Patents Represented by Law Firm Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton and Herbert, LLP
  • Patent number: 6911027
    Abstract: A device for the ablation of tissue for use with the fingers of a human hand and a radio frequency power supply and controller providing a source of radio frequency energy and controls for controlling the application of radio frequency energy to the device comprising a handle sized so that is adapted to be grasped and supported by the human hand and having proximal and distal extremities. A single conductive needle formed of a conducting material is disposed in the distal extremity of the handle. An edge card is mounted in the handle and has edge mounted contacts with circuitry connected thereto. An edge mount board connector is mounted in the handle and is removably secured to the edge mounted contacts of the edge card. A cable is connected to the edge mount connector and extends from the proximal extremity of the handle and is adapted to be coupled to the radiofrequency power supply and controller. A second printed circuit board is mounted in the handle in a spaced-apart position from the edge card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2005
    Assignee: Somnus Medical Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stuart D. Edwards, James A. Filice, Benjamin T. Nordell, Brian O. Armijo
  • Patent number: 6555116
    Abstract: Thioredoxin, a small dithiol protein, is a specific reductant for allergenic proteins and particularly allergenic proteins present in pollen and animal and plant sources. All targeted proteins contain disulfide (S—S) bonds that are reduced to the sulfhydryl (SH) level by thioredoxin. The proteins are allergenically active and less digestible in the oxidized (S—S) state. When reduced (SH state), they lose their allergenicity and/or become more digestible. Thioredoxin achieved this reduction when activated (reduced) either by NADPH via NADP-thioredoxin reductase (physiological conditions) or by lipoic acid chemical reductant. Skin tests carried out with sensitized dogs showed that treatment of the pollens with reduced thioredoxin prior to injection eliminated or decreased the allergenicity of the pollen. Studies showed increased digestion of the pollen proteins by pepsin following reduction by thioredoxin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Bob B. Buchanan, Gregorio del Val, Rosa M. Lozano, Joshua H. Wong, Boihon C. Yee, Oscar L. Frick
  • Patent number: 6541617
    Abstract: The invention relates to the use of particles comprising binding ligands and electron transfer moieties (ETMs). Upon binding of a target analyte, a particle and a reporter composition are associated and transported to an electrode surface. The ETMs are then detected, allowing the presence or absence of the target analyte to be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc.
    Inventors: Cynthia C. Bamdad, Robert C. Mucic
  • Patent number: 6501578
    Abstract: A line of sight laser communication system includes a laser to generate a laser signal with femtosecond pulses. A first grating spectrally disperses the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal. A programmable mask converts the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal into coded words. A second grating spectrally recombines the coded words of the laser signal. A telescope then launches the laser signal. The launched laser signal is received at a receiving telescope. A second laser generates a set of reference pulses. A non-linear crystal combines the set of reference pulses and the laser signal to create an output signal only when the laser signal and the reference pulses temporally coincide. A camera records the output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignees: Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., The University of New Mexico
    Inventors: Ralph Bernstein, Thomas M. Chaffee, Jean-Claude Diels, Karl Stahlkopf
  • Patent number: 6502166
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to data storage systems having user configurable levels of input/output (“I/O”) performance and fault tolerance. To provide exceptional performance to read data requests in a RAID data storage subsystem with 100 percent redundancy, the data striping procedure (22) of the present invention distributes data across disk drives in a data storage subsystem without any backward writes, and thereby provides exception I/O performance with 100 percent data redundancy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Bruce M. Cassidy
  • Patent number: 6488156
    Abstract: A method for verification of the presence of a living embryo in an incubating poultry egg. The method comprises the steps of: causing at least two electrodes to make conductive contact with the outside surface of the shell of an egg; amplifying any of the analog signals received via two of the at least two electrodes; analyzing the signals after amplification, using a program in a microprocessor, to establish whether the signals originated in the cardiac activity of the embryo; and providing information confirming or negating the presence of a living embryo in the egg. The invention also provides a corresponding system for carrying out the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Inventor: Michael Cohen
  • Patent number: 6482593
    Abstract: The present invention provides biosensors, apparatus and methods for selectively detecting at least one complementary oligonucleotide target specie in a fluid sample containing a mixture of different oligonucleotide fragments. One preferred embodiment of the biosensor is as a unitary fiber optic array having species of single stranded nucleic acid disposed as individual deposits in aligned organization upon multiple strand end faces at differing spatial positions on the distal array end surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Trustees of Tufts College
    Inventors: David R. Walt, Brian G. Healey
  • Patent number: 6473553
    Abstract: An apparatus is provided for holding micron-sized objects, such as optical components, along with a method for making such an apparatus. The apparatus includes a mounting block having openings, such as cavities and recesses, for holding the micron-sized objects therein. The mounting block further includes one or more resilient members having a base mounted on the mounting block. The resilient members further include an engaging surface configured to engage a micro-machined object within a cavity or recess of the mounting block. When the object is engaged, the resilient member applies pressure to the object to secure it against a surface of the mounting block or against another resilient member. The object is held within the opening of the mounting block and can be moved within the opening to allow proper placement and subsequent adjustment of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2002
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: John H. Jerman, John D. Grade
  • Patent number: 6465044
    Abstract: This invention relates to a method of depositing silicon oxide films on the surface of semiconductor substrates, and more particularly to depositing such films by chemical vapor deposition using alkylsiloxane oligomers precursors with ozone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: Silicon Valley Group, Thermal Systems LLP
    Inventors: Sanjeev Jain, Zheng Yuan
  • Patent number: 6465235
    Abstract: Novel carbonyl hydrolase mutants derived from the amino acid sequence of naturally-occurring or recombinant non-human carbonyl hydrolases and DNA sequences encoding the same. The mutant carbonyl hydrolases, in general, are obtained by in vitro modification of a precursor DNA sequence encoding the naturally-occurring or recombinant carbonyl hydrolase to encode the substitution, insertion or deletion of one or more amino acids in the amino acid sequence of a precursor carbonyl hydrolase. Such mutants have one or more properties which are different than the same property of the precursor hydrolase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: Genenco International, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Ray Bott, Robert Mark Caldwell, Brian C. Cunningham, David Aaron Estell, Scott Douglas Power, James Allen Wells
  • Patent number: 6447430
    Abstract: Exercise machine having a frame with a pair of upstanding sections disposed substantially at right angles to each other, a weight stack mounted on each of the frame sections, a cable coupled to each of the weight stacks for transferring a pull on the cable to the weights in the stack, a pulley block through which the cable is pulled, a leg connected to each of the frame sections for movement between a supporting position and a storage position, interlock means engagable between the legs and respective ones of the weight stacks for preventing the weights from being raised when the legs are in the storage position, a bench which is removably connected to the frame and can be folded up between the two frame sections for storage, a carriage mounted on each of the frame sections and adapted to be positioned at different heights, and means mounting one of the pulley blocks on each of the carriages such that each of the pulley blocks is free to pivot about two axes of rotation so that the pulley block can follow the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: Nautilus, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory M. Webb, Brian R. Cook
  • Patent number: 6449725
    Abstract: A method and device for detecting and handling non-responsive devices in a computer system where the device non-responsiveness may be due to a powered-down status rather than a device failure, and more particularly to such computer systems when the devices are RAID disk drives. By scanning all devices connected in a configuration and maintaining a count of devices that time out without responding, a determination can be made as to whether the devices are powered off or are experiencing some other problem that requires attention of a system support technician.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Veera Deenadhayalan, Parthiban Munusamy
  • Patent number: 6436655
    Abstract: A method for determining the existence and the amount of soluble fibrin contained in a specimen fluid is provided. The method includes the steps of precipitating soluble fibrin out of the opaque specimen fluid, aggregating the soluble fibrin precipitates in a limited region of a transparent container so as to render the precipitates optically detectable in the opaque specimen fluid, and optically detecting the precipitates. The amount of soluble fibrin may be determined by measuring the time from the addition of the precipitating regent to the detection of the soluble fibrin precipitates. Methods of the present invention allow one to measure soluble fibrin in whole blood, and therefore render the test useful in the operating room under conditions of major surgery and in the presence of severe trauma wherein DIC is likely to supervene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Assignee: Medical Devices Corporation
    Inventors: Brian S. Bull, Ralph A. Korpman
  • Patent number: 6436078
    Abstract: A housing is secured to an area of skin to allow suction to be applied to a local area of skin through an aperture. After formation of a suction blister, a blade is actuated to sever a suction cup thereby detaching the means for creating suction at the aperture and at the same time removing the roof of the suction blister to expose an area of dermis from which the skin's epidermis has been removed. A rotatable portion of the apparatus is then moved into a position in which a port communicates with a compartment within the rotatable portion. The compartment may contain a reservoir of fluid substance to be transdermally absorbed or may contain means for taking a sample of exudate produced at the exposed dermis. A modified apparatus has means for applying suction to the exposed dermis to enhance the rate at which exudate is formed and for handling a sample of exudate for analysis. Transdermal delivery and sampling are thereby achieved non-invasively and without the impediment of the skin's epidermis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Inventor: Pal Svedman
  • Patent number: 6426896
    Abstract: Memory cell array and process of fabrication in which a floating gate is formed on a substrate for each of a plurality of memory cells, a control gate is formed above and in vertical alignment with each of the floating gates, source regions are formed in the substrate between and partially overlapped by first edge portions of the floating gates in adjacent ones of the cells, bit lines are formed in the substrate midway between second edge portions of the floating gates in adjacent ones of the cells, and a select gate is formed across the control gates, the floating gates, the bit lines and the source regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Actrans System Inc.
    Inventor: Chiou-Feng Chen
  • Patent number: 6421154
    Abstract: A laser communication system includes a first laser to generate a laser signal with femtosecond pulses. A first grating spectrally disperses the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal. A modulator converts the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal into coded words. A second grating spectrally recombines the coded words of the laser signal. A first telescope launches the laser signal. A second telescope receives the laser signal. A second laser generates a set of reference pulses. A non-linear crystal combines the set of reference pulses and the laser signal so as to create an output signal only when the laser signal and the reference pulses temporally coincide. A detector records the output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
    Inventors: Jean-Claude Diels, Ralph Bernstein, Karl Stahlkopf
  • Patent number: 6420523
    Abstract: The present invention provides compositions of matter comprising a polypeptide expressed from insect cells harboring a baculovirus vector the encodes the polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide comprises amino acid sequences derived from the p42 fragment of the Plasmodium falciparum gp 195 protein or derivatives thereof. Such compositions of matter find use for example for inducing the production of anti-p42 antibodies both in vivo and in vitro.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: University of Hawaii
    Inventors: Sandra Chang, George S. N. Hui, Philip J. Barr, Helen Gibson
  • Patent number: D460417
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: TVM Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Donald E. Wood
  • Patent number: D460737
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: TVM Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Hank D. Ching
  • Patent number: RE38078
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for a Parallel Query Z-coordinate Buffer are described. The apparatus and method perform a keep/discard decision on screen coordinate geometry before the geometry is converted or rendered into individual display screen pixels by implementing a parallel searching technique within a novel z-coordinate buffer based on a novel magnitude comparison content addressable memory (MCCAM) structure. The MCCAM provides means structure and method for performing simultaneous arithmetic magnitude comparisons on numerical quantities. These arithmetic magnitude comparisons include arithmetic less-than, greater-than, less-than-or-equal to, and greater-than-or-equal-to operations between coordinate values of a selected graphical object and the coordinate values of other objects in the image scene which may or may not occult the selected graphical object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Jerome F. Duluk, Jr.