Patent Law

They Invented What? (No. 110)

Posted on August 20, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,156:  Odor testing apparatus.   What is claimed is: 1. A structure for testing small animal litter, comprising a plurality of animal confinement compartments in which the animals live and consummate their daily functions and in which litter for animal waste is placed for use by the animals, a compartment for enclosing a person testing [...

Final Rules Limiting Scope of Patent Agent Representation.

Posted on August 15, 2008
Per this Federal Register notice promulgated on August 14th, Rule § 11.5 detailing what constitutes acceptable practice before the USPTO has been revised to read as follows: § 11.5 Register of attorneys and agents in patent matters; practice before the Office...

They Invented What? (No. 109)

Posted on August 14, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 4346899:  Board game featuring olympic sports.   What is claimed is: 1. An olympic sports game apparatus with elements of chance and tests of individual skill, for competitive play by a plurality of individuals, said game apparatus having          a playing board,          a closed primary playing course, for use by all players, at the periphery of [...

They Invented What? (No. 108)

Posted on August 07, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,747: Athletic shoe having basketball hoop. What is claimed is: 1. An athletic shoe assembly comprising           an athletic shoe having a heel forming a back exterior surface,           a miniature basketball backboard, means for affixing said backboard to said back exterior surface,           a circular rim being affixed to the miniature basketball backboard, and           a net [...

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They Invented What? (No. 107)

Posted on July 30, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,927:  Chair made from a garbage can.   What is claimed is: 1. A novel chair made from a conventional garbage can comprising:           a frustoconical metal can having a flat circular bottom, upwardly flaring frustoconical sides and an open top and having an original capacity in the order of 30 gallons, said can being modified [...

USPTO Reminder: Outsourcing of Patent Preparation May Require Clearance.

Posted on July 24, 2008
Per a Federal Register notice published on July 23, 2008: Applicants and registered patent practitioners are reminded that the export of subject matter abroad pursuant to a license from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), such as a foreign filing license, is limited to purposes related to the filing of foreign patent applications...

They Invented What? (No. 106)

Posted on July 23, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,688:  Apparatus for tenderizing food. JW Note:  Yes, dear readers, the term “HE” does stand for “high explosive”, and numeral “10″  in the figure refers to meat.   What is claimed is: 1. Apparatus for tenderizing an article of food comprising a container, a liquid filling said container, means positioning said articles of food within said liquid, explosive [...

They Invented What? (No. 105)

Posted on July 16, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,756:  Time pop.   What is claimed is: 1. A time pop which comprises           a watch which indicates a lapse of a time period,           a candy lollipop secured to one end of said watch. 2. A time pop as set forth in claim 1, in which said watch includes a handle on one end for holding [...

They Invented What? (No. 104)

Posted on July 10, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,857:  Armor with rollers.     What is claimed is: 1. An armor with rollers enabling a user to move in all positions by rolling on a hard and smooth surface, while constantly varying his bearing points on the surface, the armor comprising:           a pair of rigid gauntlets each extending from beyond the user’s hand [...

They Invented What? (No. 103)

Posted on July 02, 2008
US. Pat. No. 6,295,668: Maternity beach chair.   What is claimed is: 1. A beach chair comprising:           a rectangularly-shaped frame member, said frame member including a first section, a second section, and a third section, each section having respective first and second ends;           a first pair of hinges, said first pair of hinges disposed to connect the second end [...

Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) Going Live July 1st.

Posted on June 30, 2008
There is a new online registration system named electronic Copyright Office (eCO), which the Copyright Office plans to release through a portal on its Web site on July 1. Filing an eService claim via eCO offers several advantages: ? lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim; ? fastest processing time; ? earlier effective date of registration; ? [...

Independent Inventors Conference Set for August 8-9.

Posted on June 28, 2008
Per this USPTO press release, registration is now open for the USPTO’s 13th annual Independent Inventors Conference, co-sponsored by the USPTO and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. The Conference will be held on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia August 8-9...

$65,000,000 for a PTE Application? That?s Living the High Life.

Posted on June 25, 2008
On June 23, 2008, Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote, H.R. 6344. The 12-page bill includes several provisions, including legislation that gives the USPTO discretion accept late-filed Patent Term Extension (?PTE?) applications...

They Invented What? (No. 102)

Posted on June 25, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,994: Frameless glasses attaching to body piercing studs.   What is claimed is: 1. In combination with a body piercing eyebrow studs, a left stud fastened outbound on a left eyebrow, and a right stud fastened outbound on a right eyebrow, an improvement comprising:           a left eyeglass member having a C shaped clamp fastened to [...

Quanta v. LG Electronics.

Posted on June 23, 2008
The authorized sale of an article that substantially embodies a patent exhausts the patent holder?s rights and prevents the patent holder from invoking patent law to control postsale use of the article. (553 U. S. ____ (2008)) Per JUSTICE THOMAS, who delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court: For over 150 years this Court has applied the doctrine [...

New Rules Regarding Ex Parte Appeals Before the BPAI.

Posted on June 12, 2008
Per a USPTO press release earlier this week: The Department of Commerce?s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will publish tomorrow in the Federal Register new rules that will improve the process of ex parte appeals before the USPTO?s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI)...

They Invented What? (No. 101)

Posted on June 11, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,268:   Dog waste catcher and holder.   What is claimed is: 1. A dog waste catcher and holder comprising:           a loop shaped device;           a carrying rod;           means of securing the loop shaped device to an end of the carrying rod in parallel fashion; and           a plastic bag placed inside the loop shaped device, wherein an [...

ITC Rescinds Order Against Sinorgchem.

Posted on June 05, 2008
Brought to our attention this morning by this article at RubberNews (subscription required): WASHINGTON (June 4, 2008) — The U.S. International Trade Commission has rescinded the limited exclusion order barring the U.S. sale of rubber antidegradants made by Chinese firm Sinorgchem Co...

They Invented What? (2-Year Review)

Posted on June 04, 2008
The Anticipate This! Patent and Trademark Law Blog has officially been in operation now for over two years.  Although we have been on a de facto blogging hiatus the past few months (’tis good to be busy), we’d thought we’d celebrate the milestone with a complete list of the first one hundred “They Invented What?” [...

They Invented What? (No. 100)

Posted on May 22, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,697: Mouse pad with beverage holder.   What is claimed is: 1. A mouse pad, comprising a generally rectangular sheet of mouse pad material having associated therewith a retaining means for retaining a beverage container, wherein said generally rectangular sheet also has a notch formed therein and a projection extending therefrom, and said projection has [...

They Invented What? (No.99)

Posted on May 14, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,127: Wearable device for feeding and observing birds and other flying animals.   I claim: 1. A device for feeding and observing flying animals comprising:          a hat, the hat including a front portion and a rear portion;          a first support mounted on the hat and extending forward of the front portion of the hat; and          [...

In Re Bilski En Banc Oral Arguments.

Posted on May 08, 2008
Oral arguments were heard today at the CAFC for In re Bilski.  The CAFC had earlier ordered an en banc hearing of Bilksi to address the following questions: (1)  Whether claim 1 of the [Bilski] patent application claims patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U...

They Invented What? (No. 98)

Posted on May 07, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,406: Method and apparatus for attracting insects.   I claim: 1. Process for attracting insects above one’s head comprising the steps of:           a. securing a member coated or impregnated with an insect attractant to one end of a longitudinal member;           b...

SIPO Search Engine and New Chinese-to-English Patent Translations.

Posted on May 06, 2008
Per this recent press release at the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China: On August 25, Open Day of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China, SIPO launched a patent information Chinese-to-English machine translation online service, Li Yuguang, Deputy Commissioner of SIPO attended a ceremony to celebrate the event...

They Invented What? (No. 97)

Posted on April 30, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,748:  TV control device. What is claimed is: 1. A TV control device for rotating a dial of a TV set, from an area distant from the set, said TV control device comprising           a rod-like member of variable adjustable length having a handle at one end, said rod-like member being independent from a TV [...

They Invented What? (No.96)

Posted on April 24, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,493: Retractable table top for a toilet.   What is claimed is: 1. A device for providing a working surface while a user is seated on a toilet, said device comprising:           a table having substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and a centrally disposed longitudinal axis, said table including a plurality of opposed edge portions [...

They Invented What? (No. 95)

Posted on April 16, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,159: Continuous wave generating apparatus for simulated surfriding.   What is claimed is: 1. A wave-generating apparatus, wherein a continuous wave is formed suitable for various           surfriding sports including surfing, boogie-boarding and bodysurfing, said apparatus comprising:           a carriage-support means having a carriage frame structure including a base frame on which said carriage frame structure is [...

Pre-Office Action Interview Pilot Program.

Posted on April 15, 2008
Per this USPTO press release yesterday: The Commerce Department?s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced that it is initiating a six-month pilot program that will allow an applicant to have an interview with the patent examiner prior to the first Office action on the merits in a new utility application...

They Invented What? (No. 94)

Posted on April 09, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,424:  Anti-eating face mask.   What is claimed is: 1. A face mask for preventing the introduction of substances into the mouth of the wearer comprising in combination; a cup shaped member conforming generally to the shape of the mouth and chin area of the wearer’s face below the nose, said cup shaped member formed of [...

They Invented What? (No. 93)

Posted on April 02, 2008
U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,399: Burial structure for the interment of human remains and significant memorabilia.   Having, thus, described the invention, what is claimed is: 1. A burial structure for the interment of human remains and any associated memorabilia therewith while forming a lasting memorial structure thereby to those therein interred, the burial structure comprising: (a) a plurality of [...

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