A million dollar idea-and your next job [intellectual propertyengineers]

The legal world has many opportunities for engineers and other technically trained people. With the burgeoning of patent applications and patent-related disputes, and the greater complexity of inventions, the demand for intellectual property (IP) engineers will only increase. Some work as patent agents, which means they file patent applications on behalf of inventors and practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO); others go to law school and become patent attorneys; and still others work as examiners for the PTO, or some other country's patent office, where they analyze, research, and ultimately decide on the patentability of patent claims     

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.     

Using attitudinal, situational, and personal characteristicsvariables to predict future entrepreneurs from national laboratoryinventors

Several acts of Congress and the resulting agency implementing orders have been designed to encourage entrepreneurial start-ups based on public-sector technology derived from federal laboratory research. In response, many of the federal laboratories have instituted programs to stimulate the entrepreneurial act. Few, if any, of these programs, which commit substantial resources, are implemented using formal methods to predict the likelihood of associated individuals' becoming successful entrepreneurs. A previous paper revealed significant differences in attitudes and perceptions of situational variables between inventors at federal laboratories and successful laboratory spin-off entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to develop an experimental technique that, if validated by future longitudinal surveys, could facilitate the prediction of the successful entrepreneurial act. If such a technique can be established, resources could be devoted to those predicted entrepreneurs. Using inventors employed at the national laboratories and laboratory spin-off entrepreneurs as samples, this paper investigates the possibility of building a model based on individual inventors' attitudinal, situational, and personal characteristics that, if valid, could be used to ascertain the likelihood that such inventors may become entrepreneurs. The predictions resulting from the application of this technique suggest that few inventors are likely to become entrepreneurs unless attitudes and supportive mechanisms are dramatically changed     

The Patentability of a Computer Program as a Function of Its Relational Characteristic with Hardware

The patentability of computer program has been discussed because of its deviation from the traditional definition of a patent. The relativities of computer programs to hardware are classified to measure the relative patentability of computer programs in this paper. It can be seen through the patentability analysis that the change in patentability basically follows an exponential function of the hardware character of the software, and the coefficient of an exponent part of the function is a damping factor that determines a patentability degree or trend. The basic patentability of computer programs is revealed when the damping factor value is 1, and a statistical patentability trend is derived. In drafting a patent specification, an appropriate expression of applicability and substantiality of computer programs is needed to acquire a patent right.     

Teaching invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship to Northern Nevada high school science and math teachers

The economic history of the United States is replete with examples of inventors and small business innovators making major contributions. From the late 18th century to the present time, major technical advancements have been made as a result of individual inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs, working independently of large industrial corporations and government laboratories. It is alarming to note, however, just how little is being taught in this country about subjects relating to inventing, innovating, and being an entrepreneur. This paper describes a special class that was designed and taught to a group of Northern Nevada high school math and science teachers. The class time was spread over a three-day period, and the topics covered were all related to invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The final afternoon was devoted to developing methods, techniques, and curriculum for the high school teachers to consider for use in their own classes.     

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     

国内LED显示专利信息检索与行业协会专利统计情况简述

文章通过对国内LED显示应用领域专利信息的检索,介绍了按不同关键词和不同检索方法所检索到的国内LED显示发明专利、实用新型专利和外观设计专利的数量等情况;又通过行业协会LED显示应用专利情况的统计和相关数据的整理,对协会会员单位目前显示应用专利的情况作了分析和探讨。     

Festo, schmesto! [patent law and the doctrine of equivalents]

Does a recent US Supreme Court decision in the case of Festo Corp. versus Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd., expand or limit the rights of patent holders to sue copycats? This article discusses the "doctrine of equivalents," which allows the patent holder to expand a patent beyond its literal terms to cover subject matter it doesn't expressly mention. At its heart are two premises: first, it is difficult to capture the full scope of technical innovation in words; and second, some people are wiseguys. No matter how carefully a patent claim is worded, no matter how well it appears to cover an invention, there will always be those who will search eagerly for the loophole, a way to circumvent language and avoid infringement. Patent law rewards innovation with exclusivity for a limited time period. But the reason patents are printed and published is to encourage still further innovation. The problem arises when someone slyly avoids a patent's language without contributing anything new-in effect, appropriating the benefits of an invention without enriching the art. Ultimately, the doctrine of equivalents plays a marginal role in patent law. That's because reasonably well-written patent claims are not, in the main, easy to avoid if the benefits of the invention are to be retained. Courts apply the doctrine to catch the occasional wiseguy while defending the certainty patent claims are supposed to provide. The Supreme Courts latest adjustment notwithstanding, that role is likely to continue     

Intellectual property and patent abstracts

The author explains how examiners at the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) treat applications for inventions that seem to violate accepted scientific principles. In order to be entitled to a patent, an invention must be useful, novel, and non-obvious. In order to obtain a patent, the inventor must submit a specification that describes the invention in sufficient detail such that one of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the invention (without having to engage in undue experimentation). Inventions that indeed violate the laws of physics are not patentable because: (1) they are not useful (i.e., they do not work); and (2) the inventor is unable to properly describe how to make and use a device that violates the laws of physics. However, it is not always so easy to separate those inventions that do indeed violate the laws of physics from those inventions that only appear to violate such laws. Examiners at the PTO use a document called the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) when examining an application for a patent. The author reproduces two of the more pertinent sections of the MPEP that relate to the issue of determining whether an invention is useful.     

我国电子产品专利预警及其知识产权立体保护设计

2002年，2003年专利统计中，我国电子产品专利申请和授权总量高于国外，形成范围较广的保护空间，但以实用新型为主，发明量较少，没有占居核心垄断地位，处于竞争的劣势。国外在中国的电子产品专利中，发明专利授权量高于国内，形成在电信技术．基本电子元件领域在国内的技术法权垄断。通过作品专利化、商标专利化、专利商标化、作品商标化形成电子产品立体保护，来弥补核心竞争能力的不足。     

Patent Do's and D'oh!

The process of getting a US patent goes something like this: you work with your patent lawyer or agent to prepare an application that describes your invention in exhaustive detail; the Patent Office rejects all of your claims in curt, dismissive terms; your counsel says not to panic and, in most cases, persuades the patent examiner to allow at least some claims; and, finally, two or more years after you first filed, agony gives way to ecstasy and the beribboned patent deed issues forth. But legal traps along the way may deprive the unwary of some or even all patent riots. Worse, you may not learn of a mistake until years later, after the patent has issued, when some alert lawyer asks a few innocent-sounding questions about a conference paper you gave and, shortly after, asks the court to invalidate your patent. The author describes how the most common mistakes fall into three categories: those that threaten US rights, those affecting foreign rights, and the effects of patent filings on trade secrets.     

In the beginning [junction transistor]

The junction transistor, technologically the most important solid-state device, invented theoretically by W.B. Shockley on January 23, 1948, brought about the semiconductor revolution. That invention was triggered by the experimental discovery of the point-contact transistor by W. Brattain and J. Bardeen 38 days earlier. Bardeen's notebook entries at Bell Telephone Laboratories for the crucial 100-day period November 21, 1947-February 29, 1948 have been examined to ascertain why this winner of two Nobel Prizes in physics could not invent the junction transistor. It was found that the boundary between the thin p-type inversion layer and the n-type bulk germanium semiconductor in their original point-contact transistor discovery was characterized as a “high resistance boundary” in macroscopic electrical engineering terms by Bardeen, the electrical engineer turned mathematical physicist. Pages from Shockley's notebook are reproduced in full to show what exactly he was thinking on December 16, 1947, the day the point-contact transistor was experimentally discovered by Brattain and Bardeen. The origin of U.S. Patent 2524035 has been traced to the Bell Telephone Laboratories notebook pages of its inventors and examined. It is shown that this patent could not be considered as the first patent describing Shockley's revolutionary theoretical invention of the minority carrier injection concept underlying bipolar transistor action     

支持技术创新的专利检索与分析

介绍了目前专利检索和分析的主要研究工作,包括专利的可检索性、技术现状检索和相关性检索方法等,以及专利地图分析、新颖度分析和PatentDom专利分析框架等分析方法。最后基于深度学习的思想,讨论了新一代的支持技术创新的专利检索方法、专利论文检索方法以及专利趋势分析方法。     

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.     

The telecommunication and information industries: US patent policy and the criterion of non-obviousness

In this topic discussion paper, the legal and public policy issues surrounding the “novel” and “non-obvious” criterion that the US Patent and Trademark Office uses in awarding a patent are explored. The application of the latter criteria for granting a patent – that the invention be “non-obvious” – has been a significant concern for many firms in the telecommunications and information industries. Following an introduction discussing the Constitutional basis of intellectual property rights and the criteria employed by the US Patent and Trademark Office in awarding patent rights, this paper will explain the modern evolution of the legal expression “non-obviousness”, up to, and including, the most recent patent appeals case (and potentially the one having the most far-reaching impact on patent granting) heard by the US Supreme Court, KSR International Co. v. Teleflex. Inc. et al. In the next section, a review of three major national policy reports on reforming the US patent system (two national reports and one by an academic economist) – focusing on the expert recommendations pertaining to the implementation of the legal expression of “non-obviousness” – is undertaken. Lastly, the final section of the paper offers a patent policy discussion associated with the latest interpretation of the “non-obviousness” criterion, and explains possible policy effects on the competitive environment of the telecommunications and information industries.     

Profiting from ideas

Britain has always produced its fair share of inventors, and there is still no shortage of ideas. In 1930, according to the UK Patent Office, there were 28238 UK patent applications (although these did not all originate from the UK) and 9396 UK patents were granted, as well as those European patents covering (`designating') the UK. So how does one get into this process? What does one do if one thinks of a new idea? Perhaps more importantly, can one make money out of it? The journey from the initial idea to a viable (let alone successful) product is long and fraught with difficulties. Many excellent ideas fall by the wayside for all sorts of reasons. To stand any chance of reaping the rewards requires a realistic approach, sound advice and perseverance. The author offers advice on how to exploit an invention     

激光垂球

文中报导了激光垂球,中国专利（专利号：ZL00204450.1）。矿山井下、隧洞等需垂球对中的工程测量,变得更加简单,精度更高,在施工放线中也将得到很好应用。     

Feature - On the Roots of Digital Signal Processing-Part II

Part I of this article dealt with the mathematical methodology of antiquity which was essentially of a discrete character whereby a circle was deemed to be a multi-sided polygon whose perimeter or area could be more easily deduced by considering the multi-sided polygon to be made up of a finite set of elemental triangles. Then the emergence of numerical methods during the 1700s as a tool for interpolating numerical data was explored. Part II deals with certain spectacular mathematical discoveries made in France just before, during, and after the French Revolution by Laplace, Fourier, Poisson, and Laurent, which form the foundation of modern spectral analysis. Then the contributions of Nyquist and Shannon to the sampling theorem are examined. The article also reviews the work of Babbage from the perspective of a DSP practitioner and examines the historical circumstances that eventually led to the invention of digital computers and their application as general-purpose inexpensive components in DSP systems. The article concludes with a summary of some of the innovations of the sixties that led to the emergence of what we now call digital signal processing.     

智能电视语音识别技术专利分析

语音交互是智能电视人机交互的重要发展方向,已成为国内外智能电视相关企业、机构创新竞争的重点.重点研究语音识别交互技术的国内外专利情况,对技术总体发展趋势、国家分布、专利权人、重点发明人等进行分析,以期对国内企业知识产权决策提供支撑.