06Jul
10Jun
You can’t live forever
By Rich Baker
https://player.vimeo.com/video/575967758 As much as we don’t like to think about it, none of us will live forever. To protect our legacies, we can buy life insurance for our families, and...
30Oct
The Claim Contingency: How If-Then Language Can Sink a Patent
Edward Ryan Conditional language seems like a natural choice for describing computer-based inventions. The if-then structure mimics computer logic, allowing an algorithm to be translated directly into the claims. But, thanks to a counter-intuitive and inconsistently applied principle of claim interpretation, using this language can result in claim elements being ignored entirely--both in prosecution and in litigation. How are conditional claim limitations...
13Aug
Never File a Continuation-in-Part
By Ed Ryan
While Continuations and Divisionals are common, Continuations-in-Part (CIPs) are an oft-forgotten, oft-misunderstood third option for continuing a patent family. Mixing features of Continuations and new filings, they present a temptation to practitioners who feel trapped by an inadequate disclosure and to inventors who have continued developing their invention after filing. However, CIPs have little to offer beyond what...
13Jul
Defining the Posita: PTO Examiners Must Disclose the Resolution of the Level of Ordinary Skill in the Pertinent Art
By Gary R. Maze & Richard T. Redano
Examiners often combine references when asserting a claimed invention is obvious because a person of ordinary skill in the art would have reasons to combine prior art reference teachings. They almost never discuss disclose who such a person is. In 1966, the United States Supreme Court, in Graham v. John Deere Co., announced four factors...
13Jun