Xerox, Lexmark And Ricoh Beat IP ‘Patent Troll’ Claims

Xerox Corp., Lexmark Corp. and Ricoh Americas Corp. won their bid to undo a so-called patent troll’s patent for document scanning when the Patent Trial and Appeals Board ruled eight of the invention’s claims unpatentable.
Nonpracticing entity MPHJ Technology Investments LLC, once called a “patent troll” by Vermont’s attorney general, was unable to persuade the board that the claims in its patent didn’t just combine decades-old prior art, according to a decision handed down by PTAB.

The board found that two older office-equipment inventions known as Motoyama and Harkins covered the same ground in MPHJ’s claimed technology and that it would be obvious to anyone skilled in the field that combining those inventions is a logical next step, according to the decision.
“We also agree that the field of endeavor, communicating with, and monitoring, diagnosis and control of machines using multiple communication protocol of Motoyama is sufficiently similar to the office document storage and transmission system of Harkins that the person of ordinary skill would combine Motoyama with Harkins to ‘yield predictable results,’” the board wrote in its decision.

The board found claims 1-8 of the patent, U.S. Patent Number 8,488,173, unpatentable, according to the decision.
The companies filed a petition in March 2014 seeking inter partes review of the patent owned by MPHJ, arguing that MPHJ’s patents claimed nothing more than a “well-known concept” for allowing PC users to add electronic paper processing to their existing business process, according to the petitions.

In granting review, the panel specifically ruled that the challenged claims might be shown to be anticipated by 1995 Xerox information manual and a 1996 information distribution patent and obvious over that patent and a separate computer communication patent.

MPHJ’s licensing demands, including those related to the patent challenged by Ricoh and Xerox, attracted the attention of of Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell, who ended up suing the company for violating the state’s consumer protection laws.

The company’s demand letters, which often sought $1,000 per employee from small companies and nonprofits, threatened patent infringement litigation with no independent evidence that the recipients, small companies unlikely to have the resources to fight the suit, were actually infringing, Sorrell said when he filed suit.

In November, the company entered into an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to stop “deceptive sales claims and phony legal threats” related to licensing claims for several of its patents.

The ‘173 patent and several others held by MPHJ were involved in a slew of infringement actions, including suits against Coca-Cola Co. and Dillards Inc., according to court documents. MPHJ filed those suits in January 2014, alleging in the Coca-Cola suit that the beverage company’s information technology system allows its nearly 150,000 employees to use scanners in a way that infringes the patents.

The proceedings against Coca-Cola have been administratively closed pending the resolution of the instant challenge, according to court documents.
Representatives for the parties didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

The patent-in-suit is U.S. Patent Number 8,488,173.
PTAB Judges Michael Tierney, Karl Easthom and Gregg Anderson sat on the panel.
The petitioners are represented by Michael D. Specht and Richard M. Bemben of Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC.
MPHJ is represented by Steve Hill and Vivek A. Ganti of Hill Kertscher & Wharton LLP.
The cases are Ricoh Americas Corp. et al v. MPHJ Technology Corp., case numbers IPR2014-00538 and IPR2014-00539, at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO.
–Additional reporting by Kat Greene, Michael Macagnone, Ryan Davis and Allissa Wickham. Editing by Christine Chun.

Twenty-One Women Graduate From “Step IT Up America — Rochester,” Will Work at Xerox

UST Global’s Rochester Program for Minority and Urban Women Part of Nationwide Initiative to Grow STEM Careers:

UST Global, a Los Angeles-based information technology solutions and services company serving Global 1000 enterprises, today graduated 21 women from its proprietary ‘Step IT Up America — Rochester’ program, part of its nationwide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative to, by 2020, educate 5,000 minority and urban women across the country and place them in jobs.

The Step IT Up America — Rochester graduates, who represent what is usually an underrepresented demographic among the booming technology career field, will immediately start training and placement at Xerox Corporation, a global business services, technology and document management company.

The Rochester graduation included keynote speeches from Stephen Little, Global CIO at Xerox and BG Moore, Chief of Staff at UST Global.

“I could not be happier about this graduation and for the future careers of these bright and ambitious women. We know they will be great resources for Xerox,” said UST Global CEO Sajan Pillai. “We are pleased that we can contribute towards the nationwide ambition to close the gender gap in tech.”

“Step IT Up America is a great program that has given me to tools needed to launch a career in IT,” said Alexandria Kelley, graduate of Step IT Up America. “I’m excited to start working at Xerox, and I highly encourage other women to also to push the boundaries of what is possible in their careers and lives.”

“This partnership provides Xerox the opportunity to impact the lives of women seeking careers in the Information Technology industry,” said Steve Little, Xerox Global Chief Information Officer. “The core goals of Step IT Up America work in tandem with Xerox’s strong culture of diversity and inclusion, and our business will be all the better with these driven women.”

Step IT Up America has successfully launched in many U.S. cities: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York are a few examples. This program has already touched the lives of over 300 women.

Candidates can apply for the program at www.joinstepitupamerica.com.

Microsoft Windows 10 on 75 Million Devices in First Month Of Release

• Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10 has reached more than 75 million devices in almost a month since the operating system was released, according to Yusuf Mehdi, the company’s marketing chief for Windows and devices.

  More than 90,000 personal-computer and tablet models have upgraded to the new OS, which is running in 192 countries, Mehdi said Wednesday in a series of tweets. The app store for Windows 10 has had six times more downloads per device than Windows 8, he wrote.

  The Redmond, Washington-based company has promised shareholders that Windows 10 would reach 1 billion users within three years, which would be its fastest adoption rate ever. Within the first 24 hours of the July 29 release, 14 million devices were running the operating system, Mehdi wrote in a blog post last month. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has said the revenue bump from the new OS will come mostly two quarters from now.

  “Adoption for Windows 10 is professing ahead of Street expectations,” Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in an e-mail. “Nadella finally got it right this time, as consumers and enterprises like what they see with this new flagship platform.”

  Ives had projected that 50 million devices would be running on Windows 10 by the end of August. Windows 8 reached fewer than 15 million devices in its first month, he said. It took more than half a year for Microsoft to sell 100 million licenses for Windows 8 after its release. Ives rates the stock outperform.

  Microsoft shares gained 5.5 percent to $42.71 at the close in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Information Technology Sector Index advanced 5.3 percent as stocks rallied to end a six-day plunge.

  Mehdi also tweeted that Cortana, Microsoft’s voice-controlled personal assistant, has told more than 500,000 jokes since the release. Nadella has said that Cortana is “perhaps the biggest innovation in productivity we’ve done.”
  

  By Jing Cao

Largest Counterfeit Toner Seizure of its Kind in Dubai Worth $40M.

Some of the fake printers and cartridges seized in Dubai recently. (Supplied)

    The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) section of the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai, raided a warehouse in the emirate and seized more than half a million pieces of duplicate printers and ink cartridges.

The estimated value of the confiscated goods is Dh75 million, which makes it the largest seizure of its kind in Dubai. Specialised teams have been conducting regular campaigns and random inspections at warehouses in the city, imposing penalties on violators and destroying confiscated goods.

“The confiscated products carried reputed brand names including HP,” Ibrahim Behzad, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Department in CCCP.

Behzad said that the examination and classification of the confiscated goods took more than 10 hours as CCCP inspectors follows strict procedures to verify such products against the original trademarks. A full report on the seized goods was sent to the trademark owner so that they can take necessary action to stop counterfeiting and at the same time alert consumers.

“HP responded quickly and their global team visited DED within 48 hours of the seizure to take samples of the counterfeit goods and analyse the source. DED is also planning to enhance our manpower capabilities through organising training programmes with international companies on the best ways to guard intellectual property,” added Behzad.

“We are grateful to the UAE authorities for their support and assistance in tackling counterfeiting and removing such products from both local and overseas market,” said Glenn Jones, Anti-Counterfeiting Manager, HP EMEA (Europe, Middle East,Africa) and Americas.

Counterfeiting endangers the market as well as consumers and therefore trademark violations and traders should be reported. Consumers can report such incidents on the Ahlan Dubai call centre number 600 54 5555, through the smart phone application Sallety, Twitter handle Dubai_consumers or on the Dubai Consumer channel on Blackberry phones.

Fuji Xerox Ranked Highest in J.D. Power Asia Pacific Color Copier And Color Printer Customer Satisfaction Studies for Six Consecutive Years

Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. was ranked highest for six consecutive years both in the 2015 Japan Color Copier Customer Satisfaction Index StudySM and the 2015 Japan Color Printer Customer Satisfaction Index StudySM, which were released on July 30 by J.D. Power Asia Pacific, Inc., a global marketing information service company.

In the both studies, Fuji Xerox received the highest scores in two factors that influence overall customer satisfaction (CS); products and sales representative/system introduction.

Fuji Xerox regards CS as the base of all its corporate activities. In 2001, Fuji Xerox formulated the CS Action Guideline so that each and every employee — including those not only in the sales that serves as direct contact with customers, but also in research and development as well as headquarters — can take action toward achieving CS.

Fuji Xerox continues to offer products appropriate to a company with the industry’s highest reputation. Further, the company aims to be a partner that provides high quality solutions services to help customers create values.

J.D. Power Asia Pacific conducted this year’s studies in May, targeting business entities in Japan with 30 or more employees. It received 6,688 responses for the color copier study and 2,396 for the color printer study.

For details, please refer to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific official site:
http://japan.jdpower.com/ (Japanese only)

Xerox Acquires Company to Expand Health Care Offering

Xerox (NYSE: XRX) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire RSA Medical. The acquisition, once closed, will expand Xerox’s portfolio of healthcare service offerings to payers and life insurers using predictive analytics to enhance member outreach services aimed at improving overall population health.

RSA Medical is a leading provider of health assessment and risk management for members interacting with health and life insurance companies. Integrating RSA Medical into Xerox’s Commercial Healthcare Services business will expand the company’s ability to support healthcare payers throughout all stages of member engagement, including application and enrollment, operations and claims management, customer care, and population health management.

“An estimated 16 million more Americans have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act – many for the first time,” said Kelly Rakowski, senior vice president, Healthcare Payer Services at Xerox. “With this acquisition, we will help health plans educate new enrollees about services available to them and close gaps in care when necessary. We’ll also provide payers with insights into population health trends, and coordinate timely and personal clinical interventions for at-risk individuals and populations.”

Powered by its proprietary MedGine platform and individualized patient-engagement capabilities, RSA Medical utilizes population-health focused data analytics that enable health plans to support early identification of medical conditions and other risk factors, increasing payers’ ability to assist their members in maintaining wellness and managing chronic medical conditions.

Xerox works with some of the top nationally managed health plans, 12 of the largest Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, and the top pharmacy benefit managers, as well as several local and regional health plans. Through its services, Xerox touches approximately two-thirds of all insured Americans, including processing more than 1 billion claims annually and handling approximately 50 million interactions with members and providers per year.

“Xerox’s powerful brand, extensive market coverage and focus on innovation will accelerate the growth of our services,” said Rocco Salviola, founder, president and CEO of RSA Medical. “The strong cultural fit and integration of our businesses will benefit clients of both companies by creating opportunities to seamlessly leverage Xerox’s full portfolio of commercial healthcare service capabilities throughout the entire member care experience. RSA Medical will continue advocating for members by helping them navigate any and all insurance interactions with the end goal of controlling and preventing the onset of chronic diseases.”

The RSA Medical management team and its employees will remain with the company with Salviola leading operations and reporting to Rakowski.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Grab a coffee with Global Business Services experts

If you’re curious about the Global Business Services (GBS) industry, whether about its job opportunities or the industry’s potential, then come attend the GBS Coffee Chat and learn more about the industry scope directly from experts.

The GBS Coffee Chat is back, hosted by Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). This year, the coffee chat will take place over two sessions, and will be featuring a line-up of speakers from various firms in Malaysia such as Fuji Xerox Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Elebram System Sdn Bhd, HILTI Asia IT Services Sdn Bhd and Experian Malaysia.

The GBS Coffee Chat is held in conjunction with MDeC’s inaugural participation in the Mega Career Fair 2015, to be held at Mid Valley Convention Centre from Aug 21- 23, where MDeC will be a major exhibitor with 21 MSC-status companies being showcased at the MDeC pavilion at the fair.

The sessions will be held on Saturday, Aug 22 and Sunday, Aug 23 at 2.30pm – 4.30pm on both days, and will be moderated by MDeC GBS vice-president Michael Warren, as well as talent division general manager Muhammad Imran Kunalan Abdullah.

As part of the initiative to raise the profile of the Global Business Services (GBS) industry and its career opportunities in Malaysia, MDeC has launched a GBS as a Career of Choice campaign for the past few years, engaging students, fresh graduates and working professionals.

This time, MDeC will be addressing the authenticity and stamina of the GBS industry. If you’re looking for career growth, or are a working professional interested to know more about Global Business Services, take this opportunity to clear your doubts and understand more about GBS.

To register for the talk, head over to mystarjob.com/coffeechat2015/

Fuji Xerox launches next generation Managed Print Services in the Asia-Pacific Region

Fuji Xerox Philippines, Inc. (FXPI) has launched Next Generation Managed Print Services (MPS)—moving MPS beyond optimization of printing environment to evolving services that support clients optimize document-related work processes with enhanced security in mobile and cloud environment.

FXPI brings a solution with Next Generation MPS, which realizes an environment where users can effectively and securely obtain required information when and wherever needed. Its service roadmap segments the document-related processes in three stages—assess and optimize, secure and integrate, as well as automate and simplify—to enhance clients’ document-related workflows for a smoother communication, and allow Next Generation MPS to continuously evolve.

In each stage, the services using new tools can be implemented according to the maturity of the client’s office environment. In addition to operation and management of the printing environment, FXPI conducts periodic review of the services and provides support for further improvement.

Stage 1: Assess and Optimize

Optimizes client’s printing environment by capturing the total cost of ownership, user status, power consumption, and so on, to reduce cost and environmental load.

Stage 2: Secure and Integrate

Enhances security and manages printers in whatever environment documents are utilized—in offices, mobile, or cloud.

Stage 3: Automate and Simplify

Automates client’s work processes and boosts productivity using unique approaches to analyze their document-related workflow.

“MPS has been implemented in the market for several years now, and some companies that have already introduced MPS expect vendors to provide next step proposals,” said Eiji Ishida, analyst, Imaging, Printing & Document Solutions of IDC Japan. “As the recent trend noteworthy, mobile and cloud technologies are about to be utilized to actually solve work issues evolving from the previous stage where they had to solve their own issues to become widely used. IDC considers that the integration of mobile and cloud into the workflow optimization is required for the future MPS. Fuji Xerox’s Next Generation MPS is offering solutions in such new environment, and we expect that their new services will bring the MPS to the next stage.”

While the advancement of IT has changed work styles and brought flexible work environment, it has generated new issues such as how to maintain corporate governance, enhance security, and streamline work processes that have become more complex. Enterprises today are in need of an efficient and secure work processes.

“One of our strengths is the capability to provide consistent services worldwide together with Xerox,” said Masashi Sakamoto, president of Fuji Xerox Global Services, Asia Pacific Operations.

“We boast top market share and lead the MPS market in the Asia-Pacific region, and have gained vast experience with our customers to date. With this new service, we would like to become our customers’ stronger partner who can support and solve their management issues.”

Since the launch of Managed Print Services in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region in 2007, Fuji Xerox has led the MPS market, holding 52.7 percent share*2 in Japan and 34.4 percent share*3 worldwide (sales base as of 2014). Fuji Xerox supports clients take control of information and achieve continuous business growth through Next Generation MPS that offer services beyond management of printers.

Swimming event a great success, says organising chairman

KUCHING: The organising of the 5th Samarahan-Kuching Divisions Primary and Secondary Schools Swimming Championship at the Aquatic Centre of Excellence, Youth and Sports Complex was a great success and well managed.

Organising chairman Chai Min Lee said the competition ran smoothly and all the events were completed on time as expected.

“We had a very good response to this year’s championship where 256 swimmers from 24 primary schools and 17 secondary schools took part in the two-day meet,” he said.

Chai was pleased to note that 38 new records were created at the championship and that the event had provided a good platform for the swimmers especially in the younger age categories to gauge their standard.

SJK Chung Hua No.2 made a successful defence of their overall championship title in the primary schools category while Lodge Secondary School upstaged defending champions SMK Batu Lintang in the secondary schools section.

“We would like to thank corporate companies such as Cahya Mata Sarawak, Hock Seng Lee, Sarawak Energy for coming forward to support us.

“Others include Nestle Products for sponsoring trophies and medals, Fuji Xerox Printers for backpacks, our patron Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah for the challenge trophies, and donations from Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Datuk Sri Mohammad Ali Mahmud as well as Senator Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian,” said Chai.

ComDoc contest to award copiers to non-profits

ComDoc, a Xerox Company, is giving away 60 Xerox machines to nonprofit organizations as part of its 60th anniversary celebration.

ComDoc, a document management business which has a Buffalo office on Amherst Villa Road, is holding a contest where nonprofits can submit a short video explaining why they should receive a free Xerox machine. The purpose of the contest is to increase the technological capabilities of local nonprofits.

Nonprofits eligible for the contest must be located in the 10 markets where ComDoc has operations, which includes Buffalo. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 8.