Posts by Stephen B. Schott
A Renewed Call: Repeal the Single Sentence Rule for Patent Claims
Like all elementary school graduates, I learned that a single sentence should be short. One source suggests that a well-written work should average 20 to 25 word sentences.[1] With that as the guide, sentences averaging 50 words would raise the ire of a 3rd grade teacher. Those averaging 100 words would drive a sane person…
Read MorePA Bar: Removing The Exclusivity Of “Patent Attorney”
[EDIT: The Pennsylvania House of Delegates voted down this measure in May 2019, mostly due to issues unrelated to the “patent attorney” designation discussed herein.] The Pennsylvania Bar Association, following the American Bar Association’s adoption of new Model Rules in August 2018 (deleting earlier Rule 7.4) and seeking to conform Pennsylvania’s Rules to follow the ABA, has proposed…
Read MoreNew USPTO Director Andrei Iancu’s Pro-Innovation Remarks
Following the last several years where Congress, the courts, and even the former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director were accused of being anti-innovation, the new director Andrei Iancu delivered these pointedly pro-innovation remarks yesterday. Innovators should applaud what some believe is an overdue return of a painful pendulum swing. Here is his introduction:Dr. Eli Harari, an electrical engineer, always tinkered and…
Read MoreSecret Sales Are Prior Art Under The America Invents Act
Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedin You sell something but keep the details of the sale a secret. Is this still a sale that bars issuance of a patent under 35 USC 102: “A person shall be entitled to a patent unless the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in…
Read More2017 March IdeaEsq Newsletter is out
You can read the latest March News here, or sign up for it here.
Read MorePropeller Head Reads: February
Norse Mythologyby Neil GaimanOdin, Thor, Loki. I knew the names but not the stories. Gaiman is a lover of myth and there could be no better guide to these tales than him. Enjoy hearing these tales sounding over hundreds of years echoing in Northern European fjords.
Read MoreQuick Hitter: Is It Really Obvious To Combine Those References?
One justification for a patent office rejection is the brick wall, “It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine these references.” This is a tough statement to overcome for any would-be patentee hoping to argue that an examiner improperly combined two (or more) references in issuing an…
Read MoreProp Head Book Review: Thank You For Being Late
Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of AccelerationsBy Thomas FriedmanWhat happens when shattering the norm becomes the norm? When disruption is not a wave that comes every so often, but the tide carrying us all? In examining both these questions, and some speculative answers to them, Friedman captures…
Read MoreUSPTO Adds Another Final Office Action Option: P3 Pilot Program
The USPTO recently announced a 6 month pilot program to give applicants another option for responding to final office actions. Here is a discussion of current after final options.The USPTO often releases its ideas for pilot programs, asking the public for comment, but in this case it announced that the program will open immediately and will close on January…
Read More2016 May Patent Law Update
By Stephen B. SchottPRIORITY DATES OF EARLIER APPLICATIONSImmersion Corp. v. HTC Corp, Civil Action No. 12-259-RGA, (D.Del 2015)This case is now on appeal to the Federal Circuit and could have wide ramifications. The statute at issue is 35 USC 120. An application for patent … in an application previously filed in the United States…shall have the same effect……
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