It is not at all uncommon for inventors to want to attempt to draft and file patent applications on their own.  This is in no small part due to the fact that if an independent inventor goes to a patent attorney the attorney will typically require somewhere from $5,000 to $10,000 up front prior to commencing representation.  This is a lot of money for many inventors, particular first time inventors who are trying to invent to follow a dream and/or to perhaps be able to start a business and work for themselves.  It is for this reason that many will proceed without an attorney, and perhaps even fall into the clutches of a disreputable invention submission company.

The 13th annual Independent Inventors Conference will be held on the campus of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Virginia August 8-9. A pre-conference workshop, for anyone interested in learning about the basics of patents and the importance of intellectual property protection, will be held on August 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. The workshop is for beginners and is a good foundation for the conference It is included in the $100 registration fee.

Top officials of the USPTO, including Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce Margaret Peterlin and Commissioner for Patents John Doll will be presenters at the conference. Also appearing this year will be Louis Foreman, creator and executive producer of the Emmy award winning PBS series, Everyday Edisons.

Bi-axial rotating magnetic therapeutic device
US Patent No. 6,648,812 [ PDF ] [ HTML ]
Issued November 18, 2003

This device varies magnetic field intensity by rotating a single magnet about two axes at the same time.  This could be a legitimate, real invention, if only it were claimed as a human amusement device, or a device for sucking money from desperate individuals in search of a cure.  The problem is that it has been claimed as “a therapeutic magnetic device.”  That being the case, the invention must be useful for its claimed purpose, otherwise a utility rejection under 35 USC 101 and an enablement rejection under 35 USC 112 should issue.  The patent itself addresses this by explaining that books have been written supporting the efficacy of magnetic therapy.  What the patent fails to point out is that books have also been written about alien abduction and the fact that man never really landed on the moon. 

Senior officials of the United State Patent and Trademark Office will be available live on-line Thursday, June 26, from 2 to 3 PM (EST). They will be answering questions and offering tips for independent inventors. Instructions for taking part in the on-line chat will be posted on the home page of the USPTO web site at 10 AM (EST) next Thursday. Inventors can begin logging on for the chat at 1:30 PM.

As some of you may know, I am a professional member of the United Inventors Association and I am also a recent new addition to the Board of Directors of the UIA.  Individual inventors can find a wealth of information on the UIA website, and can also find reliable assistance from the various professional members, all of who have been researched by the UIA to ensure that they are not one of the many invention scam companies who are unfortunately operating in many locations throughout the United States.

For those who are interested in tapping into this resource you can sign up for the UIA Newsletter for free.  You can also join and become a member, which has a lot of nice benefits and I would recommend that you consider joining.  If you are not at the point where you want to join at least give the newsletter a try.

To sign up for the UIA Newsletter go to:

http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1011361700025&p=oi