OK.. You can NOT select your patent examiner…

Guys and gals… Did you know that some patent examiners PRIDE themselves in NEVER allowing patents? And others LOVE to allow patents? And.. you can NOT select your examiner.. To learn more about how this works look at the study from the Stanford Technology Law Review read on.

It is disturbing to say the least…

My PERSONAL experience jives with the non-signatory “newbie examiners” are the absolute WORST.. It is BEST to ask for the supervisor in that case but you have to be VERY careful not to insult anyone.. Egos are even strong in the USPTO… They are just a bunch of people like us by golly!

From: Patent Law Blog (Patently-O)

Apr 26, 2012

Guest Post by Dr. Shine Tu: Luck/Unluck of the Draw: An Emprical Study of Examiner Allowance Rates

Dr. Shine Tu is an Associate Professor of Law at the West Virginia University College of law.  For the past year, Dr. Tu, a former patent attorney with Foley & Lardner, has conducted a massive empirical examination of patent prosecution.  Massive, in the sense that Dr. Tu and his assistants examined the prosecution behavior of every patent issued in the last ten years.  In Luck/Unluck of the Draw: An Empricial Study of Examiner Allowance Rates, available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1939508 and forthcoming in the Stanford Technology Law Review, Dr. Tu discusses some of the findings from his study. – Jason

Luck/Unluck of the Draw: An Emprical Study of Examiner Allowance Rates

Dr. Shine Tu

One of the greatest banes of a patent applicant is the examiner who will not allow an application that should be allowable.  During a trip to the PTO for an Examiner interview, I passed by the office of Examiner X with a sign that stated “0% allowance rate ☺ [ed.: smiley face].”  Evidently, the smiley face was inserted to add insult to injury.  I asked the examiner that I was with if Examiner X really had a 0% allowance rate, and she said “yes.”  (I later verified that this was correct)  I asked why this was the case, and she stated, “some examiners believe an allowance is an affront to their being.”  Of course, our patent system would be a complete failure if the ability to get a patent was solely determined by which examiner you were lucky/unlucky enough to draw.

In an attempt to determine the extent of this behavior, I set out to comprehensively study allowance rates of specific examiners by art unit, technology center and the PTO as a whole.  To be as comprehensive as possible, I coded over 1.5 million patents in an attempt to code every patent ever issued in the last 10 years (from January 2001-July 2011).

The results of this study were surprising.  I found two interesting populations of examiners.  First, I found a significant population of examiners who on average, issue a disproportionately small number of patents per year (low allowance rate examiners).  Second, I found a small but significant population of examiners, who on average, issue a disproportionately large number of patents per year (high allowance rate examiners).

The first population of low allowance rate examiners consist mainly of secondary examiners (junior examiner usually with less than 5 years of experience and no signatory authority).  These examiners, on average, issue a very small number of patents per year (less than 5 patents per year).   For example, between 2002-2011 in technology center 3700, approximately 17% (306 examiners) of the examiners issued less than 0.35% (823 patents) of the patents in this art unit.  Accordingly, these low allowance rate examiners issued approximately 2.7 patents per examiner.

In contrast, I found a second population of high allowance rate examiners that consist mainly of primary examiners (senior examiners usually with more than 5 years of experience and full signatory authority).  These examiners, on average, issue a high number of patents per year (more than 50 patents per year).  For example, between 2002-2011 in technology center 3700, approximately 12% (215 examiners) of the examiners issued approximately 51% (120,822 patents) of the patents in this art unit.  Accordingly, these high allowance rate examiners issued approximately 561.9 patents per examiner.

There are many good reasons why an application should not be allowed.  However, one reason that should not play a role is an uneven / inconsistent application of patentability rules.  Examiners should be consistent in the way they apply patentability rules within their own docket.  Additionally, examiners should be consistent in the way they apply patentability rules compared to examiners within their art unit.  This study suggests that examiners even within the same art unit may be applying the rules of patentability in an inconsistent manner.

There are many limitations with this study.  First, I note that there is no ideal allowance rate.  Second, I note that this is only descriptive data.  Finally, I note that I focus only on issued patents.  I could not obtain data related to the total number of filed applications for each art unit, thus I cannot calculate the percentage allowance rate per art unit (because I do not have a denominator of “filed applications”).  This is a significant limitation because all of these results are limited by the “denominator” problem.

Additionally, it is possible both populations of examiners are doing an outstanding job.  That is, it is possible that the low volume examiners are simply getting harder cases (but I am skeptical of this explanation).   Additionally, it is possible that the low volume examiners are “doing a more thorough job” since they are mainly secondary examiners and thus have more time to spend per application for review and detailed analysis.  Furthermore, it is possible that high volume examiners are doing an adequate job because they are simply more experienced and not only know the field better, but know how to quickly make “good” rejections.  In order to obtain some substantive answers to overcome these limitations, I am currently reviewing a sample of prosecution histories to determine if these two populations of examiners truly are applying the patentability rules in an inconsistent manner.

A full draft of “Luck/Unluck of the Draw: An Empirical Study of Examiner Allowance Rates” is available on SSRN at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1939508 and is forthcoming in the Stanford Technology Law Review.

How to Copyright a Song!

Watch the following video to see how you can copyright your song ONLINE at the US Copyright office!

Visit How To Copyright Online  to see more details and the same videos below…

You do not need to hire an attorney to file your song. It can be done within 10 minutes while you are sitting watching the idiot box.

Super fast 5 Minute video How to Copyright a song!

These details should fill in the blanks on How to Copyright a song!

How to Copyright a Song!

How to File a Design Patent With Examples

How to File a Design Patent With Examples is shown below to give you an overview of how easy it is to file one. The cost is high because the USPTO has to search images.

A Deisgn Patent is different than a utility patent or a provisional patent. It covers what it looks like.. Not how it works.. It can be easily covered by simply drawing the views of the item so that anyone could recognize it. The cat figurine below is one such example.

They are SUPER EASY to do but expensive!

Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.

Here is a video…

See the USPTO website here for their instructions: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/designapp.jsp#sample
Here are the fees from the USPTO: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee2009september15.htm#patapp

A design patent lasts for 14 years. Guys like CocaCola have a design patent on their logo. See the sample image below…
The design patent simply covers the shape and look of the photograph holder (by the way, it could also be a mirror so they missed that part!). Notice how the cat is a unique design and that they show every view. This is how to file a design patent with examples.

Here is the text of a design patent specification that you can use to file your own design patent.

Sample Specification

I, (Name)________________________________________________ have invented a new design for a (Title)_________________________________________________ as set forth in the following specification:

FIG. 1 is a _______________________ view of a __________________________ showing my new design;

FIG. 2 is a _______________________ view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a _______________________ view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a _______________________ view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a _______________________ view thereof; and

FIG. 6 is a _______________________ view thereof.

I claim: The ornamental design for a _________________________________________________ as shown.

They are VERY EASY ti fill out and file quickly.

How to File a Design Patent With Examples

Mostly folks REALLY want to file a utility patent to protect their inventive idea. The LEAST expensive way to do this is with the Provisional Patent Application with the USPOTO for just $125  Visit the Provisional Patent Video Course now.

Once filed you have the right to put Patent Pending when you file a provisional patent appliocation.

You will learn a bit about the new America Invents Act and what it means to you.

How to File a Design Patent With Examples

If you want to protect your inventive idea take a look at the Provisional Patent Video Course to see EXACTLY how you can file a Provisional Patent Application on your own or prepare to have your attorney do it for you after you PREPARE all you need from the course http://provisionalpatentvideo.com/

How to File a Design Patent With Examples

Want to file a Utility Patent on your own??

How to File a Design Patent

I will show you the difference between a Design Patent and a “normal” patent or a Utility patent as they are called.

Basically a Design Patent is where you want to protect a specific design of your inventive idea. It could be the shape of the front of a car, the design of a chair. It is how it looks. It can be represented by line drawings.

How to File a Design Patent will require that you search the design patent database for designs that are in your field of interest. The video below shows you how to do this…

How to File a Design Patent will allow you to determine if you REALLY want the design patent process. It is likely that you should actually apply for a Utility Patent that is described in the Provisional Patent Video Course that talks about the Provisional Patent Application process. In that you will see how to patent your idea.

Below is a graphic showing a design patent # D224567 for a stringed musical instrument that is a novel and unique and easily recognizable design.

How to File a Design Patent is also shown on the USPTO website and it is pretty darn expensive. The provisional patent application only costs $65 but the design patent application can cost $300 once you pay your filing fees, search fees as seen from the USPTO Fee Page. Refer to Micro Entity status!

 How to File a Design Patent is usually done to cover the “packaging” of a patent or patent pending idea so that when the device comes out not only the inventive idea has a Utility Patent or a Provisional Patent Application it will also have a design patent. This is very handy if you want to make a new novel wine cork removal system that also has recognizable DESIGN features. You might have a novel method to remove the cork as well as a very easily identifiable “Look”. Perhaps it looks like a bird or whatever…

How to File a Copyright

Copyright is a legal exercise designed to protect the works of artists, inventors and innovators. In essence, it is a legal bar, allowing exclusivity for those who create works in the form of an intangible asset which can be sold or relinquished, and which expires upon a certain period of time. With the growth of the internet, and the creation of more and more content, the question of copyright is becoming increasingly more relevant, and one which more and more web masters are considering to protect their own interests.

A copyright is much different than a patent as there is no “approval process” only a “registration process” that puts on notice that you own the copyrighted material. Merely affixing the copyright word to your work in some cases is sufficient to deem it copyrighted.

Additionally, with the rise of the freelancer market, the issue of copyright is becoming a heated topic of debate for both buyers and sellers at every stage in the production chain, and the effects of not having the relevant rights could be potentially catastrophic. In this article, we’ll look at what exactly copyright is, and how it relates to the internet in content creation.

Copyright is a concept that gives the creator of a work, or the person he sells the right to, the legal right to use or modify in whole or in part, and to call their own. It has a different meaning in most jurisdictions, however the basic principle is the same: the creator owns the original copyright to the work in question, and has the freedom to pass this on at will, usually in consideration for money. Where a creator is working on commission, copyright is designed to act as a lien in his favor, meaning that if he creates and passes on but does not receive payment, he can withhold copyright and sue for breach where applicable. Of course, he would also have remedies under the ordinary law of contract, but the grasp of copyright is a very powerful tool, which can even be used against the third party buyer from the original owner.

Copyright is designed as a tool to cover what is known as intellectual property. Committing intellectual thoughts and ideas to paper, or making them tangible is usually sufficient to give rise to the copyright protection, which usually lasts for a number of decades in preventing others from steeling ideas. This is primarily designed to encourage forward thinking and art, and can be a vital tool in protecting the financial interests of those responsible for some of the world’s most vital inventive ideas and concepts. Consider the inventors of the seatbelt, Volvo. Volvo could have used their copyright to prevent other manufacturers from installing seat belts, and this would have been sufficient to protect any other manufacturer from doing so. Of course they waived their rights for the safety of the general public, which is also a possible consideration for the creator of something new and innovative.

Copyright is an exhaustible right, and it usually expires on a given date, after which all works enter the public domain. This means that those who create new products have sufficient time to capitalise on their idea before the world at large can join in. Unfortunately for many musicians, this means their artistic works can no longer make them money specifically, and can be used royalty free; a fact that has caused much uproar and unrest in recent years.

Copyright is a dynamic area of the law, and is particularly relevant to the internet. As more and more content of more and more varieties is created online, there comes a need to find protection in copyright law to prevent unscrupulous parties from using content without authorization. In combating this, a number of international legal organisations have been established with a view to tackling copyright violation, and helping those without legal support to fight cases for the protection of their work. It is undoubtedly an area of law that is on the ascendancy, as lawyers worldwide strive to find a cohesive structure to online intellectual property law, and the protections online authors should be afforded for creating their works. At least within national boundaries, it is highly possible to rely on copyright laws to protect and govern material.

How to File a Copyright

What is a Patent?

A patent is a document issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, a branch of the Federal Government that grants the owner the monopolistic right to their inventive idea for a period of 20 years. In return for that monopolistic right the inventor MUST disclose the invention COMPLETELY so that a person of ordinary skill in the art will be able to duplicate the invention. You must also pay the USPTO fees to keep your patent alive and active for the 20 years.

The USPTO does not do ANYTHING but publish the document. It is the OWNERS responsibility to DEFEND their patent by bringing any infringers of their invention to court. If this happens then the court looks at the patent to determine if the infringer has truly infringed on the invention. If so then the court may award a settlement to the owner of the patent. It remains the responsibility of the owner to collect what ever is awarded. Sometimes the awards are enormous and as such many folks file or buy patents with the design to catch folks who copy their patents. These folks are commonly called Patent Trolls. Or, they could be a guy who invents a cool product that he can not afford and then notices someone has brought out HIS idea. He has the right to sue that person!

What is a Patent? If you want to get a patent on YOUR idea the least expensive path is to FIRST file a Provisional Patent Application for the small fee of $125 if you are an independent inventor. The Provisional Patent Application is an extraordinary defensive means as well giving the owner the ability to describe their inventive art in ways that are not permitted in a non-provisional patent application.

The answer to What is a Patent?   is nicely answered in Wikipedia… in their  What is a Patent? posting

What is a Patent? If you want to see EXACTLY HOW to file a Provisional Patent Application using a novel Over the Shoulder Video Course click this link: Provisional Patent Video Course

What is a Patent?

In order for a patent to be accepted by the USPTO, it must propose a concept, idea, or item that is “useful,” “novel,” and “non-obvious.” Below are definitions of these terms in the context of the patent process.

“Useful” - The term “useful” means that the subject matter has a useful purpose. It also requires that the item is operable, since a machine that can not perform its intended purpose cannot be considered useful in the ordinary sense of the word.

“Novelty” - “Novelty” is strictly defined by patent law. An invention cannot be patented if:

• The invention was known or used by others in the United States before the patent applicant invented it.
• The invention was patented or described in any printed publication, before the patent applicant invented it.
• The invention was patented or described in a printed publication in any country more than one year prior to the inventor’s U.S. patent application.
• The invention was in public use or on sale in the United States more than one year prior to the inventor’s U.S. patent application.

“Nonobviousness” - Even if a new invention differs in one or more ways from another patented invention, a patent may still be not be accepted by the USPTO if the differences to one skilled in the art would deem it would be obvious. Nonobviousness is defined as a sufficient difference from what has been used or described before that a person having ordinary skill in the area of technology related to the invention would not find it obvious to make the change.

For example, sodium chloride, NaCl, (table salt) and potassium chloride , KCl, (a chemically similar salt) can often be used interchangeably. A inventor working to improve road salt would be instructed by the USPTO that it is obvious to one skilled in the arts would know to substitute potassium chloride for sodium chloride. As such a formula that simply made this substitution in an existing patented road salt formula would not be patentable because it was obvious.

Of course these rules do not prevent a person from patenting an improvement to another invention, however. For example, tire companies have long known various formulas for making tire rubber for specific uses. If an inventor discovers a new and novel way to make tire rubber that would last twice as long by slightly changing the chemical composition or method of processing the rubber then this inventive ide could well be a patentable improvement as long as the difference was not obvious to one skilled in the art.

Now… you have a better idea about your question of What is a Patent? watch for more as I post more on the subject!

How To Patent Your idea

How To Patent Your idea is not as hard as you think. It is just much more expensive than you thought.

With that in mind I want to introduce you to the Provisional Patent Application process that costs a mere $125 as of Sept 26, 2011 to file.

At issue is HOW do I file a provisional patent application, PPA, myself, or at least inexpensively and WHY would I do that if a non-provisional patent application, sometimes called a “real” patent is what all the lawyers tell me I need to use.

The reason attorneys want you to file a non-provisional patent application is because they charge from $5.000 to $50,000 to file one for you. They earn these fees MAINLY answering what is known as “Office Actions”. Office Actions are what you get when the USPTO sends you a letter telling you made a mistake in your patent application submission. Mistakes such as silly spelling errors to obvious errors in legal structure down to obvious errors in claim structure. This is much like a math teacher would do when you make an error on your trigonometry homework. The math teacher uses the well known laws of mathematics and trigonometry to inform you of your errors and it is your job to return the homework with the corrected answers. You, the student SHOULD HAVE KNOWN not to make errors. It is OK, however, because you are new to the “business” of trigonometry.

The same is true with the USPTO to the attorney who files your patent application. The difference is the laws pertaining to the proper authoring of patents is published in the Federal Register and are available to ANYONE with an internet connection. You must know that patent attorneys go to school and pass a rigorous examination to have the honor of charging you $400/hour or so to file a patent for you.

And, you would assume with all this schooling these same attorneys would NOT make simple errors that are causal to income producing Office Actions. The fact of the matter is that there is not much income to be gained if one were to submit a “perfect” patent application. As such you can appreciate why attorneys are not “motivated” to ensure there are no errors in their submissions.

Back to How To Patent Your idea… Or, why use the Provisional Patent Application process that you can do yourself for $125 even when your good friend the Patent Attorney tells you that you should hire him to file a non-provisional patent application for you….

Simple answer… A provisional patent application can be filed online quickly and when you hit the “Submit” button you IMMEDIATELY get a confirmation and a registration number that allows you to affix “Patent Pending” to your invention and affords you a level of protection that allows you to share your idea with prospective partners or investors so that within the one year time frame you can have your partners come up with the money needed to file your non-provisional patent application. In a way a Provisional Patent Application is a “cheap” insurance policy to “protect” your inventive idea while you get your ducks in a row to bring your invention to market. After no real or serious company would ever want to talk to you about your invention if you do NOT at least have a Provisional Patent Application filed giving you the “Patent Pending” status. And, if you were to go to the expense of filing a non-provisional patent you would likely be “wasting money” as most serious companies who engage individual inventors prefer to have their OWN Intellectual Property team draft all their patents anyway.

How To Patent Your idea again… My simple answer is FIRST file a Provisional Patent Application using something like the Provisional Patent Video Course.. And do it NOW before some other clown comes along and copies your idea… The course is IDEAL for individual inventors who want to file themselves as well as inventors wanting to use the service of a good, honest, reputable, patent attorney who realizes that when they help someone file a provisional patent application for a fair and reasonable price that it is highly likely that they will come back within a year to file the associated non-provisional application!

A cautionary video about Invention Companies… Watch the video… This demonstrates why you should FIRST file your provisional patent application and DO NOT give ANYONE money till you FIRST file!