Patents

Evidently, that is true.  In a recent blog post (http://www.uspto.gov/blog/director/entry/interviews_and_patent_quality), the patent office claims that when an applicant interviews the examiner the patent quality improves. At first this surprised me.  Thinking about it a little more, however, it makes sense. When you interview a case, the examiner tends to pay more attention and so the…

That is essentially what the inventors of the Joulies admitted this week on Shark Tank.http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/episode-detail/episode-414/1056608.  The basic idea behind the Joulies is to put something that looks like a small stone in your coffee to cool it down when it is too hot and to warm it up when it gets cold.  The company web…

I had always assumed most patent applicants knew about the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and were taking advantage of it.  Evidently not.  I just attended a patent conference where the speaker suggested that not many people are using the PPH.  The speaker indicated that the patent office wants this program to succeed.  He showed statistics…

If you qualify, this is a great deal.  The unfortunate part of patent prosecution is attorneys fees, which are largely the result of the complexity of the prosecution process, and the AIA did little to help that.  However, this is a nice start.  Also, per my previous post on small claims courts for patent litigation,…

The US Patent Office thinks so.  And they just filed a notice asking for comments.  The public has 90 days to provide any thoughts.  I, for one, think this is a great idea.  Right now it costs well over $1 million to bring a patent infringement case, essentially making patents worthless to most American inventors. …

I am always amazed at how entrepreneurs on Shark Tank try to argue the value of their company based on a provisional application.  This show was a classic case of this. http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/episode-detail/episode-409/1043697?page=4.  The product was a simple leg wallet, and they acted like nobody else could compete with them.  Utter nonsense. First, the patent office isn’t…

More than 10% of patent litigation in America comes from so-called patent trolls.  If you or one of your clients have ever received a letter from one of these outfits, you understand the problem.  You read the patent claims referenced in the letter and they bear no resemblance to your clients products.  If you try…

In a recent talk, Kappos stated that the US has the best patent system in the world.  As one article pointed out, Kappos just assumes that software patents are good for the economy.  http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/us-patent-chief-to-software-patent-critics-give-it-a-rest-already/. Plenty of others disagree, citing the recent troll problem.  While patent trolls certainly are a problem, I think it is unfair to…

If you need free legal assistance with obtaining a US patent, several bar associations have joined with the US Patent Office to help out.  Here is a link to one site that gives the details of who may qualify:http://www.fedcirbar.org/olc/pub/LVFC/cpages/misc/pto.jsp.  Here in Denver, we also have a group of attorneys who have volunteered to help out. …

Last Friday, Michael Tseng showed off his Plate Topper idea.  I thought it was a good invention, and so did the Sharks (although he almost blew his deal because he didn’t have a clue about how to negotiate in a shark tank).  Anyway, he claimed his idea was covered by a patent.  That got me wondering. …