How to find intellectual property

Finding Intellectual Property Information John Meier Science Librarian Pennsylvania State Universityhttp://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/patents.html

“The Congress shall have thepower to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors theexclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8

Four types of intellectual property• Patents – Exclude others from making, using or selling their invention• Copyright – Author’s original creative work• Trademark – A logo or name for a product is protected in a particular industry and geographic region• Trade secret – idea or invention protected by secrecy

Multiple Types of Patents• Utility patents - functional or structural novelty Examples: Light bulb or the “comb-over”• Design patents - ornamental designs Example: An athletic shoe sole design• Plant patents - varieties of plants Example: Poinsettia plant named “Eckaddis”

Special terms“Limited times”• Copyright = Life of the author + 70 years• Utility patents = 20 years from filing• Design patents = 14 years from issue• Trademarks = Renewed as long as product in the market

Special terms“Exclusive right”• Copyright = Automatically protected from unauthorized copying• Patent = Registration gives the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention• Trademark = Registration gives the right to exclude others from using the trademark in a particular industry and the trademark must be “well known”

Criteria for Copyright• Copyright – must be original – cannot consist solely of facts“write a paper or a book, develop a computer program, send an e-mail, or take a photograph, you automatically own copyright to that work” – American Chemical Society “What Chemists Need to Know about Copyright”

Criteria for Trademarks• Trademarks – can be a word, phrase, symbol or design – must already be used in interstate commerce (with some exceptions)

Criteria for patentability• Utility - must be useful, or have a use• Novelty - must be new (12-month grace period)• Non-obvious - the difference between existing art and the invention must be sufficiently great as to warrant a patent

Novelty and Priority0 month, Smith invents+6 months, Smith publishes+3 months, Smith files patent application (9months)Smiths application prevails because herpublication is within the one-year graceperiod

Novelty and Priority0 month, Green invents+1 month, Smith invents+6 months, Smith publishes+3 months, Green files patent application (10months after invention)Green`s application fails because Smith`spaper is prior art

How long for a patent to be approved?• Application filed to first response by USPTO28 months (on average)• Total time to issue of a patent34 months (on average)Times vary by area of technology, you can find out the average for your area on the USPTO website.

How much does it cost to get a patent? Large Entity Fees -Starting at around $2000 -Maintenance for 20 years $9000 Small Entity Fees -Starting at $1000 for a patent -Maintenance for 20 years $4500 Micro Entity (no more than 4 apps) -Starting as low as $500 for a patentSubject to change frequently, only includes fees due to the USPTO 15

How much does it cost to get a patent?• The cost to obtain a U. S. Patent averages out to $20,000 (highly variable)• Foreign patents can raise the expense to over $100,000 very easily• The patent holder is responsible for bringing legal suit against infringement. Cases are very slow and very expensive, costing millions of dollars – Courts may award lost profits, damages, and legal fees to the plaintiff (patent holder)

Benefits of getting a patent• They give the inventor the opportunity to produce and market the invention himself, or license others to do so, and to make a profit.• A license agreement allows the patent owner to grant rights to a commercial entity that wishes to practice the patent in return for payment.In order to compete with Apple in the mobile phone market in August 2011 Google purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion USD, getting over 17,000 patents.

Parts of a Patent The “Front Page”• Patent Number• Filing Date and Issue Date• Title of the Invention• Inventor(s)• Assignee(s)• U.S. CL. and Field of Search are Classification• References Cited• Representative Drawing

Parts of a Patent The Disclosure• Background of the Invention• Brief Summary of the Invention• Detailed Description of the Invention• Claim(s) – Define the boundary of legal protection

Search Strategies• Patent Number Searching – Ex: 7294753• Search by a known field: inventor or assignee – Ex: “Jobs, Steven” or “Apple Inc”• Classification Searching – Ex: CLASS 800 = multicellular living organisms – SUBCLASS 800/4 = method of using a transgenic nonhuman animal to manufacture a protein…

Search Tools• U.S. PTO Website – Free database of U.S. patents – limited searchinghttp://patft.uspto.gov• Google Patents – Full text searching of all patents along with PDF files for downloadinghttp://www.google.com/patents• esp@cenet – European patent office website that provides a search engine of worldwide patentshttp://worldwide.espacenet.com/

Resources available at the PTRC• Librarian: John Meier meier@psu.edu• Patents on disc for large downloads• Publications of the USPTO – Patent print indexes (historical) – Handouts and help sheets – Fee information (up to date)• Books on patents, trademarks and inventing and how to search for IP information

How to find intellectual property

by John Meier on Apr 26, 2010

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