1. Patents:
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable.
2. Invention
Any art or process (way of doing or making things), machine, manufacture, design, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, or any variety of plant, which is or may be patentable under the patent laws.
3. Inventor
One who contributes to the conception of an invention, proposed owner(s) of invention which is or may be patentable under the patent laws.
4. Priority Date
Priority date defined as filing date of issued or pending patents. Someone applying for a patent in one country may claim the benefit of an earlier filing date for the same patent application in another country. The earlier date is referred to as the "priority date". Filing dates always try to claim the earliest "priority date" they can.
US patent law permits claiming earlier "priority dates" when filing continuation applications. Basically, a continuation application is a new patent application that contains, at least in part, subject matter which is the same as an earlier patent application. If the subject matter is sufficiently related, the later filed application may claim the benefit of the "priority date" of the earlier filed one.
5. What is the term of a patent in US Invention?
20 years
6. Can you obtain an international patent?
No, there are "international applications" called PCT applications that need to be converted into national applications within a period of maximum 30 months in order to obtain a patent. Each country in which a national application is lodged has its own process and criteria for patentability.
7. Can you patent an Idea? If yes why and No why?
No, a patent cannot be obtained based on a mere idea or suggestion, but inventions are patentable. The inventor must supply a complete description of how the invention is implemented.
8. What is a utility patent?
Utility Patent- Issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it
generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. Approximately 90% of the patent documents issued by the PTO in recent years have been utility patents, also referred to as "patents for invention.
9. What is design patent?
Design Patent- Issued for a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture, it permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design for a period of fourteen years from the date of patent grant. Design patents are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.
10. What is Plant patent?
Plant Patent- Issued for a new and distinct, invented or discovered asexually reproduced plant including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state, it permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the plant for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing. Plant patents are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.
11. What is a software patent?
Some patent offices exclude software from patentability. The present position is that three of the world’s major patent offices, those of Europe, the US and Japan, do allow patenting of some software, although there are differences between the criteria applied in accepting applications in these offices
Software is patentable if it includes a mode or manner of achieving an end result that is artificially created and has economic utility. Software that is merely a procedure for solving a given type of mathematical problem is not patentable. Consequently mathematical algorithms and abstract intellectual concepts, on their own, are not suitable for patents.
12. What is a business method patent?
Business methods that claim a technical solution or a technical advantage are patentable. Essentially a patent may be granted for a business method where there is something artificially created to implement the method. That is, the implementation of a business method may require the interaction of a physical system or process with the method.
For example computerized accounting, monitoring, reporting or analysis systems are generally acceptable
13. Can you get software patent in India?
No, Programs for computers (software) are excluded from patentability in Indian law.
14. Where do you need to file an application for obtaining a patent in the United States?
There are three ways to file an application for obtaining patent in US
By calling the USPTO's General Information Services Division at 800-PTO-9199 or 703-308-4357.
from the USPTO's Web site at www.uspto.gov (Online)
At your nearest Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL).
15. What is the fee for filing a patent application in the United States as charged by the office?
Fee Code
37 CFR
Description
Fee
Small Entity Fee (if applicable)
Patent Application Filing Fees
1011/2011
1.16(a)(1)
Basic filing fee - Utility filed on or after December 8, 2004
300.00
150.00
4011†
1.16(a)(1)
Basic filing fee - Utility (electronic filing for small entities)filed on or after December 8, 2004
n/a
75.00
1001/2001
1.16(a)(2)
Basic filing fee - Utilityfiled before December 8, 2004
790.00
395.00
1201/2201
1.16(h)
Independent claims in excess of three
200.00
100.00
1202/2202
1.16(i)
Claims in excess of twenty
50.00
25.00
1203/2203
1.16(j)
Multiple dependent claim
360.00
180.00
1051/2051
1.16(f)
Surcharge - Late filing fee, search fee, examination fee or oath or declaration
130.00
65.00
1081/2081
1.16(s)
Utility Application Size Fee - for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets
250.00
125.00
1012/2012
1.16(b)(1)
Basic filing fee - Design filed on or after December 8, 2004
200.00
100.00
1002/2002
1.16(b)(2)
Basic filing fee - Design filed before December 8, 2004
350.00
175.00
1017/2017
1.16(b)(1)
Basic filing fee - Design (CPA) filed on or after December 8, 2004
200.00
100.00
1007/2007
1.16(b)(2)
Basic filing fee - Design (CPA) filed before December 8, 2004
350.00
175.00
1082/2082
1.16(s)
Design Application Size Fee - for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets
250.00
125.00
1013/2013
1.16(c)(1)
Basic filing fee - Plant filed on or after December 8, 2004
200.00
100.00
1003/2003
1.16(c)(2)
Basic filing fee - Plant filed before December 8, 2004
550.00
275.00
1083/2083
1.16(s)
Plant Application Size Fee - for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets
250.00
125.00
1014/2014
1.16(e)(1)
Basic filing fee - Reissue filed on or after December 8, 2004
300.00
150.00
1004/2004
1.16(e)(2)
Basic filing fee - Reissue filed before December 8, 2004
790.00
395.00
1019/2019
1.16(e)(1)
Basic filing fee - Design Reissue (CPA) filed on or after December 8, 2004
300.00
150.00
1009/2009
1.16(e)(2)
Basic filing fee - Design Reissue (CPA) filed before December 8, 2004
790.00
395.00
16. Can you file a patent through the Internet in the United States?
Yes, it is possible from the USPTO's web site at www.uspto.gov
17. What is a secrecy direction?
There are some provisions for secrecy of certain invention; those requirements are known as secrecy direction.
18. What is meant by Novelty Test?
Definition given by Griffith v Isaacs [1942] AOJP 739 at 740; 1B IPR 619:
Where variations from a device previously published consist in matters which make no substantial contributions to the working of the thing or involve no ingenuity or inventive step and the merit of the two things, considered as inventions, is the same, it is impossible to treat the differences as giving novelty.
19. What is a Utility test?
Testing and reviewing “Industrial applicability” and “utility” requirement.
20. What is the qualification for becoming a US Patent Agent?
Patent agents must also have excellent writing skills. In addition, a strong background in either science or technology is a must. You will have to be capable of understanding exactly what has been invented in order to write a patent application. Lastly, as a patent agent you should possess a thirst for never-ending knowledge.
21. What is a disclosure document program?
A service provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the acceptance and preservation for two years of "Disclosure Documents" as evidence of the date of conception of an invention. A paper disclosing an invention (called a Disclosure Document) and signed by the inventor or inventors may be forwarded to the USPTO by the inventor (or by any one of the inventors when there are joint inventors), by the owner of the invention, or by the attorney or agent of the inventor(s) or owner. The Disclosure Document will be retained for two years, and then be destroyed unless it is referred to in a separate letter in a related non provisional patent application filed within those two years.
22. What is a provisional patent application and what are the requirements?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional application for patent which was designed to provide a lower-cost first patent filing in the United States. Applicants are entitled to claim the benefit of a provisional application in a corresponding non-provisional application filed not later than 12 months after the provisional application filing date
23. What is a non-provisional patent application and what are the requirements?
The non-provisional or full patent application is the only application that can lead to a patent. Successful completion requires extensive effort be directed at researching, writing, drawing and completing forms. It also requires the payment of several fees. For an individual inventor or small company fees are more reasonable (called small entity fees) compared to fees charged to larger firms. For the current USPTO fee structure see this USPTO page.
24. Who can apply for a patent and why?
According to the law, only the inventor may apply for a patent, because inventor has the full rights over the invention. 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 may be made by a guardian. If an inventor refuses to apply for a patent or cannot be found, a joint inventor or a person having a proprietary interest in the invention may apply on behalf of the non-signing inventor.
25. Who can not apply for a patent and why?
Person, who is not an inventor, should not apply. If a person who is not the inventor should apply for a patent, the patent would be invalid. The person applying in such a case who falsely states that he/she is the inventor would also be subject to criminal penalties.
26. What are the requirements for patent drawing in US?
A U.S. patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor(s), issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Novelty - meaning that the technology is not "anticipated" or identical to an invention disclosed in a single piece of prior art.
Non-Obviousness - meaning that the technology must be different enough from the prior art so as to not be obvious in view of the prior art.
Utility - meaning that the invention must have a useful purpose. Virtually all inventions meet the utility requirement
27. Define – Specification
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
28. Define – Title
Title of patent document.
29. Summary of Invention
Purpose of summary of invention is to apprise the public, and more especially those interested in the particular art to which the invention relates and nature of the invention.
30. Abstract
The purpose of the abstract is to enable the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract in an application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111 may not exceed 150 words in length.
31. Do you need to cite Prior Art and why?
Any person at any time may cite to the Office in writing prior art consisting of patents or printed publications which that person believes to have a bearing on the patentability of any claim of a particular patent. If the person explains in writing the pertinency and manner of applying such prior art to at least one claim of the patent, the citation of such prior art and the explanation thereof will become a part of the official file of the patent. At the written request of the person citing the prior art, his or her identity will be excluded from the patent file and kept confidential.
32. What is the amount of disclosure needed and why?
The detailed disclosure should disclose Title of invention, Inventor (name, Address), Circumstance and date of invention, Description of invention. The disclosure also helps us to decide what rights we should grant the inventor.
33. Are you required to give a working specimen for your patent application?
If the patent is design patent, it may require working specimen
34. What are the restrictions while filing a patent application?
There are some time restrictions, in US patent filing must be less than one year after disclosure in any of publicly available media, including meeting.
35. What is an office action?
Office actions are letters from the patent office that set forth the legal status of a patent and trademark application. There are several types of office actions: examiner’s amendments, priority actions, non-final office actions, final office actions, and suspension letters.
36. What is PAIR System?
PAIR - The Patent Application Information Retrieval, PAIR project allows independent inventors, registered attorneys and patent agents, and persons granted limited recognition to securely access their own patent application status information as well as other general patent information publicly available.
37. I have patent application which is rejected by USPTO? When will the USPTO publish it its website?
Patent applications that are abandoned and are not claimed or referred to in another issued or published application are not made publicly available.
38. Can you amend your patent application? Is there a fee for amendment? What is the procedure?
You may amend your application before first Office action. This is called “preliminary amendment”. Preliminary amendment is made on filing an application includes a preliminary amendment to the specification, then the publication of the application must be based on the specification and drawings as amended by the preliminary amendment
Fee charged for filing amendment is 100 US dollars.
39. Where can you file an appeal against rejection of the application by the USPTO?
The board of patent appeals and interferences
40. Assuming you are granted a patented, what are the rights and limitations imposed on you?
Patent gives us protection that means the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed or sold without the patent owner's consent. A patent owner has the right to decide who may - or may not - use the patented invention for the period in which the invention is protected.
Patents are territorial rights, which means that an invention is only protected in the countries or region where patent protection has been obtained. We need to file an individual patent application for each of region/country where we need patent protection.
41. What is a patent assignment?
The patent law provides for the transfer or sale of a patent or patent application by means of a legal document called an assignment. A properly executed assignment transfers all rights from the existing owner to another person. When the patent is transferred, the assignee becomes the new owner of the patent and has the same rights as the original owner.
42. What is the difference between patent assignment and license?
When compared to assignment of patent rights, the licensing of a patent transfers a bundle of rights which is less than the entire ownership interest. Licensing may not give full ownership to licensee.
43. Can two persons file a patent application jointly? When can they do it?
Yes, they could. When an invention is made by two or more persons jointly, they shall apply for patent jointly.
44. What is the meaning of infrigement and what the remedies therefor?
Infringement of a patent consists of the unauthorized making, using, offering for sale or selling any patented invention within those Territories, or importing into any patented invention during the term of the patent.
45. What is the meaning of Patent Pending?
It means that patent application filed in patent office but not yet granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment