Month: February 2009

Invention uses cell phone for blood testing

Inventor: Professor Aydogan Ozcan
Invention: LUCAS

A major obstacle in providing quality healthcare to third world country residents is the distance between the healthcare facilities and the patient. This is especially true for people living in remote villages. The healthcare workers always wish for devices which they can take with them for field testing. As far as testing the blood is concerned, they can rest assured now. A research team from UCLA, led by Professor Aydogan Ozcan,  invented LUCAS (an acronym for Lensless Ultra-wide-field Cell monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging) around 2007, and made improvements to it over time. Now, the technology has been tweaked so that it can be incorporated into a cell phone; and blood can be viewed and analyzed using it. Continue reading →

Patent Theft – Microsoft Vs Ex-Employee – Who Is The Thief?

Inventor: Miko Mullor or Microsoft (disputed)
Invention: Technology to bypass Windows activation process when OS is preloaded

Both Microsoft and Miko Mullor claim to own this invention. Miko Mullor is a former Microsoft employee, who is now the CEO of a company called Ancora. Let us look at both stories:

Miko Mullor’s story

Mullor joined Microsoft back in 2005. Before Microsoft hired him, he told them about his invention – a technology which allowed to bypass Windows activation process when the operating system is preloaded. He also told Microsoft’s lawyers about his company Ancora. He also told Microsoft’s anti-piracy group about his company, before joining.

Before joining Microsoft, he pitched the product to a Microsoft employee. After a while, Microsoft started developing this technology. The person to whom Mullor pitched the product was involved with the development of Microsoft’s activation technology.

In 2007, while still being a Microsoft employee, Mullor started lawsuits against Dell, HP, and Toshiba relating to his patent. Microsoft fired him for this reason. And the company filed a suit against him in retaliation. According to him, “The accusations made by Microsoft are shameful and dishonest”.

Microsoft’s story Continue reading →