By Jean Renard Ward “Haptics”, “force sensing” and “proximity sensing”, especially on personal devices like smartphones, may be at issue in intellectual property litigation. In such cases a force sensing and haptics expert witness may be required. If you look up a dictionary definition for “haptic”, it just means “relating to the sense of touch”(i)…. read more
By Dr. Chris Daft Medical devices — engineering inventions to improve human health — have more than a century of history, with the global medical device market size predicted to exceed $500 billion by 2020. Most products in this market share a common feature: network connectivity. Figure 1 shows a typical example: even something as… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is Machine Learning? Machine Learning (ML) was once a technological “problem child” lurching through endless booms and busts. But now it has become the driving force behind several of the largest companies in the world. How did this happen, and how is it connected to the work of an expert… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft Patents, which are time-limited periods of exclusivity granted in return for disclosure of an invention, have contributed greatly to the expansion of technology in modern times. But sometimes seeking a patent either does not work, or is not in the best interest of the inventors or their company. Holding trade secrets… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What Medical Device Software is What is medical device software? And why would its “standard of care” be an important subject? In simple terms, medical device software is a component of, or an accessory to, a piece of electronics that interacts with the human body (see figure 1). Figure 1: A… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft First, the Wearables Wearables – small electronic devices worn next to clothing to record personal data – have insinuated themselves into the lives of millions of people. After Google Glass, Fitbit and the Apple Watch, the marketplace has become crowded and designs are maturing. Capabilities such as the ability to measure… read more
The National Commission on Forensic Science has called for the attorney general of the United States to replace the term of “reasonable degree of certainty.” According to the National Commission: There is no common definition of reasonable certainty. Therefor whether convinced as “scientific certainty” or [discipline] certainty the term is idiosyncratic to the witness. … read more
By Jean Renard Ward Multi-Touch touchscreen technology may be at issue in patent litigation. In such cases, a multi-touch touchscreen expert witness may be utilized. The evolutionary history of this technology may be an important fact during multi-touch touchscreen patent litigation. Because of Android smartphones and the iPhone and iPod touch, nearly everyone knows about… read more
By Jean Renard Ward Nowadays, everyone is familiar with gestures on touchscreens from using their smartphone or tablet: gestures such as slide, pinch-to-zoom, swipe (or flick), twist, and press-and-hold (or long press). Smartphones with touchscreens and gestures started taking off with the Apple iPod Touch and iPhone in 2007. But the technical art of gestures… read more
PLASTIC: THE UBIQUITOUS MATERIAL Plastics have been an ever-growing part of our way of life – from the first synthetic plastic (Bakelite) developed by Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland in 1907[1], to Wallace H. Carothers’s discovery of nylon and the resulting nylon stockings rage of the 1940’s[2], to the Tupperware craze of the 1950’s, to… read more
