Search methods used with transistor patent applications

As the world has become more technically oriented, the number of patent applications has been increasing also?too rapidly for the Patent Office to assimilate them comfortably with current techniques. When an application for a patent is received, it must be evaluated as to novelty by a specialist who searches the prior art for similar patents. Previously, all such searches were done manually, which meant that the examiner had to rely entirely on his knowledge and experience. In an effort to remedy the situation the Office has instituted mechanized search methods. In order to ascertain the differences in patterns of thinking associated with manual and mechanized searches, a study was carried out in which a patent application in the transistor art was searched both manually and by a mechanized method. The mechanized search in this case permitted more patents to be analyzed more quickly but, being completely literal, it does not allow for hunches or browsing.     

Facebook知识产权案例分析

通过介绍Facebook近年来面临的专利诉讼,分析了Facebook的专利储备特点:对专利质量评估不足,重要专利存在瑕疵;专利的基础性、核心性不足;专利技术领域分布相对集中.最后阐述了其对我国ICT企业的启示.     

解析RFID中国专利布局

从专利类型、技术领域、专利分布情况及主要专利权人等方面分析RFID中国专利布局现状。分析结果显示,目前国内专利申请人在RFID技术方面已有初步的专利积累,并且其专利申请量继续保持增长趋势,但应进一步加大对RFID关键技术的研发投入。国内RFID相关行业知识产权现状能在国内市场起到一定的防守作用,从而保护国内企业充分利用中国市场发展。     

Dead patents walking

With 562 US patents to his credit, Jerome Lemelson was the most prolific inventor since Thomas Edison (1093 patents). His inventions pop up in camcorders, VCRs, bar code readers, automated teller machines, machine vision systems, and more. But Lemelson, who died in 1997 at age 74, may have accomplished less than meets the eye. His detractors attribute much of his success to the use of Byzantine tactics for exploiting loopholes in the patent system. Even Arthur Lieberman, his former attorney, believes he simply had a knack for figuring out where an industry was headed, and then claiming that he had already been there. 'In many cases, Lemelson didn't patent inventions', Lieberman told Fortune magazine, 'he invented patents' . However, the loopholes in the patent process exploited by Lemelson, may be finally closing in on him. This paper briefly describes how Lemelson exploited the patent system and discusses a case in progress against the Lemelson Partnership regrading bar code patents     

Down and out in Ham lake

This paper presents a cautionary tale to all inventors who surrender their patents in return for funding. The paper relates the experience of Corliss Orville Burandt, who claims to have invented a method called variable valve timing. Burandt discovered that Honda's intelligent VTEC engine used a technique that he believes is identical to his patent. He also claims that four other major auto companies have recently filed for patents on concepts that would infringe his patents. Unfortunately, Burandt found out that he didn't own the patents and that Investment Rarities Inc., which had initially provided funds to develop his inventions, had failed to pay the US Patent and Trademark Office in maintenance fees that were due on the 12 patents Burandt had assigned to the company in exchange for funding. This case should serve as a lesson to all inventors not to assign the patent to their development partners, but instead to give them an exclusive license. That way, the inventor maintains control over the invention, can monitor and ensure payment of maintenance fees, and can work language into the contract that stipulates that the exclusive license can be terminated if the licensee does not make a reasonable effort to commercialize the technology.     

Chip detectives [reverse engineering]

The chip industry is finding new uses for reverse engineering-to defend patents, spur innovation, and trace product failures. Intellectual property negotiations rely on technical ammunition, and over the last decade or so, a handful of laboratories specializing in IC reverse engineering (including Taeus) have sprung up to provide it. As their clients will attest, the ability of these labs to dissect even the most complicated IC is essential for pinpointing cases of patent infringement, and also determining whether a patented technology is worth licensing or buying. Beyond that, semiconductor manufacturers turn to these reverse-engineering houses to get a sense of how their products stack up against the competition, to test the quality of their products, and to trace the root cause of device failures     

无铅焊料的知识产权状况分析

简要介绍了世界电子产品无铅化趋势及其相关立法,比较了世界各国及地区的无铅专利发展情况。对比了各国公司或个人在我国申请注册的无铅焊料相关专利,对国内无铅焊料专利权利要求书的完善提出了一些建议。最后指出了我国企业在无铅焊料专利申请上的滞后并提出相关对策。     

Patenting propagated data signals: what hath God wrought?

The US Patent Office is now issuing patents on propagated data signals that embody computer programs. Result: patent infringement can now occur in a mouse click. While patents have always been available for new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter, the extension of patent law to computer data signals is new. After losing a series of battles in the courts, the Patent Office now considers a computer program embodied in a carrier wave to be a manufacture, and hence patentable subject matter. This rather surprising development provides a powerful weapon against software patent infringement over the Internet; and it represents a dangerous snare for the telecommunications industry. Is there anything beyond the reach of patent law? The Supreme Court remains steadfast in this: patents cannot be obtained for abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena     

Patent prescription: a radical cure for the ailing [US patent policy]

This work discusses the problems with the current patent system in the US. While the US patent policy makes it easier to obtain patents, to enforce patents against others, and to extract large financial awards from such enforcement, it has become harder for those accused of infringing patents to challenge the patents' validity. To address the problem, a patent policy reform program was initiated based on three proposals: first, create incentives and opportunities for parties to challenge the novelty and nonobviousness of an invention before a patent is granted, second, provide multiple levels of application review, with examiners devoting successively more time and effort as an application proceeds to higher levels, and third, in cases involving claims of patent invalidity based on the existence of prior act, replace juries with judges who could call on experts for guidance. The first two proposals aim to make the PTO more effective at a reasonable cost. The third addresses the reality that since even the best of all possible PTOs will make mistakes, a court system capable of correcting them is necessary.     

全球LED产业技术专利检索分析

选择"七国两组织"专利数据库,采集1985年1月1日至2008年12月31日期间的全球LED技术专利文献,建立专利数据库.再选择广东专利信息服务平台分析系统分别从专利申请总量、重点专利技术和重点专利持有人等方面,对LED产业技术专利进行了深入分析,并分析了国际LED产业技术专利现状,提出了发展我国LED专利的策略.     

全球LED信号显示技术专利态势分析

选择THOMSON（汤姆森）集团的DWPI（德温特世界专利索引）英文专利数据库,采集1965年1月1日到2008年12月31日期间的LED信号显示技术专利文献．建立英文专利数据库;再选择Derwent Innovation Index（德温特创新专利索引）专利分析系统,分别从专利申请总量、重点专利技术和重点专利持有人等方面。对LED信号显示技术专利进行深入的分析,并对比分析国内外LED信号显示技术专利的现状．提出发展我国LED信号显示技术的专利策略。     

OLED重点公司美国专利分析

本文通过研究与OLED产业密切相关的四家公司(索尼、三星、铼宝、维信诺)在美国的专利布局情况发现:索尼和维信诺近年OLED领域美国专利申请量有增加态势,三星2006～2008年出现下降,但2009年有小幅回升,预计未来呈增加趋势,而铼宝呈下降态势,并分析了原因;索尼OLED美国专利技术主要集中在控制装置和电路等,三星和维信诺主要集中在电极等零部件,而铼宝主要集中在有机固态器件等。本文为我国相关企业了解竞争对手,突破专利壁垒等提供参考。     

基于主题模型和文本相似度计算的专利推荐研究

如何利用数量庞大的专利并从中找到用户感兴趣的专利进行推荐是很多专利数据库迫切需要解决的问题。文中从专利文本的标题和摘要入手,提出一种基于文本挖掘的专利推荐方法。首先,利用词袋模型将专利文本转化成计算机能够识别的数据;其次,利用文本聚类算法完成专利数据集进行领域划分;再次,结合词频-逆文档频率特征权重计算和余弦相似度来选择合适的发明人进行专利的推荐;最后,以我国物流产业下的专利数据作为数据集完成文中所提方法的验证与分析。实验结果表明,基于文本挖掘的专利推荐研究能够实现对发明人的个性化推荐。     

智能终端的专利之争

融合了多种技术、多重标准、多样化功能的智能终端,在给用户带来更完美的体验、给企业带来更大发展机遇的同时,也带来了较高的专利风险。。     

自动立体显示技术的专利状况分析

自动立体显示技术使用户可以在显示屏幕前的不同位置通过裸眼观看到清晰的立体图像.基于自动立体显示技术领域的专利文献,给出了对该领域专利总体变化情况的统计分析结果,通过一些典型的专利文献介绍了专利中的技术发展情况,并分析了主要专利申请人所申请专利的技术特点,由此对今后的专利发展趋势进行预测.通过专利分析,希望对业内人士有所帮助.     

LTE专利国际分布及分析

随着LTE的全球化发展,参与LTE技术研发和标准制定的企业空前广泛,LTE相关专利数量激增,制造商在专利权人数量和专利申请数量上都占到了绝对多数。全球呈现分散分布、相互制衡的状态。LTE时代的知识产权竞争将更为激烈和复杂。     

Frequency limitation in the calibration of microwave test fixtures

The problem of frequency limitation arising from the calibration of asymmetric and symmetric test fixtures has been investigated. For asymmetric test fixtures, a new algorithm based on the thru-short-match (TSM) method is outlined. It is found that the conventional TSM method does not have any inherent frequency limitation, but using the same procedure with an unknown match may lead to the said problem. This limitation can be avoided by using a different algorithm. The various calibration methods for symmetric test fixtures using known standards are also discussed and the origin of the frequency limitation is identified. Several ways in avoiding the problem are proposed. There is good agreement between the theories and experimental data.     

E-commerce patents and shifting balances in patent law

The rules with respect to the patentability of software and business method inventions have loosened over the last decade to allow a broader range of patentability. Many patents issuing today are in the e-commerce area, and there is often a close relationship between what is being patented and generation of wealth. Critics of the surge of e-commerce patents argue these patents may stifle development of e-commerce. The level of concern of critics may be unwarranted since the broader range of patentability that has occurred has been balanced somewhat against a narrower scope of protection occurring during the same time period as a result of more restrictive claim interpretation during enforcement of patents. This more restrictive claim interpretation has created an onus on patent owners to effectively draft and prosecute patents to obtain protection commensurate with the scope of the inventions     

Patent absurdity

A growing chorus of critics in the popular press has chastised software developers, Web-application designers, and gene-patenting biotechnologists, among others, for securing patent rights that-it is said-subvert the system. The patent office has been cracking down. The most notable reforms affecting bad patents are statutory changes.     

地源热泵产业专利技术发展情况分析

从国际总体发展情况、国内申请和国外来华申请的申请人和技术主题入手,对地源热泵这种高效节能空调系统涉及的专利情况做了较深入的分析。指出该技术领域的专利集中度较高,跨国公司在我国的专利布局正在有步骤、有重点地进行。依据专利数据结合本产业发展过程中的经验和教训,对我国地源热泵产业的技术和产业化,提出了几点具体建议。