PATENT: SEVEN WAYS TO KEEP YOU FROM THE WOLVES

You have an invention or an idea for an invention. The first people you may hear about - or even may contact you - are from an invention development company. They advertise on radio and TV, and in magazines that cater to the inventive mind - and even some newspapers.

Invention development companies are private and public research companies that purport to help inventors develop, patent, and promote their ideas so they can be commercially licensed or sold. While many of these organizations are legitimate, some are not.

I state my stand on the use of such companies on my website - www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions,com. But, you may want to go that way anyway to develop your patent or invention. If that's the case, here are seven helpful tips for you to make smart patent and invention development decisions:

1. Learn About the Patent Process.

When you understand the basics of how to get a patent, you will know when invention marketers are making promises they, or the patent system, can't deliver. Knowing the steps to do a patent search, and what is required, as well as knowing what happens in the patenting process can only help you in making the right decision. You will have a better idea about whether the company you are talking to knows what they are doing for you - and not just their pocketbook.

2. Do Your Homework.

Check the organization's references, ask for credentials, and then check them. Ask them for statistics on how many successes they have had compared to how many total clients. They are required by law to offer you this type of information. In fact, the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 gives you the following rights when dealing with invention promoters.

Before an invention promoter can enter into a contract with you, it must disclose the following information about its business practices during the past five years:

* how many inventions it has evaluated,
* how many of those inventions got positive or negative evaluations,
* its total number of customers,
* how many of those customers received a net profit from the promoter's services, and
* how many of those customers have licensed their inventions due to the promoter's services.

This information can help you determine whether the promoter has been selective in deciding which inventions it promotes, and how successful the promoter has been. Ask for names of "successful" clients, and talk to them.

Invention promoters also must give you the names and addresses of all invention promotion companies they have been affiliated with over the past 10 years.

This information can help to determine whether the company you're considering doing business with has been subject to complaints or legal action.

You can call the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at 1-866-767-3848, and the Better Business Bureau, the consumer protection agency, and the Attorney General in your state or city, and in the state or city where the company is headquartered to check them out.

3. Be Realistic.

Not every invention is patentable. Know that very few ideas - even the good ones - become commercially successful. Be wary of any developer willing to promote virtually any invention. If you are presented with the phrase - "We think your idea has great market potential" - beware, and take it for what it is - in a lot of cases, just a sales pitch.

4. Know Where Your Money Is Going.

Ask the organization how your money will be spent. Be on guard against large up-front fees and find out exactly how the money is spent. If the company gives you something like - "Our company has evaluated your idea, and now wants to prepare a more in-depth research report. It'll be several hundred dollars" - ask them if the idea is good enough for more research why don't they foot the bill.

5. Protect Your Rights.

DO NOT disclose your invention to a developer over the phone (or at any time) before first having them sign a confidentiality agreement. You could forfeit valuable patent rights. A sample confidentiality agreement is available on my website. ??6. Track Your Invention's Progress.

If you decide to use an invention development organization, deal directly with the agent or patent attorney who will be handling your patent application. A lot of these type of firms outsource the work which is not good for you.

Many invention promotion firms also may claim to perform patent searches on your idea. Fraudulent invention promotion firms usually do patent searches that are are incomplete, conducted in the wrong category, or unaccompanied by a legal opinion on the results of the search from a registered patent attorney.

Because unscrupulous firms promote virtually any idea or invention without regard to its patentability - they may go ahead and market an idea for which someone already has a valid, unexpired patent. In that case, you may be the one subjected to a patent infringement lawsuit - even if the promotional efforts on your invention are successful. Most probably, the way the infringement suit is attracted is through a successful product.

7. Don't Get Discouraged!

The patent process can be very complicated, so you will probably need professional help. There are many good patent agents and attorneys that can help you. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office maintains a nationwide register of attorneys and agents who meet the legal, scientific and technical requirements of the office.

The first step should be a patent search done by a reputable searcher. Your patent attorney can help with this, and should review the search for a package price, depending on the complexity of the invention.

Hang in there. It is a long and complicated process. But if your idea passes the initial search test and evaluation, there is a good chance you can receive a patent - in two or so years.

For information on registered patent attorney and agents, you may visit the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/go/oed.

Gary J. Cogley, JD, after being a musician, a TV Producer/Director/Writer, and an entertainment and IP attorney, now writes about all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and inventions. He also gives tips and info on patents, and scams to watch out for. Get info at: http://www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions.com

Google's US Patent: What does it have in stock for you?

Google's US Patent: What does it have in stock for you?

What is this Google's Patent?

The filling of the US Patent (#20050071741- Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data) by Google has caught many SEOs off guard in their strategies forthwith with regard to ranking of sites in SERPs. The contents of the patent reveal that search giant has incorporated sweeping changes in the way it works, and has waged a war against search engine spam and artificial link inflation.

Google has become awfully aware that some of their results have begun to be well manipulated by people with deep pockets, simply going out and buying thousands and thousands of links. Sad enough, it has resulted into a damn situation wherein one often comes with links on the first page of the results that have nothing to do with what he or she wishes to look for.

Now, in the post-patent scenario, often used, misused and overused search engine strategies that paid off in the past, simply seem to be worn-out tools. This patent, which in all its intent strives to make information retrieval on Google on the basis of historical data, will definitely reorient it to dish out results to highly relevant and content heavy sites for a given search term.

So, what are the paradigm shifts by virtue of this patent?

- Google is all geared up to start looking at history very minutely. This, amongst other things, includes the history of your website, the history of individual pages on your website, and the history of links to your website and even pages within it.

- Google is well underway to take into consideration the traffic patterns of your site's visitors. It will sharply focus on things such as length of stay on the page that someone gets through the link as well as how many links, both internal to your site and external to it, get used by a visitor.

- Google has considered it imperative to look at user behavior on your site, and the history or the trend of that behavior. This entails not only what kinds of links are browsed, where they go, and what the link text says, but more specifically user browsing behavior and surfing patterns.

- It is going to look out for new content on existing pages as well as new pages being created. It implies that a content driven site, that people use, like, and come back to, is likely to climb up the rankings.

- Moreover, not only is Google going to begin looking at your site's history and the history of visitors to and from your site, it is also going to be grouping all of their various history trends into a single lump and provide crucial scoring.

Strategies that need a serious rethinking

- People tactically use "content randomizers" in an effort to make Google think their sites are being changed frequently. This strategy seems to be redundant as Google will be maintaining your site's history which is the crux of the new patent.

- Sites will not only need to have links as was customary in recent past, but those links will have to be utilized to be counted.

- Content "freshness" is going to matter crucially as against the past trend. Google is all set to look for "freshness" in not just your own pages, but links to your site as well.

- You can no longer lose sight on your focus in providing your web surfers what they want even though your hitherto engagement in the same yielded some results.

- Google going to scrutinize under its close observation the links to your site, the number of them, where they go. Let alone this, Google will also be tracking click through ratios of those links.

- Your site's "stickiness" is going to be important to your rankings within Google regardless of what you used to resort to get rankings so far.

So, what are the strategic choices before SEOs in the aftermath of this patent?

- Now it is in the fitness of the things that folks that sell "links" on their website should have a second thought why and how they are doing this. The patent specifications precisely call for the links to be actually used by people. So, this explicitly implies that you'll need those links to be well within content.

- With a good mix of content and links off to external sites and pages, you are likely to get most "bump," especially when the links are well surrounded by other content.

- Your Search engine strategy should take care of the fact that new content is added regularly to your site and people are actually staying to read the content.

- It is desirable to keep your pages themed, relevant and most importantly consistent. You have to establish reliability. The days of spamming Google are nearing to an end.

- When it comes to linking, you must clearly avoid the hocus pocus or magic bullet linking schemes.

Let's read writings on the walls before it is too late

- If you participate in quick fix link exchange scams, use automated link exchange software or buy hundreds of links at once, there are pretty chances that Google will interpret your efforts as a spam attempt and act accordingly. So, tread with caution.

- Since Google is capable of tracking the click-through rates to your web site, you have got to make sure that your web pages have attractive titles and utilize calls to action so that web surfers click on them in the search results

- If you stand in need of multi page content changes implement the changes in segments over time. Continue to use your original keywords on each page you change to maintain theme consistency.

- You can simply make significant content changes by implementing lateral keywords to support and reinforce your vertical keyword(s) and phrases. This will also help eliminate keyword stuffing.

- Make sure to determine whether the keywords you're using require static or fresh search results and do update your web site content accordingly. On this point RSS feeds may play a more valuable and strategic role than ever before in keeping pages fresh and right away at the top of the SERPs.

- Webmasters must look forward, plan and mange their domains more tightly than ever before or risk plummeting in the SERPs - Relevant content swaps may be a pretty fine alternative to the standard link exchange and allow you some control of the link page elements

The heart of the matter

This patent is, in fair probability, going to force websites to become much more "customer" centric, and that's always a good thing. The criterion Google has set for search rankings, and the direction search innovation is going speak volumes on Google's exemplary efforts to provide the best search service in the world.

Deepak Sharma is a Web Designer at BlueApple, a Web Design and Development Company with a well connected development infrastructure in India having a strong portfolio with global clientele and offering superior web services and solutions at competitive costs

Patent - History Of U.S. Patent Office

In this article we're going to do a brief historical review of the United States Patent Office.

The first national patent system was influenced by Thomas Jefferson in 1790. This was actually added to the United States Constitution in order to protect the rights of inventors. From this began the growth of the American corporation. Even though the original thirteen colonies has individual patent laws it wasn't until this constitutional act that the patent system became uniform for everyone.

Actually, the modern concept of the patent itself was established in Great Britain in the year 1449. That year King Henry VI issued a patent to John of Utynam for stained glass manufacturing. The actual history of the English patent system is important for understanding the patent system of the United States but is not the focus of this article. There are plenty of documents online where this information can be found.

In the United States, congress actually passed several patent acts; one in 1790, one in 1793 and one in 1836. Each act added different things to the patent system as we know it today.

The patent act of 1790, the one influenced by Jefferson, required that all applications for patents had some kind of model, whether it be a drawing or prototype, to go along with the application. This was because Jefferson believed ideas should not be patentable.

The patent act of 1793 was actually a revision of the patent act of 1790 due to some differences of opinions between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton who wanted to add provisions for overlapping patents, where two inventors applied for the same or similar patents. The act of 1793 created a patent board that was responsible for issuing patents. A two-thirds majority of the board, made up of the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Secretary of War, would be required to issue a patent. This act was passed largely because of complaints by inventors that the act of 1790 was not sufficient to protect their rights as inventors.

It wasn't until the patent act of 1836 that the United States Patent Office was actually established. The patent office was created primarily because of the inefficiency of the other two acts in processing patents. Henry Ellsworth was mostly responsible for establishing this act. He was also appointed the first commissioner of patents.

Through this act a system was created for distributing new patents to libraries in every state. This way it would be easy for an inventor to research whether or not a patent existed for a particular invention. This would save the inventor a great deal of time applying for a patent that he couldn't get because it was already issued.

Much has changed in the patent office since those early days. What once took a relatively short period of time now takes years as far as securing a patent. Many times a patent isn't issued until long after the technology has been around for quite some time. Unfortunately in the current climate and with the rate of technological advances increasing everyday, patents are now viewed as nothing more than a bargaining chip in a court of law.

Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Some Famous Patents

In this article we're going to discuss some of the most famous patents in history. These are inventions that greatly changed the world we live in.

To go over all the patents that have changed the world would take a month of Sundays and then some. What follows is just a brief look at some of the greatest patents in our history.

What is considered the most valuable patent is the one issued to Alexander Graham Bell for his invention of the telephone. The patent was number 174,465 issued in 1876. Ironically, early attempts to make the telephone popular were unsuccessful. People looked at the idea as nothing more than a novelty and didn't take its communication possibilities seriously. Try telling that to all the people walking around with cell phones today.

This one may come as a bit of a surprise. Thomas Edison didn't actually invent the light bulb. What he did was improve on a fifty year old idea. In 1879, using lower current, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. This invention led to the creation of jobs for millions of people. Quite literally, without this invention we would all still be in the dark. Thomas Edison actually received 1093 patents during his life.

If you're into some really odd trivia you can tell people that Abe Lincoln was the only United States President to receive a patent. He did so for his manner of buoying vessels. He was issued this patent in 1849. It was patent number 6,469. When Lincoln was young he took a boatload of merchandise down the Mississippi River during a trip from New Salem to New Orleans. There was an accident when the boat slid into a dam. It took great effort to get the boat dislodged. Two years later Lincoln had a similar accident crossing the Great Lakes. These two incidents led Lincoln to come up with a solution to this problem. His invention consisted of a set of bellows attached to the hull of the ship just below the water line. When the vessel is in danger of an accident, the bellows are filled with air and act as a buoy to keep the ship afloat. Lincoln never profited from his invention but he was a very strong supporter of the patent system.

Probably the most famous patent was the one issued to Frederic Auguste Bartholdi for his design of the Statue Of Liberty. The Statue Of Liberty came to New York on June 19, 1885. It was a gift of friendship given to the United States from the people of France. It was intended to celebrate their 100 years of independence 10 years earlier.

The statue is constructed of copper sheets which are assembled on a framework of steel supports. In order to be transported to America the statue was disassembled into 350 pieces and was packed in 214 crates. It was then reassembled when it arrived. Nothing like this was ever done before and most likely will never be done again.

Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Marketing Strategy

In this article we're going to discuss the tricky aspect of marketing strategy when applying for a patent.

Getting a patent is a tricky process under normal circumstances. Under laws of the United States a company or person is entitled to a patent unless the invention was on sale in the country for more than one year prior to the application date of the patent. This applies to both sales and offers of sales. Therefore, companies conducting marketing campaigns must be careful not to destroy their patent rights. In a perfect world, application for a patent should be filed before any sales begin. But then that would hurt the company's bottom line because that ultimately puts profits on hold. In a competitive marketplace this could spell disaster for the company.

Therefore, it is important for a company to understand just what it is that starts the one year clock ticking. In other words what can they do and what can't they do in order to avoid their product being put on the timer?

In order to answer that question we have to understand what exactly, according to law, starts the clock running. There are basically two conditions. The first one is that the invention must be ready for patenting at the time of the sale. If it can be shown that the inventor had sufficient drawings that would enable another person to use the invention then this would satisfy the first criteria.

The second criteria is that there has actually been an offer for sale. In other words, the inventor or company that owns the invention approaches another company and offers to sell them the invention. This can either be in the form of a letter to the other company or in an actual physical meeting between the two companies. Usually the meeting follows a letter.

In the form of a letter the owner of the invention will usually draw up a letter stating that they have such and such an invention and go on to say that they feel this is something that would enhance their business. In the letter they would describe what the invention does and how it would help them. They would then ask the other company to get back to them if interested.

When it comes to the meeting the inventor will bring drawings of his invention and present them to the company interested in acquiring the invention. Maybe the inventor even has a working prototype he can show them. This is always a plus. Companies actually like to see that the invention they are interested in works.

Where the law comes in, and this is where inventors can delay the clock, is that the following items do not fall within the two criteria. Solicitation of customer pricing information from distributors and sales representatives; publication of preliminary data sheets and promotional information on invention features; communications to sales representatives; sales representatives providing customers with preliminary data sheets; and sales representatives' requests for customer samples.

Therefore, an inventor can engage in any of the above activities and NOT start the one year clock running. This allows the inventor to get as much preliminary leg work done for his patent without actually "technically" starting the process.

This is important information for any inventor to have if he is trying to gain as much ground in his quest for a patent as possible.

Your Independent guide to Patents

U.S.Patent - Applying For One Outside The

In this article we're going to discuss what's involved with filing for a patent outside of the United States of America.

There are a number of factors a company or inventor has to consider before filing for a patent outside of the United States. The first thing a company must know is that most foreign filed applications will be published eighteen months after their priority date. So if a company files an application outside the United States it will eventually forfeit any trade secret protection for the invention, software or method stated in that application. However, if the company files for a patent only in the United States it can maintain secrecy until the actual patent is issued.

The next factor a company needs to consider is in what countries patent protection would be worth the trouble. In other words, you don't want to apply for a patent in a country where they don't have the technology or infrastructure to use your method or invention. For example, in countries where there is no Internet access it would be a waste of time and money to apply for a patent for some form of online sales method.

After you decide that you want to apply for a patent outside the United States, there are a number of filing options available. One option is to file for the patent directly at the patent office in the country which you want to get the patent for. A company should only use this option if it knows exactly what country or countries it wants the patent for and knows for certain that it isn't going to file for a patent in any additional countries. The company also has to be prepared to spend the filing costs necessary, which can be quite expensive for overseas patents. The lower end countries are around $4,000 for filing for a patent. In the higher end countries, like Japan because it is considered a world market leader, the costs can be as much as $12,000 for one patent.

Another option for filing for a foreign patent is to file for one with the European Patent Office (EPO). Filing directly with the EPO allows the company to file one application and to designate as many as 18 countries for the patent to be filed with. The EPO conducts an investigation of the application and then if it finds that everything is in order, grants the patent.

A third option is to file for a patent under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The advantages of doing this are that in doing so you get to delay your decision on which countries to file your patent with. This also defers any payment of fees. A country should do this only if it is unsure of what countries it wants to file with and needs time to do some studies on the benefits of filing with each country it is considering. This method preserves patent rights without any commitment.

A company has a number of options for filing for a patent outside the United States. It should therefore conduct proper research into potential markets before choosing which option to take.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part II

In this second article on business method patents we're going to continue our discussion on what happens when two companies are battling it out for the same patent.

There are two ways that an Internet patent can be used. The first way is to use it offensively against a major competitor to help eat into their market share. The second way is to use it defensively against a major competitor who is threatening to sue based on one of their patents. Case studies show that most companies are less likely to go to court when the opposing company can show that it has a patent. Usually these companies agree to a truce by cross licensing each other's patents.

Here is an example of this.

Company A and Company B both sell tickets online. This includes services for exchanging unwanted tickets and also earning rewards for being a frequent purchaser. Company A happens to hold a patent on a method of exchanging tickets. Company B has a patent on a way of exchanging rewards points. Even though each company believes that the other company is infringing on their patent neither one goes to court over it. Instead they decide to cross license their patents so that each company can perform both services, exchanging tickets and rewards points.

So how is it determined who gets a patent? What happens when business A applies for a patent but business B can show that it was using the method for a year prior to filing? Business B can either stop the patent from going through right then and there or it can wait and invalidate the patent at a later time. The key to this whole procedure is that the use of business B's method MUST have been public knowledge prior to business A filing for a patent. If business B used the patent confidentially then business A will be granted the patent even though business B used the method first. However, in a 1999 amendment to this law, even though business A gets the patent, business B can still use the method without any penalty.

An example of this is as follows. Business A has been using a certain method of accounting for many years but never disclosed it to the general public. Company B, over the course of time and totally unaware that business A has already created this method, develops the method themselves and files for a patent. When company B finds out that company A has been using this accounting method they file a lawsuit against company A. Company B is granted their patent but company A is allowed to continue its use of the method without any penalty of law.

Just as a note. If company A had been using the method publicly before company B filed for the patent, the patent issued to company B would have been invalidated or possibly would have never been granted at all.

In the next article in this series we're going to discuss the legal requirements for getting a business method patent.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part III

In this third article on business method patents we're going to continue our discussion with legal requirements for getting a business method patent.

In order for a company or individual to get a business method patent, the business method or software must meet the following requirements:

1. The method or software must be on a subject matter that the patent office defines as patentable. This is said to be anything created by humans that falls into two classes; laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas.

2. The method or software developed must be of some practical use. This is fairly easy to satisfy because any functional purpose will be good enough. A business only needs to demonstrate that its method or software produces some tangible result. For example; Amazon.com with their 1-click purchase produces a tangible result, an expected purchase.

3. The method or software must be novel. In other words, this method or software must be noticeably different from anything else that has come before it.

4. The method or software must be what they call "non obvious." What this means is that somebody who has ordinary skill in that specific technology would not have been able to think of it.

The cost of getting a business method patent depends on a number of factors, including the actual subject matter of the patent, how complex the examination process needs to be to determine if it is a new idea and whether or not the process goes through a lawyer. The cost for getting a business method patent can be anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 unless you go through the process yourself without hiring a lawyer. After the patent is issued, the owner of the patent must pay maintenance fees to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years. If the patent should be challenged, and many are, costs for getting the patent can go through the roof.

The next legal requirement for getting a patent is novelty. An application for a business method patent will fail the novelty test if the method was in use for more than 1 year before the patent was applied for. It is because of this novelty requirement that a company must research whether this method already exists and if not, file for a patent as quickly as possible.

A business method is considered to be novel when it is different in at least one area from all prior methods. This is known as "prior art." Prior art consists of the following as per the USPTO in these exact terms.

1. "Any published writing (including any patent) that was made publicly available either: (1) before the date of invention of the business method or (2) more than one year before the patent application for the business method is filed."

2. "Any U.S. patent that has a filing date earlier than the date of invention of the business method."

3. "Any relevant method or process (whether described in writing or not) existing publicly before the business method was conceived."

4. "Any public or commercial use, sale, or knowledge of the business method more than one year before the patent application for the business method is filed."

Finally, as to the timeline for obtaining a business method patent, it takes two and a half to three years to get a business method patent from the date it was filed. The patent is valid for 20 years after filing. After that it becomes public domain and anyone can use the method.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - An Alternative To Getting One

In this article we're going to discuss an alternative to getting a patent for your product or method called the defensive publication.

The truth about getting patents is that it is a form of risk management for a company or individual. To give an example, a company that failed to get a patent may lose control of the main technology that the company uses to conduct business. It is also vulnerable to a lawsuit and strict licensing terms. Because patents are so important to a company and its operation, many companies form what is called a license review board to determine the cost involved with obtaining a patent for the product or technology. If the board finds enough evidence to warrant obtaining a patent it then discloses its findings to the CEO of the company.

However, there are going to be times where the cost and risk factor of trying to obtain a patent are too great to warrant going ahead with trying to get one. In this case an alternative form of risk management should be sought. One of these alternatives commonly used by companies in this situation is called the defensive publication. This is used especially when the alternatives are limited or the patent process would be too difficult to prove.

According to U.S. patent law, a printed publication with a publication date prior to what would have been the effective date of the patent could be used to invalidate that patent if claimed by another company. This publication can be used as a defensive measure to describe whatever technology it has created. Once this publication is released, the competing company would have to consider this publication as prior art. The company releasing this publication is given a certain degree of protection. The company can use this publication as a shield against another company suing them for using this technology. This will, in most cases, discourage the other company from going ahead with the lawsuit because of prior art laws.

To qualify as this type of publication there are a number of things that have to exist. For one thing, the publication must have been available to the public in general. It must describe the technology specifically and the date of the publication must be before the date of the patent that was issued to the competing company. This involves two criteria which are accessibility and dissemination.

Accessibility is the issue of whether relevant members of the public could obtain the publication if they wanted to. If this is proven that they could have had access to the publication then there is no need to actually show them the publication. Just the fact that it existed and was accessible is enough.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Making Your Own Patent Drawings

In this article we're going to discuss making drawings for your new gadget that you're trying to get a patent for.

In most cases, with a physical item, the patent office will require you to have drawings for your item unless you have a working prototype. So what do you do if you can't draw a straight line? Well, today there are computer programs that can do your patent drawings for you.

The situation you find yourself in goes something like this. You've just invented the greatest thing since sliced bread. You've made some rough sketches and even written some of the patent application yourself. You've saved yourself thousands of dollars by not hiring a lawyer. The only thing left to do is prepare drawings to go with your patent application. But you are no artist. What do you do?

Well, many inventors turn this part of the job over to a professional draftsman at the price tag of $75 to $150 per sheet of patent drawings. If you have a number of these the cost can add up in a hurry.

Fortunately, with today's technology, if you can do the patent application yourself you can also do the drawings yourself as well. You're going to need to learn some USPTO rules and the learning curve is pretty steep, but the rewards will be more than worth the effort. Besides saving money on the application itself you'll also be able to prepare brochures for prospective manufacturers or customers. Also, because nobody knows your invention better than you do, you'll have the best idea of what the drawings should look like. By doing your own drawings you don't have to explain to another person what your invention is about. The process of sending drawings back and forth for corrections is eliminated. Finally, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did the whole patent process by yourself, which is quite an accomplishment.

There are various ways you can create your drawings.

The traditional way is with pen and ruler in black and white. While this may seem old fashioned, it is the least costly and is actually how the patent office prefers them, nice and simple. You're going to need to learn basic drawing techniques to do this.

If color is needed to accurately represent your invention then you can submit color drawings. If you plan to do this you're going to have to file three sets of color illustrations. Then you have to file a petition to explain why color is necessary. Finally, you pay a petition fee and include a statement in your application that it includes color drawings.

Another option is photographs. These are rarely used, only in cases where a proper illustration of the invention is not possible with drawings.

Finally, there is computer drawing software. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to worry about drawing a straight line. The program can do it for you. Many drawing programs have 3 D image rendering which make the drawing process not only easy but very professional looking. The downside is that some of these programs can run you hundreds of dollars.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - How To Get One

In this article we're going to discuss how to get a general patent as there are actually different kinds of patents that can be obtained.

If you're an inventor and think you've come up with some gadget that is going to be in everybody's home in the next few years then you might want to think about securing a patent for this amazing invention otherwise you might find that it is stolen right from under your nose.

It is very common to confuse patents with copyrights and trademarks. A patent basically grants the inventor trademark rights for his invention. The words of the actual patent grant are as follows: "the inventor is given the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the issuing country or importing the invention into that country." In other words, the inventor has complete control over his invention.

There are 3 kinds of patents that an inventor can obtain. The first is a utility patent, which is given to anyone who invents of discovers a new process or machine. This includes any article manufactured that is an improvement over a similar article. The second is a design patent, which is given to anyone who invents a new design for a manufactured article. The third patent is called a plant patent, which is given to anyone who invents a new kind of plant.

To get a patent for any of the above categories the inventor must file a patent application. Usually, because of the sensitive nature of patent infringement, these inventors will hire a lawyer to aid them in the process of securing their patent. These are attorneys who specialize in patent law and know all the idiosyncrasies of the business. If you're an inventor hiring a lawyer for this service expect to pay a very large fee because of the specialty of their service.

If you are looking to save some money you may want to try to get through the process of getting a patent on your own. The system itself requires that the patent examiners make themselves available to help any inventors who are not going through an attorney. If you're going to go about this process without a lawyer make sure you make notes of your invention in minute detail. This is required so as to verify that the invention is indeed new and original and not an infringement on somebody else's patent.

Make sure you read through the application questions very carefully so as to make sure that your invention qualifies as an original work otherwise you can be wasting a lot of time and money in the process. Even without using an attorney the filing fees can run as high as $2000. In some cases you may also have to build a prototype of your invention and give the patent examiner a demonstration of how it works.

In order to make sure your invention is indeed original you will have to research all current patents. You can do this either online or at the Trademark Depository Library.

Also remember that applying for a patent is a business decision. Even if the item is original you still want to make sure there is a market for it before you go through the whole process only to find out that nobody has any interest in what you've invented.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part I

In this first of a series of articles we're going to discuss a specific type of patent called a business method patent.

If a company develops a new method for conducting an e-commerce business they may be able to prevent other companies from using this method for almost twenty years.

The truth is, since 1998 an increasing number of software and Internet companies have been issued patents for designing new ways of doing business. Examples would be new online ordering processes or a unique Internet advertising method. These kind of patents which are usually the combination of software and business methods are called business method patents or Internet patents.

The reason these patents are important is because a company that develops such a patent can keep other companies from using these business methods for 17 years. And if the owner wants, he can make additional money from the patent by licensing out to other companies. If there is a large enough market, the company may make more money from the licenses than from the patent itself.

A very good example of a business method patent is Amazon.com's 1-click payment method. This system allows a customer to bypass the traditional address and credit card forms as long as the customer has an account with Amazon. After clicking on the payment button the order automatically goes through. This patent was granted to Amazon.com in September 1999. The patent number is U.S. Pat No. 5,960,411.

Business method patents are actually a part of a larger family of patents called utility patents. These protect inventions, chemical formulas, processes and other discoveries. A business method is technically classified as a process. The reason is because it is not a physical object like a machine or some form of chemical compound.

During most of the last century the patent office issued very few business method patents. The reason for this is that they claimed that a process could not be patented if it was an abstract idea. The same thing was also said about software because software was said to be unpredictable algorithms.

That all changed in 1998. In July of that year a federal court upheld a patent for a method of calculating the net asset value of mutual funds. The court ruled that patent laws were intended to protect any method regardless of what it was, even an idea. As long as it produced a useful, concrete and tangible result. With this ruling the court made idea and software patents a reality again. After this ruling, business method patents increased by 40%. Also, that year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office created a new classification for business method patents. The classification is stated as "Data processing: financial, business practice, management or cost/price determination."

Many patents since this time have been issued for online shopping programs, Amazon's 1-click being the best example. However, because of the gray area of these patents, not having a physical product, an additional layer of review was added to the patent determination process. Technology specialists have been hired specifically to review these type of patent applications.

In the next article in this series we're going to discuss how to go about applying for a business method patent.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

How to Handle Patent Infringement?

Who will be there when things go wrong?

Due to the trouble, expense and the risks involved with gaining a patent, you might be lulled into thinking that the government will be there to lend you a helping hand when it comes time to enforce the rights your patented invention.

Sorry, but this is not how it works in the real world.

In reality, once a patent is issued, the inventor or patent owner (i.e. you!) must enforce the patent without the aid of the USPTO. So, if your patent is infringed upon, it is going to be up to you to finance any lawsuits that may arise.

Unfortunately, no one will be there to police other companies from making or selling your invention. You will have to keep a sharp eye out on your own. Luckily, the U.S. legal system is set-up so that you may retroactively sue for damages. That means if you don't catch these thieves in the act, you can still initiate a lawsuit against any them and have them tried in a court of law.

As you are probably aware, infringement cases are common. In fact, so common you can hardly turn on the news these days without hearing of a legal battle between big corporations. Some of the biggest involve biotechnology-related patents. These cases can be wild since it's tough to determine where the line of infringement ends and begins. Biotechnology patents only became prevalent in the last couple of decades.

The Patent Office hasn't quite got them sorted out (and it's possible they never will).

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Receive your FREE subscription to our Inventor's Bulletin. It's packed full of tips on how to patent and market your invention. Patent Your Inventions

Paralegal FAQs

Paralegal is a legal assistant who works under the guidance of attorneys or lawyers. These persons carry out various legal tasks, which include legal research, legal document preparation, and law office management. These persons gain corresponding qualification by education, training or by work experience at law offices, government agencies, and other law related fields.

How to become a paralegal?

You can become a paralegal by securing an associate degree from community colleges. Bachelor and master degrees and certification programs in paralegal studies are other options to become paralegals. Some employers even provide on job training for college graduates without any legal experience or take individuals who have experience as legal secretaries. Those persons with experience in technical field needed for law firms can also become paralegals.

What are the basic work qualities needed for a paralegal?

A paralegal should ideally have good skills for organizing and managing law offices. He should be capable of doing complex and detailed work in a fast and accurate manner. He should have excellent communication skills.

Where do paralegals work?

Paralegals work in almost all areas related to law. These include law firms, law departments, insurance companies, banks, courts, legal clinics, and government agencies. Paralegals can work independently or as team leaders.

Whether license is required for paralegals?

Paralegals do not require license to perform tasks in most cases. This is because these persons work under the supervision of licensed attorneys or lawyers.

Whether any certification is necessary for paralegals?

Certification depends on the area of service. Some areas require certification whereas some others do not. To become a certified paralegal, individuals should have CLA (Certified Legal Assistant) or PACE (Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam) certification.

What about the salary for paralegals?

Paralegal salaries are based on education, experience, special skills in the relevant field, and the nature of the employer. It can start from 16000 dollars and can go up to 34000 dollars.

Paralegal provides detailed information on Paralegal, Paralegal Jobs, Paralegal Schools, Paralegal Training and more. Paralegal is affiliated with Notary Public Supplies

Protect Your Ideas With Copyrights And Patents

Q: Can you tell me the difference between a copyright and a patent? Also is that something I should let a lawyer handle for me?

A: A wise man once said, "The biggest difference between a copyright and a patent is the number of lawyers it takes to do the paperwork." There is a point to be made there, mainly that if this wise man had paid his attorney to copyright that tidbit of wisdom I probably would have had to pay him five bucks to use the quote.

Copyrights, trademarks and patents are similar in that they are designed by law to protect your rights of ownership, but that's where the similarity ends. A copyright protects a creative work; a trademark protects a brand or company identity; and a patent protects an invention or process.

A copyright protects the rights of anyone who creates an "original work of authorship." A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce the work; prepare spin-off works based on the copyrighted work; and to sell, perform and/or display the copyrighted work in public.

Copyright protection is afforded to eight categories of creative works: literary works (the written word); musical works (lyrics, music, melodies); dramatic works (plays, scripts, screenplays); artistic works (pictorial and sculptural), sound recordings (LPs, CDs, audio tapes); choreographic works (dance, pantomime); audiovisual works; and architectural works (blueprints, designs, renderings).

An original work is automatically copyrighted the moment it is put into a fixed format such as a paper copy or recording. In other words, once you put your original story in writing or make a recording of an original song, your copyright is automatically secured. From that moment on your work has copyright protection for your lifetime, plus 50 years after your death.

Registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is not required, but since it is relatively simple and inexpensive to do so, I advise that you register a copyright for each work you wish to protect. Also, your copyright must be registered in order to take legal action against someone who might infringe on the copyright in the future.

You can register a copyright without the assistance of an attorney. Simply visit the U.S. Copyright office website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ and download the appropriate form. Complete the form and send it in with a $30 nonrefundable filing fee. This must be done for each individual work you wish to protect.

A patent is a form of protection granted to an inventor that protects his invention in the United States for up to 20 years from the date of application. Patent law states that, "whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof may obtain a patent." Owning a patent gives you the legal right to stop someone else from making, using or selling your invention (or one that's very close to it) without your permission. However, proving that someone is infringing on your patent is often difficult and usually requires a trial to settle the dispute.

Since the first U.S. patent was awarded in 1790, more than five million patents have been awarded. The patent office receives more than 230,000 patent applications every year and I can tell you from personal experience that a turtle on Prozac moves faster than the patent process. Patents can take several years, truckloads of paperwork, and considerable legal fees to obtain. The cost of obtaining a patent can run from $500 for a simple design patent to $50,000 and more for a complex utility patent. However, if your company has a truly patentable idea, you would be wise to invest the time and money required to secure your rights. A good patent can be a valuable business asset.

While you can file a patent yourself, I strongly advise that you use an attorney since a naively written patent application often isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Just recently my attorney did a patent search for me only to discover that a patent for a similar product was already in place. However, due to the ineffectual language of the patent application, the patent was practically impossible for the owner to enforce.

Good news for me. Not so good news for the wise man who wrote his own patent.

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker http://www.prosperityandprofit.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.timknox.com

Patentability of Business Method Patents

More frequently, many of my clients have been approaching me regarding the topic of patenting their unique business model, i.e. methods of doing business. So can a method of doing business be patentable? Yes. In 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the patent laws did extend to protect any method so long as it produced a "useful, concrete and tangible result." The case spawned a slew of "business method patents" and "Internet patents." The most cited example of business method patents has been Amazon's "One-Click" system, which allows a prior customer to place a new order without having to reenter the customer's address and credit card data when placing an order online (U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411). Some other examples of business method patents are: an internet auction system in which a user names the highest prices they are willing to pay and the first seller gets the purchase (U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207); a method that gives a monetary incentive to citizens to view political messages on the Internet (U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,008).

Business method patents have raised quite a controversy over the years, primarily because many felt that the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") had issued many undeserving business method patents. What may have been a response to the criticism, in 2001 the USTPO required that business method inventions must apply, involve, use or advance the "technological arts." The requirement essentially meant that it could be met by requiring that the invention be carried out by a computer.

However, in October 2005, the USPTO held that there is no requirement of the "technological arts." The USPTO reached that conclusion in Ex parte Lundgren, Appeal No. 2003-2088 (BPAI 2005) which focused on a patent application that claimed a "method of compensating a manager."

So what does all this mean to prospective inventors? The Lundgren case has essentially expanded the scope of business methods patents by giving inventors the opportunity to pursue patent protection for inventions that do not have a technological aspect. Therefore, business method patent applications such as the one in Lundgren, (which claimed a method of steps for determining the salary of an executive so as to foster competition among other executives) which were initially rejected by the USPTO, are now getting allowed and ultimately issued. Now before everyone starts getting trigger happy for business method patents, the USPTO did provide guidelines that should be met. The patent should either transform an article or physical object to a different state or thing, or, the claim method should produce a useful, concrete and tangible result. For now, it appears that the Lundgren case has rekindled some of the optimism of business method patents that has been extinguished for quite some time.

Michael N. Cohen, Esq. This article is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. You should consult with an attorney familiar with the issues and the laws

Patents and Fees: An Overview

Gaining a patent on your invention can be an expensive undertaking. From beginning to end, here are the basic fees you will need to be prepared to pay. Please realize that many others may crop up depending on how complex the prosecution becomes for your patent.

First of all, the PTO will expect you to pay a filing fee on your patent application. Fortunately though, the filing fee is not due immediately. You may choose to send in the filing fees later during the prosecution. There are different fees for different application types. Different fees for various documents. And different fees for the petitions that may need to be sent in during the prosecution.

As you can imagine, the mere filing of a patent application is a fairly expensive ordeal. To make matters worse, the PTO actually charges fees throughout the entire process. At the very least, you should expect to pay a filing fee and an issue fee (but remember, you won't need to worry about this right away - it can take well over 2 years for your patent to be allowed).

Maintenance fees must also be paid on every utility and plant patent at three intervals once it is granted. At worst, you may have to pay these fees (filing fees, issue fees and maintenance fees) plus fees for several petitions, fees for late filed IDS's, extensions of time, disclaimers, appeal-related fees and fees for a request for continuing examination among many other fee related extras. It is best to know the fees associated with gaining a patent up front so that you can budget your expenses later.

 Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Receive your FREE subscription to our Inventor's Bulletin. It's packed full of tips on how to patent and market your invention. Patent Your Inventions

A Patent Law Career

Is having a patent law career the perfect choice for you?

Did you know that you can have a career in the field of patent law without having a law degree?

Patent law is a career open to all biologists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists and many other science and technology professionals. Any individual with the proper science or engineering degree need only to pass the Patent Bar to become registered Patent Agents. That easy.

Upon becoming a Patent Agent, you can gain employment writing and prosecuting patent applications at law firms, technology transfer offices, biotech or engineering corporations, and government institutes. In addition to writing and prosecuting patents, a Patent Attorney can also litigate in patent infringement cases. From there, you may decide whether or not to go on to law school and pursue a career as a Patent Attorney.

What are the skills needed in a patent law career?

Patent law is the perfect field for many creative and talented individuals since it requires so many qualities to be successful.

There is also a people-oriented side to a career in patent law. This is especially seen when you compare the isolated lab environment that most scientists and engineers are used to.

Consider the fact that every inventor?s hopes and dreams is to ride on their invention. What will be your role in all this? You will be there every step of the way to help them achieve their goals. Although a great deal of interviewing and excellent communication is required in order to adequately learn what was invented and write a patent application for it. Just think of the good it will bring you both.

This brings us to the next point; to be a patent law practitioner, you must also have excellent writing skills. Drafting a quality patent application is a tedious work that requires the absolute best in written communication.

To practice a career in patent law is to have a never-ending thirst for knowledge. Take note that you will be right in the middle of a cutting edge research and development. This gives you the privilege of being exposed to new and exciting discoveries before anyone else.

What should you expect to make as a professional in the patent law?

This is the million-dollar question. How much will you be making if you have a career in patent law? The pay scale varies from $45,000 up to $250,000+ for Patent Practitioners and is determined by many factors.

First, if you are a scientist or engineer without a law degree you will be classified as a Patent Agent after you pass the Patent Bar Exam. But if you have a law degree and is already considered an attorney, you will be classified as a Patent Attorney upon passing the exam.

As a Patent Attorney with the same level of experience as a Patent Agent, you will typically earn the higher income because in addition to writing and prosecuting patents, you may also help protect patents in a court of law.

Second, your degree level will help determine your pay. If you have a Bachelor's degree in your particular area of expertise, you will therefore make less than someone with a Masters degree or a PhD.

Third, your experience level will make quite a big difference. Your previous positions will count when considering your salary. The number of years you have worked as an engineer or scientist will make a difference. The more experience you have, the more valuable you will be perceived by the company. The longer you are in the patent law career, the higher your pay will be as well.

Is patent law a good career to get into?

Many businesses in the field science and technology sectors regard patents as their lifeline. Therefore, gaining status as a registered Patent Practitioner can open many career doors for you.

Since research and intellectual property are intertwined, imagine the many career opportunities you would be presented with if you were trained in both areas. Moreover, as a scientist or engineer, most of the qualifications needed to achieve registration as a Patent Practitioner have usually already been met. Probably the only requirement you necessary is pass the Patent Bar Exam.

It may be a difficult hurdle. But in comparison to the time and money you already spent to become a scientist or an engineer, passing the Patent Bar Exam and getting a career in patent law will be something you can accomplish.

Dee Cohen is an author and website publisher. Visit us at Legal and Business Templates

How Do I Go About Filing For A Patent?

There is no doubt that being able to file for a patent on a new invention, idea, or process is essential to keeping the necessary flow of new ideas coming in a free market economy. After all, without a patent, businessmen could take advantage of a new idea or product by simply copying it without the inventor's permission and reap the financial rewards instead of the rightful inventor himself. If this were commonplace, many new inventions would never see the light of day because of fear that they would be stolen.

So how does a person go about getting a patent on a new invention?

Patent processes can vary depending on what country you live in, but here in the United States inventors can obtain a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Just make a search for "USPTO" and you will find their website listed right at the top.

There are really only a few things that you need to decide beforehand in order to proceed with a successful patent application. First of all, you need to determine that the product or process that you wish to patent is indeed original and new, and that it is not just something that is obvious and commonplace. Then you need to determine what type of patent that you need. The discussion on all the different kinds of patents is beyond the scope of our article but if you visit the USPTO website you will be walked through the process of identifying your particular patent area and then how to get the ball rolling.

Once the patent is filed, no one can copy that invention until the patent process is complete. And the patent protection for your new invention will extend for twenty years here in the US. Of course all new inventions have to be examined to make sure that they do indeed meet the criteria worthy of having a patent bestowed on them and that process can take some time, but be patient and you will be able to enjoy the rewards of your talent and effort as you profit from every future sale of your invention for the life of the patent.

Jim Johnson writes on many consumer related topics. You can find out more about how to apply for patent by visiting our All About Patents website

Types of Patents Granted by the USPTO

Inventions may qualify for a utility, a design or a plant patent as set out by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This article attempts to provide you with an overview on each of these patent types.

Examples of utility based inventions are everywhere. Most mechanical objects fit under this category. A rocket engine, paperclip and a new drug are all examples of utility based inventions. The variety between these objects is vast, but they all fit under the same category; those with utility.

Design patents are those that incorporate a design into an object of manufacture. A good example is a new design for a headboard.

As you can guess, plant patents are those covering new plant varieties. But there are some stipulations with plant patents. Plants that have been bred are acceptable, while plants growing naturally in the wild will never qualify. Oddly enough, plants that are sexually reproduced also never qualify. Only those that are asexually reproduced (i.e., they are reproduced by making a cutting, layering, grafting or inarching) qualify for a patent.

 Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

Checking Credentials Before Hiring Anyone to Help You Patent Your Invention

Many businesses make more than a decent living helping inventors just like you make money from their inventions. From filing a patent to licensing and marketing your invention, someone is around every corner offering assistance.

Unfortunately, not all of this help is the kind you want. There are companies out there who make a living off exploiting inventors. It's important not to get caught up in any of these scams. What you need is a professional who has experience and is licensed to help you patent your invention. You really need either a patent attorney or a patent agent.

Both patent agents and attorneys are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. No one else is. Please take note of that. No one else may legally help you fill out the paperwork associated with filing for your patent. And you definitely don't want anyone else to help you for this aspect of your invention journey.

Remember, you want someone registered by the USPTO to help you file your patent. Don't even think about speaking to someone else, even if they claim they will outsource the writing of your application to a patent attorney or agent. The problem is, you need to be in direct communication with the individual helping you to file your patent. Don't let anyone be your middleman. Gaining a patent is not an assembly line process. Your invention has completely different features than anything else out there. So you need to be able to directly communicate the novel features of your invention with the attorney or agent.

While you can work over the phone, it usually makes the most sense to meet face to face with the attorney or agent you choose. Therefore, it is best to find one not too far from where you are located. Although it can be done, a long distance relationship will probably only strain the process.

The best way to select a patent practitioner (patent agent or patent attorney) near you is through word of mouth. You may want to join a local inventors club. You can also search through the USPTO's list of registered patent practitioners or even just use their database to check your potential patent practitioner's credentials.

An individual listed on the USPTO's site will be registered to practice patent law. They must also meet the ethical requirements and can be disbarred for complaints. Please check that the patent practitioner you are considering is listed on this site before using them.

Please visit Patent Law Portal to find a patent attorney or agent near you and begin the process toward protecting your invention.

Short Guide to Patent Protection and Patentability

What can be protected?

Determining what qualifies as a patentable invention is a highly difficult and complicated task. Patent laws state that "Anything under the sun that was invented by man qualifies as patentable". Simple enough, but if you notice, there are hundreds of pages full of exceptions and details on the idea of patentability following this phrase. Scores of appeals and patent court cases have arisen due to questions regarding patentability because it still hasn't, and probably never will be entirely pinned down.

So, defining what is patentable is not as clear cut as black and white. Inventions can encompass a wide variety of areas, even living subject matter so long as the subject matter is the result of human intervention. An example of a patentable living organism is a microorganism or a plant which is produced or altered through genetic engineering. The key is that the living matter must be a product of "human ingenuity" and not merely a naturally occurring object, such as a shrimp with its digestive tract removed. The living matter must be altered to yield unique properties for it to be patentable.

However, the alteration can even be the mere fact that the living matter is simply isolated or purified. For example, unaltered pieces of DNA may be patentable provided they have been sequenced. The PTO has decided that the act of isolating and sequencing a strand of DNA is the result of human intervention. Currently, there is huge debate surrounding the patenting of biotechnology related "inventions" like DNA. Is a piece of DNA really an invention at all? Or what about a microorganism that happens to degrade oil? Is that an invention? Should it be?

As you are probably starting to see, the patent office has its work cut out for them as many of these questions are not black and white.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

The Topic of Patentability

For an object or idea to be patentable, it must fit into one of the following four categories; process, manufacture, machine or composition of matter. The subject matter must also be original, an unmodified, previously existing invention is never patentable. There must be a significant improvement over previous inventions for the new one to qualify. If two previous inventions are combined together, the combination must yield new and unexpected results for the invention to be considered patentable.

In addition, an invention must be useful and must actually work in order for it to be patentable. A useful invention is one in which the object already has a utility without anyone having to pursue further research to identify or reasonably confirm the utility. So, if you've invented a nifty little widget or doodad, but haven't got a clue as to what it could be used for, the PTO isn't going to be impressed and isn't likely to grant your patent.

On the bright side, if an invention does not accomplish all of its intended functions or it only has partial success, it may still be patentable. In the case of newly developed drugs, the claimed invention only needs to treat a single symptom of an incurable disease for it to have usefulness. The Patent Office isn't as strict on drugs and treatments (that's where the Food and Drug Administration come in).

The PTO has established that laws or forces of nature are not deemed patentable. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, the law of gravity or E=mc2. Computer related inventions may or may not be patentable. Computer programs that have a function when used with a computer are definitely patentable subject matter. Merely recording information (like music, literary works or data) on a computer-readable medium will not result in a patentable idea.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

How to Patent Your Invention

How to Patent Your Invention

A patent is a government granted right that allows the inventor to exclude anyone else from making, using or selling the invention in the country that issued the patent. The government grants this right to help encourage inventors to spend the time, money and effort to invent new products, technologies and the like.

In the United States, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

When a patent expires, the invention enters the "public domain" allowing anyone to make, use or sell the invention without needing the permission or paying any royalty to the inventor. The government requires patents to expire because otherwise one person can control an entire industry if that person was the first to conceive of a type of product.

The patent law specifies the general field of subject matter that can be patented and the conditions under which a patent for an invention may be obtained. Any person who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent, subject to the conditions and requirements of the law.

In order for an invention to be patentable it must be new as defined in the patent law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if: (a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent, or (b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent.

If the invention had been described in a printed publication anywhere in the world, or if it has been in public use or on sale in this country before the date that the applicant made his/her invention, a patent cannot be obtained. If the invention had been described in a printed publication anywhere, or has been in public use or on sale in this country more than one year before the date on which an application for patent is filed in this country, a patent cannot be obtained.

In this connection it is immaterial when the invention had been made, or whether the printed publication or public use was by the inventor himself/herself or by someone else. If the inventor describes the invention in a printed publication or uses the invention publicly, or places it on sale, he/she must apply for a patent before one year has gone by, otherwise any right to a patent for an invention will be lost. The inventor must file on the date of public use or disclosure, however, in order to preserve patent rights in many foreign countries.

According to the law, only the inventor may apply for a patent for his or her invention, with certain exceptions. If the inventor is dead, the application may be made by legal representatives, that is, the administrator or executor of the estate. If the inventor is insane, the application for patent for an invention may be made by a guardian. If an inventor refuses to apply for a patent for his or her inventions, or cannot be found, a joint inventor or, if there is no joint inventor available, a person having a proprietary interest in the invention may apply on behalf of the non-signing inventor.

If two or more persons make an invention jointly, they apply for a patent as joint inventors. A person who makes only a financial contribution for the invention is not a joint inventor and cannot be joined in the application as an inventor.

Additional information on how to patent an invention is available at http://www.newideatrade.com/patents.htm.

Neil Armand
Intellectual Property Professional
Global Commerce & Communication
Telephone: 320-250-0950
Fax: 320-230-1096
Email: globalcomm@astound.net
URL: http://www.gcchq.com
globalcomm@astound.net

Inventions, Patents and Profit

New Inventors

My name is Clyde Knight Jr founder of Knite Enterprises LLC. I have visited many newsletters and inventor resource websites where I found and read many interesting and informative articles. These web sites covered areas of inventing dealing with everything from creating and developing your ideas to selecting the right self-help resources.

There is a plethora of invention submission and promotion type corporations out there, as we have seen advertised on television and radio commercials. I have even experienced first hand how these companys work. They advertise one thing, but the result is a twist in legal technicalities that most inventors under estimate. In short, these invention submission corporations present the unwary, sometimes enthusiastic and often times legally nave inventor with a professionally looking office, with personable representatives and artistically enhanced forms and documents all pleasing to the eye and designed to persuade the inventor to sign away their legal rights.

Furthermore, self-help websites including the USPTO website do offer free and inexpensive resources. These resources usually explain details of the law that allows independent inventors to protect their own inventions by submitting their own ideas to the USPTO or applying for a patent themselves. Other methods of self-protection offered on these websites include retaining a combination of inventing professional to help them to submit their own patent application with out having to pay an attorneys high legal fees. Thus, saving them a costly expense.

In either of the cases sighted above what usually happens in the end is that the inventor is disillusioned, discouraged and frustrated. The inventor is discouraged by the bureaucratic red tape, precise and strictly adhered to submission protocols of the USPTO with associated astronomical expense on the one hand or legally frustrated by the immoral but legal bate and switch tactic of an unscrupulous submission promotion company on the other.

To see how these companies use the law to their advantage point your browser at http://www.ftc.gov/foia/frequentrequest.htm. There you will find which submission promotion companies are listed. In addition, the type of fraud they used on various inventors.

Many invention resource websites fail to explain that your invention may not be feasible, plausible or even marketable and that to pay for a patent application when your idea will not bring a profit may be an expense that you simply cannot afford. Additionally, they usually do not explain in a logical and clear manner the facts needed for the inventor to make an informed decision. They do not explain the facts gleaned from an objective and complete explanation of the cost and profit probability ratios - that is - the money that you spend to patent your idea vs. the probability of making a profit from your patent.

I have researched and have pain stakingly explained to the average inventor how to use the law to protect their invention with out having to disclose to a third party where their invention in all probability is most likely to be stolen. I also explain the myths, cost and profit probability ratios of spending $3,500 - $10,000 or more, when such an expense may not be in their best interest.

Our service is tailored for people who do not have or cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars on a patent. I explain that to spend this kind of money does not necessarily give the protection desired and that it does not guarantee profit. At Knite Enterprises, we take the inventors creativity and their right to claim it very seriously. We assist the inventing industry by taking the confusion out of the notion of claiming your invention and by making our services available to those of us who may have creative talent but are confused and discouraged from moving forward by financial constraints and responsibilities. To see what we are all about please visit us on line at: http://www.DIYinventor.com

Clyde Knight Jr is the founder of Knite Enterprises LLC. He started this online business in 1998. Knite Enterprises LLC recognizes the many problems that new inventors face when deciding on how to protect their ideas. Knite Enterprises LLC answers many of these questions and explains the advantages and disadvantages of traditional IP Protection.

Clickbank Vendors: Two Simple Ways You Can Help Affiliates Protect Their Sales.John Hocking

1) How To Remove Your Affiliates Clickbank Id From The URL.

As a merchant, you can hide the clickbank affiliate id for your affiliates by creating a redirect page and pointing your default hoplink to the redirect.

When some uses your hoplink http://hop.clickbank.net/?affid/yourid, the cookie will be set and they will land on your redirect page.

The redirect will send them to your domain without adding the ?hop= information. The cookie is already set and does not need to be shown.

This will help protect your affiliates commission and give your site a more professional appearance.

In the code examples below, you will need to replace [ and ] with less then and greater then symbols.

Create a file called hoplink.php

Add the following code

[?php
header("Location: http://www.yourdomain.com"); exit;
?]

Upload hoplink.php to the root of your domain.

Login into your clickbank account. Click to view or modify your account settings. Click to modify your account.

Under Business Info, change the url of your website to be http://www.yourdomain.com/hoplink.php

Click on save changes.

Now when a visitor clicks on a hoplink, it appears that they came directly to your site and the affiliate's id is no longer exposed. For this technique to be completely effective, the affiliate needs to cloak the hoplink as well.

2) How to Cloak Your Clickbank Vendor Id Using PHP

Most clickbank affiliate theft is caused by the fact that is easy to rebuild a hoplink and get credit for your own purchase. All you really need to know is the vendor id.

All you have to do is look at the source code of a typical sales link and you will see the vendor id.

For example:
http://www.clickbank.net/sell.cgi?YourVendorId/1/Product_Description

To rebuild the hoplink you simply use http://hop.clickbank.net/?AffiliatesId/YourVendorId

Now when you click on the hoplink and the original affiliate has lost a sale.

As you can see, without knowing the vendor id, you can not successfully rebuild the hoplink and the affiliates sale would be protected.

Below is an example of how to do this in PHP.

You will need to replace [ and ] with less then and greater then symbols.

Create a file called order.php

Add the following code

[?php

header("Location: http://www.clickbank.net/sell.cgi?YourVendorId/1/Product_Description");

exit;
?]

Just replace YourVendorID with your Clickbank ID Replace 1 with your product number Replace Product_Description with your Product Description

Upload order.php into the same folder as your sales page.

Now link to order.php instead of using the raw order link and your Vendor ID is never exposed

This will make it very hard for affiliates to rob other affiliates of their commissions.

I encourage you to make these simple changes to protect the commissions of your affiliates.

John Hocking created http://www.guidetoebookmarketing.com, A resource site for those looking for information on creating and marketing ebooks. You will find hundreds of articles, ebook reviews and resource links.

Free Patent Search Information and tips

Free Patent Search Training in Free Patent Database online

The first step to find out if you invention can be patented is to conduct a free patent search online in any free patent information database online. How can you do a free patent search to find out if your invention can be patented?

Some of the most popular free patent databases in the world are http://www.uspto.gov, http://ep.espacenet.org, http://www.wipo.int and http://www.surfip.gov.sg.

We will briefly discuss in this article how you can conduct a Free Patent Search in USPTO database. This is the first of the seven articles that we will write to teach any one to use USPTO website to conduct patent search.

USPTO database contains over 33 million patent documents and is updated every week. The website is probably the largest patent website in the world. It provides a free patent search facility for both beginners and advanced users.

How can I conduct Patent Search at USPTO?

The answer to this question is given in a technical way in many websites. We will try to avoid the jargon and we will try to enable even a layperson that is not exposed to search databases regularly to do it easily.

The USPTO deals with conducting a Patent Search using its freely searchable patent database through the Internet. The instructions are given at
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/step7.htm The USPTO stresses the importance on 7 Steps each one to be done one after the other.

The Patent Search website Tmpsearchers.com has started a patent training course online. We can train you online wherever you live and the lessons and exercises are sent on a daily basis for three weeks. We teach a simplified version of methods to our students using Free Patent Databases. Although a paid database is more users friendly, the official free databases are updated with regular data and the expensive paid databases take some time (a short time) to update themselves to be current. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a search in the official free patent databases online even after using paid patent databases. A proper training and search strategy for free databases is therefore very important.

One problem is that the USPTO does not allow you to do the free patent search on patents granted prior to 1976 unless you start the patent search with the class and sub class alone. So you need to identify the classes and then do a patent research of pre 1976 patents also.

Our method slightly differs from the methodology advised by USPTO and consists of 9 Steps.

1. Start the search with some relevant keywords

When you do a search using USPTO you will go to the search inter-face at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html Start with the issued patents and start with using some keywords, which are relevant to your invention. You may use either the quick search method or the advanced search method. Be sure to study the help pages at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/help.htm and especially the page at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/helpadv.htm if you are going to use the advanced search method.

2. You will get some results and by using more relevant keywords you can reduce the number of patent titles to a minimum of about 40. Please keep a record of all the keywords that you used.

3. Please note all the classifications of cited in these patents. Note both the US Classification and the International Classification of Patents. This is a must.

4. Repeat the patent search with the Published Applications using http://appft1.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.html Again record the search queries and the classifications.

5. Now study the classifications that are repeated time and again in your results and try to narrow down the invention to some particular classifications. It is not very difficult to do although it will take some time.

You may learn the other four steps by in our patent training web page.

These steps should give you a very comprehensive picture of the free patent search that can be done at USPTO.

A similar strategy can be followed at other free patent databases online using the International classifications that you have identified.

Working at the Free Patent Search website Tmpsearchers.com we find that we are able to find patents easily when we do patent search this way, but the key here is to master the keywords to be applied to conduct the patent search. If you want to know more or learn other advanced techniques of patent search using the free patent search interface of USPTO patent database, please contact us for any help needed.

Ramaswami a Patent and Trademarks Attorney in India provides free counseling in Patents and trademarks in India. Know more about the services you can ask for at http://www.tmpsearchers.com/contact.asp

Patenting Bioresearch And Drug Development In the Wake of The U.

Andres F QuintanaThe U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a landmark patent decision giving drug companies more leeway to develop new medicines, ruling that compounds patented by rivals do not bar them from starting research on new competing medications. The unanimous ruling in Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd., set aside a lower-court ruling for patent holder Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. Integra had sued Germanys Merck KGaA for patent infringement for using several of Integras RGD peptide patents in identifying promising new tumor inhibiting drugs. The peptides are biological compounds containing two or more amino acids and form the constituent parts of proteins. Integra had offered Merck licenses on the patents, but Merck declined. At trial, Merck KGaA argued that its use of the patents was protected by 35 U.S.C. 271(e)(1), the so-called safe harbor provision of the patent statute, which protects the use of generic patents in work that is reasonably related to the development and submission of data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The primary purpose of the law was to bring generic drugs to market sooner. If competitors were permitted to use the patented drugs for research and clinical trials, they could have generic versions readied when the patent expired. The law gives patent holders seventeen years of protection, and the delay for research could, and often does, add years to that time. Following a jury trial, the district court ruled that Merck KGaA infringed on Integras patents and that the safe harbor provision did not immunize Merck KGaA against liability.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the chief patent appellate court, affirmed last year, construing the safe harbor provision narrowly to only include clinical trials leading to FDA drug approval. In recent years, the Federal Circuit has reasoned that Congress intended only to promote the growth of generic drugs when it passed the exemption in 1984. According to the Federal Circuit, to qualify for the exemption, the otherwise infringing activity must directly produce information for submission to the FDAs safety and effectiveness approval processes. In this case, Merck KGaA was not performing clinical tests to supply information to the FDA, but only general biomedical research to identify new pharmaceutical compounds. Therefore, the research being performed by Merck KGaA was not solely for uses reasonably related to clinical testing for the FDA.
The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed with the Federal Circuit. The Court held that the FDA exemption for research is much broader, and drug companies should have more latitude to investigate innovative drugs, not just generics, so long as the research is reasonably related to the process of developing information for future drug submission. According to the Court, there is no room in the statute for excluding certain information from the exemption on the basis of the phase of research in which it is developed or the particular submission in which it could be included. The provision is now understood to permit most uses of patent-protected inventions related to the generation and submission of any data for FDA approval.
The Supreme Courts ruling constitutes a major victory for drug companies, since they can now begin drug discovery experiments and research faster, potentially saving millions of dollars in licensing costs associated with startup research. Practically, the ruling should also promote drug discovery research sometimes caused by late patent expiration dates or complex and multi-faceted licensing negotiations. Had the Supreme Court found for Integra instead, however, many pharmaceutical companies would have been forced to either suspend preclinical research programs or relocate relevant departments to countries with historically looser patent protections. Thus, the ruling should further encourage more drug development here in the United States rather than outsourcing it to foreign countries.


Andres F. Quintana is a partner in the intellectual property and litigation department of Beverly Hills, California-based Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP. He may be reached at aquintana@ecjlaw.com

Patent Call for a New Digital Rights Management System

Intellectual Property Rights is a key consideration in today's standardisation world and naturally the field of audio and video coding / decoding, such as MP3 and MPEG is no exception. Digital rights management is an additional key element in todays digital world.

The Digital Media Project (DMP) is a non-profit organization devoted to developing worldwide standards for music, video and other creative works that are digitally recorded and transmitted. Such standards allow the rights of creators to be compensated for their works, allow the public to fully enjoy the benefits of digital recordings, and allow other businesses to provide products and services consistent with these principles and the Digital Media Manifesto.

DMP was founded by Mr. Leonardo Chiariglione, who developed worldwide standards for digital audio and video coding, such as MP3 and MPEG, while chairing the working group of the International Standards Organization ISO/IEC. In April 2005, DMP produced a technical Specification for a Platform for Interoperable Digital Rights Management, for which it would be beneficial to establish a patent pool in order to have clear and acceptable licensing terms for the underlying patents. The standardization approved in 20045 refers in particular to portable audio and video devices (PAV)

One of the members of the Digital Media Project is helping set up the patent pool: Sisvel, S.p.A., a company with an international network specialized in licensing, with offices in Europe and subsidiaries in America and Asia, will arrange for a team of independent patent experts to evaluate patents that may be essential in this field.

Any company having related patents and wishing to participate in the patent pool is requested to submit patents to Sisvel for evaluation. The objective is to create a one-stop-shop licensing mechanism for intellectual property rights (IPR) that will help to standardize the digital media project, providing a clear view of the exposure to royalties relating to the standard.

SISVEL is a company active in the field of exploiting industrial and intellectual property rights. For instance Sisvel has the right to grant licenses for the use of several patent families concerning the MPEG Audio standard comprising the Mp3 standard. Contact: segretaria@sisvel.com for information.