Posts Tagged: "famous inventors"

So what is an admission? A statement made during patent prosecution identifying the work of another as prior art is called an admission. Admissions can and will be relied upon by patent examiners for both novelty (35 U.S.C. 102) and obviousness (35 U.S.C. 103) determinations, regardless of whether the admitted prior art would otherwise qualify as prior art under the express terms of the statute. Admissions should be avoided at all costs, regardless of how innocent they seem to be. This is a lesson that all new patent practitioners and inventors need to take to heart. No matter how innocuous the statement may seem, always remember that no good deed will go unpunished! Everything you do say can and will be used against your patent once it issues — forever.

Provisional applications can be a very useful tool, but only when they are done right. When provisional patent applications are done poorly you not only obtain no benefit, the filing potentially demonstrates you were not in possession of an invention, which could be catastrophically bad.

Patents are expensive to obtain. The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money if there are easy to find references a US patent search could locate… If you hire a professional patent search firm you may want to also consider adding an international patent search. Some search firms may already include an international patent search in the price, or at least a search of certain foreign databases. While US patent searches are essential, international patent searches are preferable if you can afford the extra cost.

December 28 marks the anniversary of the issuance of a patent covering a bandage technology commonly known as the Band-Aid®, invented at Johnson & Johnson… In order to speed up the process of tending to his wife’s cuts and nicks, Dickson came to the idea of preparing a length of adhesive tape with sections of gauze, allowing Josephine to snip off a strip of tape and quickly apply the adhesive bandage. When the couple considered how useful such a product might be in households across the country, Earle brought the idea to his boss James Wood Johnson, another one of the three co-founding brothers of J&J. Band-Aid® brand adhesive bandages first hit the consumer market in 1920.

It can be enormously difficult for inventors to describe their own inventions. This is true not because the inventor doesn’t know what they’ve invented, or even because the inventor is not in the best position to explain the invention. Indeed, the inventor of a new and useful invention is absolutely in the best position to describe the invention… Inventors are very good at describing how their inventions can be used and why their invention is superior from a usability standpoint. The trouble is describing how an invention can be used, while a prerequisite, will not distinguish a tangible invention from the prior art.

Yesterday, a group of dedicated inventors took to the steps of the United States Supreme Court in order to protest the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Green’s Energy Group, LLC, and SAS Institute Inc. v. Matal, the inventors protest focused on the erosion of patent rights and the need for patents to be considered property rights.

The purpose of the written description requirement is broader than to merely explain how to make and use the invention, which is the subject of the enablement requirement. Rather, to satisfy the written description requirement the applicant must also convey with reasonable clarity to those skilled in the art that, as of the filing date sought, he or she was in possession of the invention… While the written description is just that – written – having multiple drawings that show the invention and various aspects of the invention from a variety of viewpoints can be extremely helpful. This is because every figure should be described with at lease one paragraph of text, frequently more.

Sleep Styler creator Tara Brown, an ophthalmologist by trade, turned to Knobbe Martens for help securing IP protection as soon as she had her final prototype – a no-heat hair roller –  in hand. Attorneys helped her file for patent protection and obtain trademark registration. Brown then raised over $40,000 in an August 2016 Kickstarter campaign, and in March 2017, her Shark Tank episode aired, where she agreed to take $75,000 in funding in exchange for 25 percent equity.  The very next week, sales soared from $70,000 in revenue to $3 million, and within three months hit the $50 million mark.

The enablement requirement is specifically aimed at ensuring the claimed invention is described with sufficient detail so the relevant person of skill in the art or technology area will understand both how to make and use what has been actually claimed in the patent… While there is no particularly concrete and useful definition for what specifically constitutes undue experimentation, the requirement generally mandates that the description explain the invention so that it could be made and used without individuals having to go through a trial and error process in order to figure it out for themselves. In other words, the invention must actually teach so the invention can be achieved.

Helicopters and other aircraft are often used to combat fires which cannot be controlled by personnel on the ground and the practice is a fairly expensive one. Various online sources cite to a 2003 statement from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management that those agencies own, contract or lease 1,000 aircraft for aerial firefighting each year at…

The point here is you need to be mindful that patent practitioners are frequently on guard when dealing with independent inventors. As with virtually everything in all walks of life, the more you know in advance the better prepared you can be… The patent attorney or patent agent you hire is there to represent you. They are not the inventor, and they need your assistance. If you really have an invention you know the invention better than anyone. Cooperation is critical. Communication is critical. The opportunity to establish a working relationship starts with the first meeting or contact, hence the need to be prepared.

The numbers are stark. As recently as 1990, individual inventors were granted 17 percent of all patents. By 2000, they received 12 percent and only 6.8 percent in 2010. In 2015, individual inventors were granted only 5.8 percent of all patents. In sum, if there is any example of a nation squandering its technological seed corn, this systematic weakening of U.S. patent protections for some “guy in the garage” is it. The great irony is that most of the people behind the screen in all this got their start in that same “garage.” They know this all too well, which is why they’re relieved to see the garage all but Closed for Business.

Inventing success for young inventors comes when they are passionate, inspired and dedicated, which is not unlike success in all areas of life… While passion is required, knowledge is also absolutely necessary. A true inventor will learn everything they can about each aspect of the field, from the technology, to the business, to the competition. You must become an expert on your invention and on the field you’ve chosen to pursue.

Brainstorming, whiteboards and a 3D printer constantly humming. The Invention Lab of Enhance Innovations is always a flurry of innovative activity. If you are an invention nerd a trip to Enhance Innovations is an opportunity to really geek-out… For me, the real interesting piece of what Enhance does is their work with concepts. Many times inventors will come to me with more than an idea but less than an invention, which can be a real valley of death for inventors to navigate. So many good ideas get trapped in the uncomfortable space between something more than an idea and something less than a full-blown tangible invention.

The basement inventor is increasingly rare, although I am old enough (and lucky enough) to know several. Invention in the “real world” is often a messy, team effort of multiple inventors, employers, contracts, research agreements, and funding agreements. As the complexity of invention multiplies, so do opportunities for unintentionally losing or jeopardizing intellectual property rights… There is often more than meets the eye when it comes to ownership of inventions. The benefits of collaboration far outweigh the disadvantages. However, you can take steps to ensure a smooth collaboration by keeping a few legal principles in mind…