Two stories on patents in the news.
First, "Wi-Fi hot-spot developer Nomadix announced it landed a patent for redirecting subscribers to log-in pages when they access public networks." In order to charge for use of wireless networks in public "hot spots," service providers automatically redirect potential users' browsers toward a web page that will allow these users to pay for the service. According to the patent (No. 6,636,894), which can be found here, the novelty of Nomadix's method is the ability to redirect users without the use of software installed on the user's computer.
Second, famed inventor Jerome Lemelson (or, more accurately, his estate) has lost his patent suit for "patents for an early machine vision system, which would enable machines to visually scan objects, such as items moving down an assembly line," e.g. laser barcode scanners in supermarkets. The federal district court "ruled that it was too late for the Lemelson Partnership to assert its patent rights, and that, in any event, the devices made by the machine vision companies were based on entirely different technologies and therefore not covered by the patents." The district court's decision can be found here.