality... but are human tissues and organs patentable under the law?  The America Invents Act (AIA) clearly prohibits the patenting of any claim "directed to or encompassing a human organism."  The question becomes whether a 3D printing of tissues and/or organs constitutes a human organism. In the past, patents have issued for organisms that are "non-naturally occurring" such as a bacterium that breaks down crude oil.  As technology improves this is sure to be a uncertain area of the law. 

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Google's Library Project Found to be a Fair Use

Google's Library Project offers digital versions of books sent to the project by libraries. Google has not secured permission to use these works by the copyright holders; however, only certain portions or "snippets" of each of the works is viewable to the users of the project.  Once a search term is entered, the service provides the user with a list of books containing the search terms along with the frequency of those terms in each book.   The Author's Guild has been opposing this project for the past ten years and filed suit against Google for copyright infringement. In mid-October, the Second Circuit granted summary judgment for Google finding that the display of "snippets" constituted a fair use.