Technologists are advised to get involved in patenting or risk facing consequences like Google has with patent battles. The document outlines how Google bought over 2,000 patents from IBM and Motorola to strengthen its position in patent disputes. It also discusses a recent patent win by Apple against HTC. The document urges technologists to treat patenting as part of the product development process and provides an overview of the patenting process and resources available.

1. Patenting for
Technologists
1
Platformation, Inc.
January 2012

2.  Technologists Be Aware – patenting is upon us
 Cases
 Who the players are
 Call for Technologists to Engage in Patenting
 Tools
OVERVIEW
2

3. Technologists Be Aware
Be Involved in Patenting
Or
Suffer the consequences, like Google today
Patenting is Here
3

4.  Google buys more than 2,000 patents from IBM to bolster its Android
defense
 Jan 2012. Google buys 217 patents from IBM
 Sep 2011. Google buys 1,023 patents from IBM
 Jul 2011. Google buys 1,030 patents from IBM
 Google buys Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion
 Aug 2011. Including 17,000 patents.
 Apple wins patent skirmish against HTC
 Dec 2011. Wins against HTC with Apple’s US Patent 5,946,647.
 Apple/Microsoft beats Google/Intel for Notel’s patents
 Jul 2011. Pays $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents
 2008 — Kodak begins mining its patent portfolio
 1,100 digital imaging patents
 nearly $2 billion in fees over three years.
4
RECENT PATENT NEWS

5. Motorola Mobility Holdings: 17,000 patents
vs
Kodak: 1,100 digital imaging patents
A patent decades ago is different from a patent today
5
NOT YOUR FATHER’S PATENTS

6.  An example
 (use Apple’s US Patent 5,946,647 as example. That’s the one they won
against HTC in December 2011)
 You can get a PDF copy at
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat5946647.pdf
 Patent ABC – The only thing really (as in legally) matters is
the Claims section.
 Do not worry about anything else at the beginning when you read a
patent!
 Read the Claims session. It’s typically less than 1 page long.
 Patent ABC – Claim a system, not an abstract theory
 Patent ABC – To qualify as a patent, “What is claimed” must
be “useful”, “novel” and “non-obvious”.
6
TECHNOLOGIST: MAKE SURE YOU
KNOW WHAT A PATENT IS

7.  Claim 1 of US 5,946,647 (the one used by Apple against HTC) is re-
produced below:
 “What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-based system for detecting structures in data and
performing actions on detected structures, comprising:
 an input device for receiving data;
 an output device for presenting the data;
 a memory storing information including program routines
including
 an analyzer server for detecting structures in the data, and for linking
actions to the detected structures;
 a user interface enabling the selection of a detected structure and a
linked action; and
 an action processor for performing the selected action linked to the
selected structure; and
 a processing unit coupled to the input device, the output device,
and the memory for controlling the execution of the program
routines.”
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A QUICK ANATOMY OF A PATENT
– THE CLAIM 1

8.  Did that Claim 1 feel like a patent to you?
 Your reaction probably was:
 That was it? (Correct answer: yes, that was it.)
 That thing was a patent? (yes, it was)
 I did more in my first C-programming class than that thing! (But
was yours “useful”, “non-obvious”, and “novel”?)
 Each of our monthly code reviews can generate 5 patents!
(Maybe. You just have to give it a try.)
 -- Well, the USPTO said yes, back in 1999. And it is good
for 20 years!
 It claimed a “system”, a utility, an apparatus, a device, etc., not
an abstract theory
 It was “novel”, as determined by the USPTO in 1999
 It was “useful”, as determined by the USPTO
 And it was “non-obvious”, as determined by the USPTO;
 SO – yes, it is a patent good in the United States for 20 years
from 1999.
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QUESTION TO YOU THE
TECHNOLOGIST

9.  US Congress – the ultimate source of patent law
 US federal courts – legal actions. US supreme court decides
cases from time to time, too.
 USPTO: about 6,000 patent examiners
 Many of the patent examiners have degrees in science
and engineering, just like you.
 Patent agents and lawyers: about 20,000 to 30,000
 Businesses specialized in buy and sell patents. And
middlemen.
 And the hundreds of thousands of you, the technologists,
whose work is the “raw material”
9
A QUICK LOOK AT PLAYERS

10. You can do it
You probably cannot avoid doing it
Move upwards the food chain a little bit:
Treat Patenting as
Part of Your Daily R&D Production
And produce a lot of patents
10
CALL FOR TECHNOLOGIST TO
SHOW UP

11.  An idea
 Provisional Patent application: file with the USPTO.gov web
site, you can do it yourself, a small fee.
 US Patent application: within a year from the above filing, file
the application.
 Typically you need a patent agent to prepare the work.
 $1500 or more fee.
 An application is published so it’s in the public domain.
 An application has value already.
 2-3 years to wait for the USPTO, then months to go back and
forth with an Examiner.
 Either granted a patent, or abandon the effort.
 A fee upon the “allowance” of the patent.
 Maintenance fees paid every 3-4 years, in hundreds or
thousands dollars.
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PATENTING – A SKETCH OF THE
PROCESS

12.  General search: Google Scholar
 Patent search
 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/search.html
 The original source: USPTO.gov
 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/search/
 Convenience tool: Pat2PDF.org, to get PDF
documents of a patent or an application.
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TOOLS

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