Those of you who know patents know that to be patentable an invention must not be obvious to a person who is knowledgeable in the field; that is, the invention must represent more than a trivial improvement over prior inventions. Inventors, the USPTO and the courts struggle with whether inventions are or are not ‘obvious.’ In general, […]
All posts by: Robert Yarbrough
Forward to the Past
April 2, 2020
Patent
Governments and scientists are scouring our vast pharmacopeia for something, anything, that may be effective against the current pandemic. While this particular infection may be new, inventors have been solving the problem of contagion since there have been inventors. This author believes that the scientists should investigate other disease-fighting inventions of the past. In […]
Why put patent numbers on your patented invention?
March 19, 2020
Patent
We’ve all seen patent markings on products. Something like “pat. US 6,568,969” printed, stamped or molded into the product. Where the product itself can’t be marked, the patent marking can be printed on packaging or a label. Here’s what the statute says, at 35 USC §287(a): Patentees… may give notice to the public that the [product] is […]
The Abstract Design
February 13, 2020
Patent
No, I’m not referring to a Cubist masterpiece. Consider the following: After long, hard work, you’ve created a great design, say, the design above. Eureka! Your design would go great with anything. You can see it on chairs, on baskets, on car seats, on bridges, on tattooed biceps everywhere. Just think of the possibilities. But everyone else will want to use […]
Mechanical Inventions and Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter
January 2, 2020
Patent
Mechanical inventions have been free of the uncertainty and chaos created by the Supreme Court in results-driven decisions surrounding the patentability of business methods, medical diagnoses and discoveries, and computer software. That is, until now. The recent American Axle v Neapco decision of a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court addressed a patent to a method for tuning a drive shaft to […]
New Life for an Old Doctrine
December 19, 2019
Patent
Some patents are valuable and some are not. The claims of a patent determine whether the patent is valuable or not valuable. If the claims are too ‘narrow;’ that is, if the claims protect too little, then the patent is not very valuable and your competitor can make minor changes to a copy of your product […]
Vivisepulture*
November 7, 2019
Patent
Imagine the following: You were very sick. It was touch and go for a while, but you’ve just awakened and feel much better. You open your eyes and see… nothing. It’s absolutely, completely black, like the deepest cave. ‘Am I blind?’ you ask yourself out loud, but the sounds of your own voice are all wrong. […]
Challenges to a Patent before the USPTO
October 3, 2019
Patent
In the not too distant past, a person or company unhappy about a patent had two choices: (a) wait to be sued for patent infringement by the patent owner in Federal court and then challenge the validity of the patent, or (b) preemptively sue the patent owner in Federal Court and ask the court to […]
Why are patented drugs cheaper in Canada?
September 5, 2019
Patent
Many in the U.S. take advantage of low prices offered by Canadian ‘pharmacies’ by purchasing doctor-prescribed patented pharmaceuticals. The Canadian pharmacies are not pharmacies in the traditional sense. That is, they do not maintain stocks of drugs nor fill prescriptions from their own inventories. Instead, the Canadian pharmacies are “ordering services” that ship pharmaceuticals to U.S. […]
Maybe There’s Something to this UFO Thing After All
August 8, 2019
Patent
The Navy just received a patent on flying saucer technology. No, I don’t mean a circular wing that flies like every other aircraft. I mean a craft that relies on laws of physics that neither Newton nor Einstein would recognize. The patent, by Navy inventor Dr. Salvatore Pais, describes what is literally anti-gravity technology, referred […]