Patentability classification search

Patentability search – 1
(classification search)

Chen JingFung (Grace)
@csie.ntut.edu.tw
2012/05/03

Chapter 6, “Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step Guide” 15th, 2011, ISBN: 1413313825

outline

• Why make a Patentability Search?
– Counter example against ordinary skills
– Define the scope & Dig novel features
• Patent infringement
• Patent search – classification search
– Espacenet, USPTO..
– USPTO check patent application status

Grace@iii.org.tw & cise.ntut 2

Why make a Patentability Search?
Check grant patents
on your invention?
Learn valuable
background info.

Avoid wasting time/
money
Invention in
what field? “feel for the art”

• Valuable background info
– Know how to describe & draw components
• Contain a detailed description of your invention
• Provide more info about operability & design
• Obtain commercial info
3
Grace@iii.org.tw & cise.ntut

Existing patents – endcap at outlet
PAT. title C R Issue Assignee
US7069274 Method and apparatus for cataloguing and scripting the 89/91 4 2006
display of informational content (F:2)

US6944632 Method and apparatus for gathering statistical 86/90 16 2005
information about in-store content distribution (F:4)
PRN Corp.
US6931406 Method and apparatus for distributing promotional 69/73 2 2005
(F:4) (Primer
material to a user in a commercial sales outlet
Retails
US6654757 Digital System 13/17 32 2003 Network)
(F:4)
US6553404 Digital System 10/12 38 2003
(F:2)
US6366914 Audiovisual content distribution system 22 72 2002
Interactive Focal
Qorvis media group Inc. endcap Interactive
Expc Dt: 2000 point
endcap

Outlet
4

Counter example against ordinary
skills
• cited some uncover references to help convince
the examiner
– Show that you’ve turned a past failure into success
– “+ proof “ that your invention provides unexpected
results & is unobvious
Look Fog as
reading a
Light-emitting Glossy/ paper
devices stimulate flash
the mind resulting
in poorer sleep
(ref: Oska
University,
prevention.com)

Fig ref: Kreative Discussions

5

Define the scope & Dig novel features
• Define the general thrust, structure & advantage of
your patent application LeRoy invented a sturdy
but edible, baked scoop
for dips, including sala

similarity advantage
LeRoy vs. Minerva’s cereal LeRoy’s is more stable
shape
product than Minerva’s

• After searching, you’ll be able to recited, pointed out
novel features & advantage on your patent
application
– Tailor your claims to such novel features
• Avoid the need to narrow your claims

Patent infringement – equivalents 1
• Literal infringement
– Each & every element of the claims is infringed
• Doctrine of equivalents
– not literally falling within the scope of the claims
<- a somewhat insubstantial feature or element
has been replaced
– “triple identity” test
• It performs substantially the same function
• In substantially the same way
• To yield substantially the same result
Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. (1950)
Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., 535 U.S. 722 (2002)
7

Patent infringement -2

• Prosecution history estoppel
– makes a change to a patent application to
accommodate the requirements of patent law
– cannot claim indirect infringement of an element
that was narrowed

Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., 535 U.S. 722 (2002)


Patent infringement - case study
• File wrapper estoppel mixes doctrine
of equivalents (04/16/09)
– Felix(US6155625) v. American Honda Co.
• not literally infringed and estopped from a
doctrine of equivalents when the applicant
canceled broad claims and incorporated them
into dependent claims
– The court was testy due to misrepresentations by
Felix as to how the dictionary defined the terms
“mounted” and “engaging.”
» Court: “mounted” as “securely affixed or
fastened to” and “engaging” as “forming a
seal”
» Felix: “bring together” as argued
» District court: “latching”
– the court noted that Felix rewrote claim 7 , which
included “a weather tight gasket mounted on said
lip and engaging said lid in its closed position,”
into independent form
http://www.patentblurb.com/doku.php?id=start
9

Patent infringement - case study
(korean)
• Korean courts (98 Hur 2160, 1998) set out the following
elements in applying the Doctrine of Equivalents
explain
interchangeability Even if an element is different from that in a patented
invention, such element performs the same function in
the same way to obtain the same result as the
corresponding element of the patented invention
known interchangeability the substitute element could have been easily conceived
by a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of
the alleged infringement
hypothetical claim the alleged infringement is neither the same as nor could
be easily conceived from art publicly known prior to the
filing date of the patented invention
file-wrapper estoppel the substitute element was not excluded from the claims
of the patented invention during patent prosecution
http://koreanap.co.kr/koreanap_e/sub/property/1_patent.htm
10

Online patent search DB

USPTO Report Shows Intellectual Property-
Intensive Industries Contribute $5 Trillion,
40 Million Jobs to U.S. Economy

11

Patent search - classification search
• Classification search
– make a search of all patents in a particular class
and subclass
– EPO and USPTO work toward joint classification
system
• Develop a joint classification system (CPC) based on the
European Classification system (ECLA)
– Improving patent searching

ECLA USPC IPC
CPC
EPO USPTO WIPO

– Sharing resources
» shared in order to classify documents, to revise the
scheme when necessary and to subsequently reclassify
documents http://www.cooperativepatentclassification.org/index.html 12

• Find EPO.org
search
– ->
Espacenet -
worldwide
patent
search
– -> Access
Espacenet
at the EPO

13

Type keyword to find its
classification

Find classification(s) for keywords:
internet
…. -> H04N21


Keyword(s) in title or
abstract:
VOD

15

WIPO - International Patent Classification (IPC)

http://www.wipo.int/ipcpub/#refresh=page
16

Espacenet patent search –
European classification

This classification for new technological
& cross-over technologies
17

Espacenet - search field identifiers
Field identifier Description Example
in inventor in= smith
pa Applicant pa=samsung
ti Title ti=mouse trap
ab Abstract ab=mouse trap
pn Publication number pn=ep1000000
ap Application nmuber ap=jp19890234567
pd Publication date pd=20080101 or pd=“01/01/2008”
or pd=01/01/2008
ct Cited document ct=ep1000000
ec European (ECLA) classification Ec=H01J49/16A3
ic International classification ic=A63B49/08
ia Inventor or applicant ia=Apple or ia=“Ries Klaus”
ta Title and abstract ta=laser printer
…
Ref: Espacenet brochure 18

Espacenet - search operators
function description example
AND, Default = AND;
Boolean
OR, priority: Left > right; (ta=seat AND ta=belt) OR (ta=seatbelt)
operators
NOT No operator = default
? Append 1 or 0 character telephone? (for telephone or Telephones)
# Append 1 character telephone# (for telephones)
Truncation
Append any num of
* play* (for play, plays, player, playback, etc)
characters
= Equal to. pa=siemens
== Exactly equal to ia==“Mason Henry”
All Finds all terms ti all “paint brush hair”
Any ti any “motor engine”
comparison
pd within “2005 2006” or
operators Within Within a date range
pd within “2005, 2006”
pd >=2005 will retrieve documents
>=
published in 2005 or later.
pd <=2005 will retrieve documents
<=
published in 2005 or earlier
String search “” Search on exact expression “seat belt” 19
Grace@iii.org.tw & cise.ntut Ref: Espacenet brochure

USPTO - patent classification 1
USPTO.gov -> (POPULAR LINKS) Patent search -> Patent Classification

20

USPTO - patent classification 2

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/classification/caa.pdf

21

Application Patent 23

USPTO patents check application status
• Patents: Check Application Status [PAIR] ->
Public PAIR -> Enter the verification codes

US6021410 Extensible digital library

24

Search by classification -
Cooperative Patent Classification(CPC)
• Timeline & milestone
2010 ~ 2011 2012 After Jan 2013

• (2010/10)Joint • (2012/07)Develop • Quality assurance
statement training, • CPC used by EPO &
launching the document USPTO
project classification • Harmonized
• (2010/11)Freeze practices, design classification
of the USPC the collaborative practices
scheme environment
• Joint CPC revisions
• (2011/10)Launc • (2012/07)Freeze
• CPC available for use
h the CPC of the ECLA
by other IP offices &
website scheme
the public
• (2012/10)"CPC
launch scheme"
available

http://www.cooperativepatentclassification.org/index.html
26

Summary

• The advantage of patentability search
• Patent infringement
– Focus on Literal infringement, Doctrine of
equivalents & Prosecution history estoppel
• Patent classification search for different DBs
– ECLA, USPC, IPC
– CPC is developing a joint classification system for
ECLA(EPO)+USPC(USPTO)
– USPTO’s check patent application status

Reference

• David Pressman, chapter 6, “Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step
Guide” to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office, 2011, 15th edition, ISBN-
10: 1413313825
– Reference by “Previous Course Slide” record set: introduce invention,
evaluate invention, WM2Patent, Patent Requirement (novelty &
nonobviousness)

• Blog: http://fungsiong.blogspot.com/
– Introduce hybrid TV/Smart TV (hbbTV) including widget design,
Android technology (API), system, ecosystem, framework, service,
application…,
– Agile for progressing:
http://fungsiong.blogspot.com/search/label/Agile
• About how to teamwork
– Some programming info. as Apache wookie, refactoring tech, CE-HTML,
a solution about removing a backdoor “Trojan” & surveillance paper
28

Patentability classification search

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