Suppose someone has submitted a really stupid, obvious patent application, for something that has been common industry practice for decades. How does one stop the grant? Is there a best way to object?
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John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
I suppose you could file a challenge directly to the specified examiner, but you'd have to ask a patent attorney to know for sure.
As I've posted here before, a client of mine had to spend beaucoup bucks to stop enforcement of an issued patent... a block diagram saying "this is an RFID tag with these specs and is therefore an invention"... sort of like the original Henry Ford fighting the establishment patenting "car"... Ford finally won.
Our case went on for two years... I, as an expert witness, was paid obscene fees for deposition after deposition, plus training everyone on how to use PSpice :-) ...Jim Thompson
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| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
USPTO will grant patents on the blindingly obvious and industry common practice that is decades old. They have even granted Amazon a patent on taking photos of kit in front of a white paper screen. I kid you not!
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The only test they seem to apply is are the applicants dollars green and supplied in sufficient quantity? Xerox has a US patent on the mathematical identity X + (-X) = 0 as applied to JPEG decoding.
Most major US corporates have a raft of worthless IP patents for cross licensing with competitors and fighting with in the patent troll lawyer bear pit that is the lawless town of Marshall, Texas.
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World capital of patent trolls - they must have lots of bridges!
That is a lot. Although laywers charge more. My CPA/lawyer charges $250 for regular CPA work (tax returns and stuff) and $300 when he has to go to the mat in court. But this is the boonies in the Wild West and I've seen up to $600 in larger cities. Insane indeed.
There is a way, and it's not especially hard. Basically, the Patent Office publishes applications a year or so before proceeding *specifically* to give the public a chance to weigh in.
"Weighing in" consists of sending in relevant prior art (publications, testimony, etc.).
I did it once ages ago--don't remember the rule / procedure--but it wasn't a big deal.
Yes, one source of info is to just call the uspto help line and pop the question. They will transfer you to a patent atty in the USPTO. Be a bit over-technical, legally, will ensure you get an atty.
There's something alled the "case file" for each patent, and I seem to remember you can search for it.
BTW, if you want to search patents, and USPTO doesn't work well, google: "google patents advanced" You can get a search bar etc. that works pretty well.
The search can spread out to find prior art, which is what you want here, I think.
OH, and the heart and soul of the patents are the claims. The rest of the patent just explains the claims. Any battle over a patent will be won or lost in the claims. Your attack must center on the claims. There also you will see the strategy of the attorney who wrote it. The atty will often add a detail to make it unique: "An automobile tire with green knobs on it that allow easier balancing."
If you want to pursue this in detail, see Pressman, "Patent it Yourself." library.
Hey Jim are you kidding or what ? 250E/hour is not precisely what it is cal led "obscene level". Don't you ever heard about 3000 EURO/day (8 hours) for EMI/EMC consultancy ?
alled "obscene level". Don't you ever heard about 3000 EURO/day (8 hours) f or EMI/EMC consultancy ? "
My Grandfather got $5,000 a day at one point. It was only a few days but he schooled a few engineers on a design flaw they had in their knitting mills . He was maintenence at the ONLY mill in th eUS that was NOT calling the co mpany and bitching. The company wanted to know why. So they flew him in fro m Cleveland for a little talk with their engineer, and to produce his modif ication for them.
So in like four days he picked up enough loot to buy a new car. We are talk ing the 1950s. He was intelligent, but really just a working Man. This was quite the thrill I suppose. Tell you what, I have made some really fast (le gal yes) money in my time, but noting like that, ever, especially adjusted for inflation but really, not even adjusted for inflation. Legal or not I n ever made that many dollars that fast.
Understand what was at stake here - practically an entire industry. Of cour se now that industry is gone, but at the time people used to work ther and make money and pay their bills and stay off welfare.
Seems like we shouldn't've sent that shit overseas. Didn't save any money, it's just that the middleman makes more.
Enoough on that, I just thought it would be interesting when someone consid ers a certain rate of pay "obscene", even if not meant derogatorily. the fa ct is my old buddy Emil said it right - "Whatever the market will bear".
And that is the heart of capitalism. Any which way you can turn a profit.
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