23
I don't think there is a direct answer available. Your circumstances actually pose a generic strategy question for someone with an idea for something new.
As I have written in answer to other questions, the underlying issue is net present value of the idea/invention. How do you capture, and then accelerate, that value? You are confronted with compound ...
9
I have a few suggestions: the USPTO is helping local non-profits set up pro bono patent help. (pro-se and pro bono at USPTO) The first one up and running is in Minneapolis but others are getting on line. Second there may be an inventors club in your area and there may be members who are patent agents or patent attorneys who can provide some advice on DIY ...
5
If you don't have a viable alternative and you are wiling put in the work, why not. I would recommend the well known book: Patent it yourself, by David Pressman and the less well known book by Ronald Slusky: Invention Analysis and Claiming. Although provisional applications do not need claims, seeing the thinking behind claims should help you with ...
4
The short uncomfortable answer: He can't.
See the patent of the Walkman as an example:
There is a guy inventing the first mobile stereo player and Sony just refuses to acknowledge him and pay him royalties. He had the patents(in more than one country!) and still a United Kingdom court invalidates them. (How is it possible, you ask? I don't know.)
Finally ...
4
Yes - you can use the boilerplate paragraphs. They likely won't hurt you but are unlikely to help you much. If you get a judge who thinks you "only get what the inventor actually invented" it doesn't add anything specific to the disclosure to enlarge the scope of what the judge decides you "actually invented". If you get a judge who thinks you get what the ...
4
This patent received a final rejection on January 24, 2014 and was listed as abandoned on August 6, 2014.
The examiner cited:
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Marley US Pat. No. 2,586,547 in view of Cosmopulos US Pat. No. 4,157,828.
Additionally:
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA)...
4
The international phase
There's no requirement to respond to the ISR or written opinion. While you are provided with the opportunity to file article 19 or 34 amendments and provide arguments, and these may be considered at the international phase, many countries will just re-search and re-examine your application anyway during the national phase. You may ...
3
It's only stupid if you plan to build a proper business plan around this idea and commercialize it. In that case, your provisional patent may not 'have teeth', and you wasted time and money.
Software patents are exceptionally tricky. You claims could hold no real weight, if challenged.... which is the only time that really matters. Remember that a ...
3
Ultimately it is up to you, but consider the consequences of your decision:
You write some additional language describing how to perform the method. All you've lost is the time spent writing that additional language, much of which can be adapted from your system language, not to mention the flowchart you already created.
You submit the application as-is ...
3
The earlier answer makes the important point that it's difficult to know if you have good support for claims yet to be conceived.
You can never avoid the danger entirely, but the more preparation you put into you patent even at a provisional stage, the better. I'd say do as much searching as you can, so you know the closest prior art (though I'm not a US ...
3
An alternative not yet mentioned is to consult with your university's tech transfer office. You should do so under confidentiality agreement or otherwise ensure that they will keep any disclosure confidential so it does not count as prior art against you. Many professors are in the same situation as you-they have a potentially patentable invention but no ...
3
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, ...
3
Note that after filing the PCT, you won't really need to do anything until December 1, 2019 (30 months after the PCT app priority date), at which point you will incur costs going into the various national stages.
After the June 1, 2018 window closes, your application content will be effectively "locked down". Therefore, it's not possible to rectify lack of ...
2
Similar? Yes. Better? Probably not.
Filing for a patent on an idea/invention/etc. without a patent lawyer is like bungee jumping without a bungee cable. There are many who attempt to create the verbiage of a patent on their own or with small-knit online communities, and when their idea comes to fruition, it gets stolen left and right because the patent ...
2
Sorry for the short answer. At the level of a pro se provisional I would not worry about the title so much. I would have a separate section for the methods. Typically it would be text corresponding to a flow chart saying: "as seen in fig. x step s1xx is receiving the data packet by the widget which was produced by the foo." Method steps are ----ing. ...
2
The answer is it depends. If you expect to do business, then as one commenter suggested above, you should consider assigning it to your company. The road to successfully monetizing a patent is probably a bit more complicated than is readily apparent. There are many sources of liability. Given the choice, most individuals would prefer to have these ...
2
First, if you are from the EU you should be able (administratively ) file an EPO application on-line for 115 euros according to their step by step instructions. There are more costs between that and getting enforceable patent rights but the fees to take the first step aren't bad. Also anyone in the world can file a U.S. provisional application on-line for $...
2
You say you aren't sure if you checked the box. The box is on the ADS form, if you filed electronically you would have uploaded that form as a PDF. You should be able to look at the PDF and see if you checked that box or not. If you did not check it there is no way to change it for this application.
According to the USPTO's MPEP 1122 Requests for ...
2
You need to pay all three in order for your application to move forward. They are listed separately in the fee schedule but, other than for one very specific case, it is best to think of them as one fee. The fees do not need to be paid at the time of filing but if not paid then there is a surcharge and you will get a notice that it must be paid by a certain ...
2
In general there are many requirements and rules which may limit protection if a inventor files patent application of its own. But its a altogether myth that inventor cannot draft good patent application its another issue that he might have shorter claim but that can be covered if drafting is proper:-
Its my personal recommendation that an Inventor should ...
2
Yes, you can easily do this yourself.
The reason I would consider using an attorney in situations like this relate to the question of what happens if something goes wrong? The attorney is less likely to get things wrong and has insurance to make you whole if they do get it wrong. While costly, your situation may warrant using a patent attorney.
...
2
This is a challenging question due to some recent court cases, in particular the Alice decision (Supreme Court decision) (Wikipedia Article). Both of these are highly recommended reading prior to writing a new application in this space, because the Alice decision created a new legal test for patentability for business methods, based on a test of abstraction.
...
2
You need not do anything. It will become abandoned by your failure to reply in time (37 CFR 1.135(a)).
Nevertheless, if you want, you can expressly abandon your application by filing a letter to this effect (37 CFR 1.138). However, if you do this, there's little chance of reviving it later. It would therefore be a pretty rare case that this is a good idea, ...
2
You will not be able to change the specification or drawings in any manner other than to correct a typo (an error in the text that is clearly an error and clearly only has one way to be fixed can be changed) or improve the legibility of a drawing. Your attorney will be stuck with your errors of omission and commission. As another answer mentions, the claims ...
2
Perhaps you can look at it this way. How many countries do you really plan to enter once the PCT Application enters national phase entry. If its only USA or few handful more (say Canada and Europe), then you can altogether avoid the PCT. Instead, by June 01, 2018 prepare the non-provisional application with a professional US patent agent / attorney and use ...
1
I don't know where to start?
For starter you should read the USPTO patent applicant checklist on filing patent and its basic requirements and gather information listed therein. LINK
what if inventor or applicant is not from the USA?
Most of the countries prohibit direct filing of patent application to foreign countries. These are called security ...
1
You can file online:
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/index.jsp
Or you can send it in by mail to USPTO.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s501.html
Depends on what you want to file. Are you looking to file a provisional or a utility or a design patent? In any case, you can find it here:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s601....
1
To the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO, as I'm sure you know it) in the context of patents (that is, not for trademarks), a registered patent agent is pretty well the same as a patent attorney. They can both file the paperwork, and there aren't any patent skills implicit to someone who's gone to law school, let alone passed the bar, that a ...
1
Eric, yes it does make sense. Have you continued to develop the application or work on pursuing patent protection since you posted this question?
You do not need to have a full working application in order to file a patent application. You could file a patent application while you are in the early parts of the development stage as long as you have ...
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