Patents and licensing

I also read it as “parents”. I thought this was going to be about getting a license to be a parent.

Probably because nobody here has ever applied for a patent. Just like every other young geek, I have followed patent law debates and various high-profile suits but never applied for one myself, so I only have some vague theoretical knowledge.

The only part I can answer for sure is your question about “unobvious.” There is no standard, but the burden of proof is on the company manufacturing your product to prove that it was obvious. IOW, when you sue them they have to prove that it was obvious to the point that it occured to them on their own without having looked at your designs.

If you have specific questions along the way, I recommend you try onstartups.stackexchange.com. The stackexchange model is great for getting good answers quickly and they have sites for a lot of different topics.

I wanted to get an idea of what I am getting myself into.

If you are judging from this thread, probably a lot of hot water.

To clarify, what I said before is assuming your patent has already been granted. When your patent is granted it means that the patent office is suitably convinced that your invention is “unobvious” meets the “prior art” requirements etc. I’m kind of fuzzy on what you have to provide and what they review though.

When I read this thread, it makes me ill. If you know nothing about the subject, then say nothing.

35 U.S.C. 103 Conditions for patentability; non-obvious subject matter.

(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.

(b)

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), and upon timely election by the applicant for patent to proceed under this subsection, a biotechnological process using or resulting in a composition of matter that is novel under section 102 and nonobvious under subsection (a) of this section shall be considered nonobvious if-

(A) claims to the process and the composition of matter are contained in either the same application for patent or in separate applications having the same effective filing date; and

(B) the composition of matter, and the process at the time it was invented, were owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.

(2) A patent issued on a process under paragraph (1)-

(A) shall also contain the claims to the composition of matter used in or made by that process, or

(B) shall, if such composition of matter is claimed in another patent, be set to expire on the same date as such other patent, notwithstanding section 154.

(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term “biotechnological process” means-

(A) a process of genetically altering or otherwise inducing a single- or multi-celled organism to-

(i) express an exogenous nucleotide sequence,

(ii) inhibit, eliminate, augment, or alter expression of an endogenous nucleotide sequence, or

(iii) express a specific physiological characteristic not naturally associated with said organism;

(B) cell fusion procedures yielding a cell line that expresses a specific protein, such as a monoclonal antibody; and

(C) a method of using a product produced by a process defined by subparagraph (A) or (B), or a combination of subparagraphs (A) and (B).

(c)

(1) Subject matter developed by another person, which qualifies as prior art only under one or more of subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 102 of this title, shall not preclude patentability under this section where the subject matter and the claimed invention were, at the time the claimed invention was made, owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.

(2) For purposes of this subsection, subject matter developed by another person and a claimed invention shall be deemed to have been owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person if –

(A) the claimed invention was made by or on behalf of parties to a joint research agreement that was in effect on or before the date the claimed invention was made;

(B) the claimed invention was made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of the joint research agreement; and

(C) the application for patent for the claimed invention discloses or is amended to disclose the names of the parties to the joint research agreement.

(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the term “joint research agreement” means a written contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into by two or more persons or entities for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work in the field of the claimed invention.

As can be imagined, there are numerous “meforshim” (i.e. court decisions) on every word of this statute and this is clearly a subject best left to attorneys who specialize in it. The Coffee Room is not going to help you.

please. it’s no different than half the halachic discussions here.

PY, i just went through this about 2 months ago.

I had a great idea and drew up pictures of how I felt it should be made. Sent the pictures plus a written description of it and how it would be used to a person to do search and he wrote back that the item was NOT patentable.

I could sstill maufacture it if I wanted to but he suggested agaisnt it.

If I manufactre it and someone else does so too and undercuts what I am charging I can get stuck with thousands of peices and be out major bucks.

Speak to someone who is knowledgeable. There is a radio show on the internet . I think its on Thursday nights called ”Got Invention”. The host is a Jewish fella named Fried.

Check it out and best of luck.

For something to be patentable, you have to have your application approved by the patent office (USPTO). To do this, you need to use a registered patent attorney or agent. I’m assuming rates are approximately a few thousand dollars; however, maybe if you can find an agent (who is not a lawyer), it might be cheaper. Nobody is going to be out to invalidate your patent now. What you have to do is convince the patent examiner that your application should be allowed (ie approved). The patent examiner will conduct searches and see if your invention is patentable subject matter (35 USC 101), if anything is out there that anticipates your invention (35 USC 102), or if your invention is obvious (35 USC 103). As Homeowner discussed, there are many cases out there that elucidate these standards. For something to be patentable, it has to be patentable subject matter. Since it sounds like you made an appartus (some kind of machine), then you shouldn’t have to worry about it. Anticipation is complicated, but basically you (meaning your patent agent) should conduct a search to make sure there are no patents or publications out there that disclose your invention. There are other things that might disqualify you under teh statute, such as public use, sale, etc. You don’t have to conduct a search before submitting an application, but is a very good idea, as patent applications are expensive. You also will need to make sure it is not obvious. There are also many court decisions on this: including KSR. However, the basic idea is that someone who is ordinary skill in your art (ie inventing simple household inventions) would not think it was obvious based on other inventions. While filing your patent, the main thing you have to do (or your patent agent has to do) is to convince the examiner that these sections do not apply and write up the patent in such as way that it is enabled. The only way companies get involved is if they chose to infringe your patent and then you chose to sue them or if they initiate a reexamination of your patent. Assuming you don’t have an invention worth millions, these scenarios are not likely.

You can probably use the internet to find patent agents/attorneys. You do need one if you chose to pursue a patent.

i have a few patents overseas and some in the usa. if u decide to pursue it, i’d start by quickly calling all the patent attorneys in the phone book and online in your area and asking for their price.

i called about 60-80 different ones until i found a real cheap and good one. most prices on patent are minimum $1500-5000. i found someone to do it for $600. most patents like your describing can be easily bypassed by a simple modification anyways. it’s usually only beneficial for major corporations to deal with patents in the usa.

A Patent grants the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States. If you want protection in other countries, you have to file in other countries. You can file a PCT application, which allows you to file in one country and then pick countries that you would also like rights in. This delays some of the costs; however, you will still have to prosecute the patent in those countries if you want protection. You can pick and chose countries (ie pick the ones that would most likely infringe) but if you want protection, you need to actual get the protection.