Product By Process Claims
The claims define the metes and bounds of patent protection afforded under a patent. The claims can be drafted in many different ways. For example, the claims can recite a method, an apparatus or a product by process. A method claim recites various steps which if performed would infringe the patent. An apparatus claim recites [...]
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- Posted in: claim construction
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What types of inventions are eligible for patent protection?
There are four general categories of inventions that are eligible for patent protection. Specifically, they are processes, machines, manufactures and compositions of matter or their improvements. The following case, In re Ferguson, 2007-1232 (Fed. Cir. 2009) involves the issue of whether an invention to a new process is eligible for patent protection. The case makes [...]
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- Posted in: Patent Eligible Subject Matter
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What Types of Inventions are Obvious?
Inventors frequently ask whether the Patent Office will grant them a patent on their invention. The general answer is that the Patent Office will grant a patent on inventions that are novel (i.e., new) and non-obvious in light of technology existing at the time the patent application was filed. The government does not have an [...]
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- Posted in: Featured, Obviousness
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Inventor’s Notebook
The following case illustrates the importance of documenting an invention’s development. Under current U.S. Patent Laws, the first-to-invent is awarded a patent on an invention and not the first to file a patent application. The reason is that the first-to-invent rule appears to be more fair compared to the “first to file” rule. The first-to-invent [...]
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- Posted in: first to invent
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Patent Assignments
Patentees can profit from the patents they hold by licensing their technology. Alternatively, patentees can sell their technology to others through an assignment of the patent. In either case, it is important to carefully lay out the terms and conditions of the license or assignment to make clear the intent of the parties. In The [...]
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Contributory Infringement Viewed at Component Level
In Ricoh Company, Ltd. v. Quanta Computer, Inc., 2007-1567, (Fed. Cir. 2008), Quanta sold computer drives having various components. For the purposes of this case, one of those components was specially designed to infringe Ricoh’s patent. Although the computer drive itself did not directly infringe the Ricoh patent, Ricoh contends that Quanta should be held [...]
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- Posted in: Infringement, contributory infringement
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Warranty of Non-Infringement For Sale of Goods
The California Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) discusses the default rules that govern the rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers of goods. §2-312(3) states that “unless otherwise agreed a seller who is a merchant regularly dealing goods of the kind warrant that the goods shall be delivered free of the rightful claim of any third [...]
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- Posted in: warranty of non-infringement
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Deferred Examination Considered by U.S. Patent Office
On February 12, 2009, the Patent Office hosted a roundtable discussion on “deferred examination” which would permit applicants to defer examination of a patent application. Currently, the U.S. Patent Office examines patent applications on a first-come, first-served basis for all patent applications. In other foreign countries, patent applicants are allowed to defer examination until the applicant requests examination. The Patent Office held the roundtable to obtain feedback from U.S. stakeholders on whether deferred examination would be beneficial to them.
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- Posted in: Proposed Patent Rules
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No Patent Protection For Programmed Computer Method
In Ex Parte Halligan, the BPAI held that a method using a programmed computer does not transform a method that is ineligible for patent protection patent eligible. The computer limitation is a field of use limitation and does not add any meaningful limitation to the claims.
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Design Patent Infringement Test
Three types of inventions are eligible for patent protection under the patent laws, specifically utility inventions directed to useful processes, machines, etc. , design inventions relating to ornamental features and plant inventions of asexually reproducible plant varieties. A design invention was at issue in Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 666 (Fed. Cir. [...]
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