This blog post has been updated due to the America Invents Act enacted September 16, 2011. See Virtual patent marking and false patent marking post. Upon filing a patent application or issuance of a patent, a product disclosed by the patent application or covered by the claims of the issued patent may be marked either “Patent [...]
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Penalty for False Patent Marking
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Misconceptions of Provisional Patent Applications
After an inventor conceives of an invention, an application seeking patent protection may be filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The first or initial patent application may either be a provisional or non provisional patent application. The provisional patent application is described as a lower cost option compared to the non-provisional patent [...]
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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 [...]
USPTO Performance and Accountability Report for 2011
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has published its yearly Performance and Accountability Report. I’ve cut out some of the tables and provided a brief commentary below. Some of the graphics are barely legible. This is the way it was published on the USPTO website.
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- Posted in: patent statistics
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No patent misuse for patent pools that license competing technologies
After receiving a patent, a significant number of patentees license their invention to others. Sometimes, patentees attempt to extract more and more out of the licensee. However, when the patentee attempts to expand the scope of the patent too far then the licensee can assert the defense of patent misuse which can render the license [...]
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Definitions of the 1952 Patent Act are expected to flow through to AIA but be cautious
General rule The America Invents Act (Patent Act) transitions the United States from a first to invent system to a first to file system. Under the new first to file system, the general rule to obtain a patent on an invention is that absolute novelty is required and the first inventor to file or win [...]
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- Posted in: america invents act
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Google phone functions accessible even when locked
On November 17, 2011, Google’s patent application relating to Touch Gesture Actions from a Device’s Lock Screen published as US Pub. No. 2011/0283241. The invention disclosed in the patent application solves the problem of having to perform multiple gestures on a phone in order to accomplish a simple task such as increasing volume of music being played. To do so, there is a set of predefined or user defined gestures which can bypass the lock screen on the phone and perform the desired step. For example, if you want to view your calendar, you can preprogram a gesture which launches the calendar even when the phone is locked. Brilliant!
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- Posted in: Cool Ideas
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Patent Act: First to file and its exceptions
On March 16, 2013, the United States will transition from a first to invent system to a first to file system under the America Invents Act (“Patent Act”). As the March 16, 2013 date approaches, inventors and businesses should consider the following things when implementing a patent protection strategy.
Under the Patent Act, any disclosure dated prior to the filing date of the inventor’s patent application will considered prior art and bar the inventor from being granted a patent on the invention unless one of two exceptions applies. Hence, the general rule is that you must be the first to file. Under the first exception, if the prior art disclosure is 1 year or less prior to the filing date of the inventor’s patent application and the prior art disclosure is
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Invention promoter, frequently asked questions
An Invention promoter must abide by certain federal laws. In this article, a discussion of the rights of consumers and the responsibilities of an invention promoter are discussed. An invention promoter must disclose its track record of obtaining profitable deals and the ratio of positive invention evaluations to total evaluations among other statistics. Moreover, if you have been damaged by an invention promoter, the statute provides for attorney fees and other remedies.
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Irvine patent hub of OC
Irvine is the patent hub of Orange County, California. Irvine businesses and resident received about 10 times more patents than their counterparts in the surrounding cities. Moreover, for the past two years, the Irvine patent community has received more patents compared to pre-recession years.
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- Posted in: Irvine patent
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Public availability under the America Invents Act
The first inventor to file system under the America Invents Act adds a catch all category that includes anything publicly available. Some argue that the catch all phrase narrows the meaning of on sale to exclude secret offers for sale. Expect litigation in this area.
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First inventor to file system under the America Invents Act
Under the first inventor to file system, the inventor that wins the race to the patent office is awarded the patent and any public disclosure by the inventor before filing a patent application bars the inventor from seeking patent protection except under two very important exceptions.
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Virtual patent marking and false marking claims
America Invents Act allows companies to mark patents with patent number by referring to a web address. Also, false patent marking claims can only be brought by the government or someone with a competitive injury.
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