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The standard patent book for startups and entrepreneurs is Patents Demystified. I used this book while getting my own patents and it’s become required reading for any start-ups that I coach or invest in. It’s one of the few patent guides I know of that has detailed insight on how legitimate startups patent their product(s).
Unlike most patent guides, it’s ...
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I assume you are talking about the US for the formats.
The application number is assigned when the application is filed at the USPTO. It is of the format "16/123456".
The publication number is assigned when the application is published (usually 18 months after it was filed). It is of the format "2016/0123456".
The patent number is assigned if the ...
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So here we have a tidy distinction between description and claims.
Description
You must provide a description sufficiently detailed that the skilled person, reading your description, would understand how to put the invention into practice. You must also disclose the best way of doing it that you know. To this end, it is irrelevant whether the different parts ...
4
Regarding "if the Canadian guy's patent is rejected, can I try", I assume you mean "can I try to patent it".
The answer is no, insofar as what you want to patent is contained in (or obvious in light of) his patent application. You can only get a patent for something that is new, not something that is already in public knowledge (e.g. published for all to ...
4
A pending patent application does not provide the owner with any enforceable exclusionary rights to stop others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the claimed invention. So, you cannot be sued for infringement until a patent issues, if ever.
When a patent application is laid open (published) in Canada, the prosecution history (the ...
4
If the software you license under the GPLv3 (or any artistic/creative commons license) can be discovered as prior art for an undisclosed invention, then it will absolutely prevent you from obtaining a patent.
Your first action should be to get your priority date: file a provisional patent and supply important parts of the source code in that, along with the ...
4
This is why the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) exists. A patent application filed as PCT may be filed in other member states.
There is a good overview of PCT filing here, and more authoritative information can be found at WIPO, especially in this overview figure.
I strongly recommend finding a patent agent who can step you through this process.
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If you are afraid "anyone could look it up" - IMO you are better off treating it as a trade secret - please check this link for details http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/ip_business/trade_secrets/patent_trade.htm
Also one other thing about "acquire a patent for a software algorithm" - in view of the recent Alice ruling , I would encourage you to consult a Patent ...
4
Application
The life cycle of a patent starts with the application. The inventor files this application with a patent office, for example the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office).
This grants them the right to say "patent pending", but no enforceable protection rights. Everyone can file a patent application, containing basically everything (apart from ...
4
Perhaps it would be clearer by going back to first principles for patents.
The purpose of a claim is to set out certain things that others cannot do. Once a patent is granted, nobody else can do anything that is claimed. This is true regardless of the category of the claim (whether method, apparatus or whatever else).
It is therefore not correct to say ...
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This is likely Chinese utility model CN203999849. The number you refer to is the application number.
ZL (zhuānlì) refers to the granted version of an application number. So ZL 201420446264 is the granted utility model of application number 201420446264, which is utility model 203999849.
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The typical approach is to perform a "freedom-to-operate" analysis. You can take a crack at this yourself using patent searching tools like Google Patents or my preference The Lens. Patent searching is a skill so I would advise starting with a broad search and when you find patents that are relevant (not necessarily the same idea, but with some similarities) ...
4
As someone who has obtained patent while working for a company I think I can answer your questions. The standard work arrangement is that your work product is owned by the company. Thus any inventions the come about as a consequence of your employment is owned by the company. Some companies reward inventors with some compensation when patents are granted, ...
4
The answer is very clearly: you can release anything you want without invalidating your patent application. Actually, 18 months after the filing, the USPTO and most other patent offices will publish your application by themselfs even if it hasn't been granted then.
Legal basis can be found in 35. USC 102 which describes what is prior art (=what can ...
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The answer was subtle but I found it at smart up legal. The main reason an entity would elect to convert a provisional application to a non-provisional application is in the case where a public disclosure of the invention occurred prior to the filing of the provisional application and at least one year and one day have lapsed since the disclosure but not ...
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"Do not know how to make it" is a fatal statement in a patent application. You need to explain how to make and use the invention. However, patents involving software or other methods generally have flowcharts. If you can explain it in words that describe the actions specified by a set of flowcharts, then you can explain it. The flowcharts need to be such ...
4
What is this Formal Patent Search of Classification? I haven't been
able to find any information on it online. Does it differ from a
preliminary patent search (as explained on the CIPO website) in any
meaningful way?
A patent classification is a system to categorize (code) documents, such as published patent applications, according to the technical ...
4
INID code Internationally agreed Numbers for the Identification of bibliographic data in patent. 12 stand for kind of document, 10 stands for Identification of the patent, SPC or patent document.
These number are standard in all participating countries, irrespective of language published you can identify the patent number using the code. see in the below ...
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The standard approach is to execute a non-disclosure agreement with the potential consultant(s). I have many times requested quotations from consultants on projects containing proprietary technology and have never had an issue with the ideas being stolen. Assuming the non-disclosure agreement was executed (perhaps as part of the request for quotation) the ...
3
But will it be considered as adding new elements to the patents from the legal point of view?
Nothing prevents an applicant from adding new matter over provisional applications in a new non-provisional application claiming priority to the provisionals.
However, if new matter is added, some claim(s) may not be entitled to the priority date(s) of the ...
3
The PCT Applicant's Guide (National Phase) is the resource you are looking for. It contains a detailed guide on the WIPO Rules and Articles from the Applicant's perspective, and covers the time limits in detail, with pointers to information on exceptions for certain patent offices and explanations on how to address delays.
From the table linked via the ...
3
The application that you cited is owned by IBM but was been abandoned after the USPTO Examiner identified prior art that would have blocked the patenting.
To find this information, I looked up the application docket (File history) using the USPTO's system known as PAIR: http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair.
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In the U.S. drawings must be black and white only (no grayscale). For utility patent applications, any type of shading is typically fine (stipple or linear). However, the shading rules for design patent applications are often more strict, or at least they are enforced more strictly.
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The factors to be considered are (1) setting a background or context for the state of the art in the field of the invention and setting up the problem which the invention solves, and (2) giving the examiner admitted prior art.
While a thorough description of the prior art may be good on a scientific level (showing that the inventor really understands the ...
3
This means that your utility patent application has been assigned to an examiner, placed in their docket and that an Office Action will be forthcoming. If you know the technology center where your application has been assigned, you can go to this link and determine approximately when you will receive an Office Action. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/...
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You may cite in your patent application any prior art reference as a duty of disclosure to the PTO. If the reference you are citing is a granted patent, you may state, in your patent application, the name of the inventor(s), patent number, and issue date or you may also state the patent application publication number, and publication date.
The reference can ...
3
In the U.S. there is a bar against patenting anything that has been sold or even offered for sale that is 1 year after the first sale. Even if it is only one. If you want to patent outside the U.S. it is worse. In most locations it is too late to apply for a patent the day after you sell the first one.
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However, since this licence forces the developer to give away his/her patents related to the stack will the licence actually prevent me from applying for and getting a possible patent for an implementation of my stack?
No, releasing under GPLv3 will not directly prevent you from applying for and obtaining a patent.
If the GPLv3 patent clauses turn out to ...
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As a pro se inventor, my examiner seems to be taking advantage of my supposed ignorance.
False. You are most likely not being singled out because you are a pro se applicant. Examiners are after “counts” (work credit), and the easiest way for Examiners to earn counts is to reject. They also earn counts when they allow, but if they allow bad applications, ...
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Assumption: A technology based patent application will be submitted to United States Patent and Trademark office (USPTO).
You need first investigate prior art. Essentially you have to validate if your invention is truly an invention. There few ways you can achieve this task.
Literature search - start with simple google search
Make sure you have clearly ...
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