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By Bloomberg

A newly issued patent awarded to Apple Inc. shows the company may come out with a mobile phone that can be folded and put into a pocket.

Patent 8,929,085, issued yesterday, covers what the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker says is a flexible electronic device with internal components that allow it to be deformed, even to the extent of folding it. Apple said such flexibility might be extended to batteries, printer circuits, the housing itself and other components.

Flex features might be used to allow deformations of the device to provide inputs, Apple said. A user could turn a device on and off by twisting it, according to the patent.

A flexible device is also much less likely than a rigid one to break when dropped, Apple said.

The company applied for the patent in September 2011 with the assistance of the Treyz Law Group of San Francisco.

Abbott’s Humira Patent Is Canceled by Authorities in India

India’s patent office rescinded a patent granted to Abbott Biotechnology Ltd. that covered its rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, following opposition was filed by the Mumbai-based generic-drug maker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., India’s Business Standard reported.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based Abbott was granted the patent in June 2009, despite Glenmark’s having filed opposing papers in September 2008, according to the Business Standard.

After Glenmark’s opposition came to the patent office’s notice, it sent Abbott a cancellation letter, which was then stayed by the Delhi Court, the newspaper reported.

The court issued an order specifying that Glenmark’s letter should be treated as a petition seeking review, after which the senior joint controller of patents and designs rescinded the patent, saying the invention was obvious and the patent’s description of the process was insufficient, according to the Business Standard.

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Trademark

Rams Franchise Still Owns Some ‘Los Angles Rams’ Trademarks

The St. Louis Rams of the National Football League still own several trademarks for “Los Angeles Rams,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Despite the team’s moves, first to Anaheim, California, in 1980 and then to St. Louis before the 1995 season, the Los Angeles registrations were renewed in 2013, the Times reported.

The Oakland Raiders also have registrations for “Los Angeles Raiders,” one from 1985 and the other from 1995, according to the Times. The Raiders were based in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s.

Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rams, said Jan. 5 that he plans to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, the newspaper reported.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Mondrian Copyright Term Divides U.S. Trust, Dutch Publishers

Dutch painter Piet Mondrian died in February 1944, and under European law, the copyright on his work has now expired, the DutchNews website reported.

The U.S.-based Mondrian Trust, however, is insisting that under American law, while everything produced by the artist before 1923 is now copyright-free, his later work is covered by a rule specifying the copyright extends 95 years, rather than 70, after the artist’s death, according to the news website.

The Dutch newspaper Trouw said that after discussions with the trust it now understands it can publish all of his work in the paper itself, but can post online only images not covered by the longer copyright term. U.S. residents might view the website, and having images still under copyright available to them would constitute infringement, DutchNews reported.

The Gemeentemuseum in the Hague, which has an extensive Mondrian collection, said its use of the images will be governed by European copyright law because “Mondrian was a Dutch national and Dutch laws apply,” according to DutchNews.