Drones. Flying Saucers. Early Drones. Gaming Drones. Drone Market. US Regulatory Landscape. What is IP? Offensive IP Tools. Good Patenting. Freedom to Operate (FTO). IP Insurance. UP Patents and Lawsuits. America Invents Act (AIA). First-Inventor-to-File (FITF). "PTAB" Patent Death Squad. The Future of IP.

1. 7/16/20181
UVAs and IP Law
Brad Pedersen
September 16, 2014
Drones
Flying Saucers
Early Drones
Gaming Drones
Drone Market
US Regulatory Landscape
What is IP?
Offensive IP Tools
Good Patenting
Freedom to Operate (FTO)
IP Insurance
US Patents and Lawsuits
America Invents Act (AIA)
First-Inventor-to-File (FITF)
“PTAB” Patent Death Squad
The Future of IP

2. SM
© 2014 Patterson Thuente Pedersen, P.A., some rights reserved - www.ptslaw.com
DISCLAIMER: This presentation and any information contained herein is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal
advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.
UAVs and IP Law
September 16, 2014

3. Drones
September 4, 20143

4. Drones
UAV (Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle)
UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System)
RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft)
Government
Military
Non-Military – police, rescue, survey
Civilian
 Commercial – video, delivery
 Recreational / Non-commercial
September 4, 20144
Wikipedia currently identifies more than
1,000 different makes and models of drones
in more than 50 countries around the world.

5. September 4, 20145
Drone History
First Drone Concept
1915 – Nikoli Tesla (armed,
pilotless aircraft to defend the
United States)
First Drone Test
 1917 – Archibald Low (Aerial
Target drone in WWI)

6. September 4, 20146
The term “flying saucer” originates in
1947 thanks to reporting of Kenneth
Arnold’s sighting of a flying wing.
Ever since, the concept of a circular
flying craft has become a staple of
popular culture.
Flying Saucer Lore
While descriptions of flying disc spacecraft
were common­place in early science fiction and
date back to as early as Buck Rogers in 1930,
the term “flying saucer” does not appear in any
of the early science fiction literature.

7. September 4, 20147
Early Drone Patents
Quadcopter
1911 – Gridley
U.S. Patent No. 1,021,631
Quadcopter Drone w/ GPS,
gyro and accelerometer
1959 – EG Vanderlip
U.S. Patent No. 3,053,480
First Heavier-Than-Air Craft
1869 – Forbes “Aerial Cars”
U.S. Patent No. 129,401

8. The Gaming Drone
September 4, 20148

9. Drone Markets
September 4, 20149

10. The Current Drone Market
September 4, 201410
Total Drone
Market
$10B by 2018
25% R&D
75% Procurement

11. The Current US Regulatory Landscape
September 4, 201411
Current Regulations
No commercial use of drones in US
6 pilot project sites being authorized
FAA Modernization and Reform Act
of 2012
Gives FAA until 2015 to promulgate
regulations for drones
Focus has been on large drones,
not smaller drones
FAA is citing and suing commercial
drone operations
 But recently lost in court
 Appeal filed

12. The Current Drone Patent Landscape
September 4, 201412

13. Intellectual Property
September 4, 201413

14. What is IP?
IP
Intellectual Property  Insurance for Profits
Offensive IP: Filing applications – ©, ® and Pat. Pend.
 How much insurance do you need to protect your products or services
Defensive IP: Evaluating Freedom-to-Operate (FTO)
How much insurance do you need against third party patents
One Size Does Not Fit All
 What is the GPM?
 What is the market opportunity?
 How much security blanket?
September 4, 201414

15. Offensive IP Tools - the Right Tool for the Job
July 16, 201815
Patents
Strongest protection
Most expensive and difficult to obtain
Copyrights
No protection vs. independent development
Easiest and least expensive to obtain
Key for protecting “data”
Trademarks/Domain Names
Protection grows based on fame
Trade Secrets
Must be secret
No protection vs. independent development

16. July 16, 201816
PATENT TRADE SECRET TRADEMARK COPYRIGHT
Subject Matter Devices, apparatus,
machines, systems, kits
All things listed under
PATENTS, but kept
secret instead of
patenting
Company names and
logos, product names
Books, articles,
brochures, photos,
architectural and
artistic designs,
software code
Right to
Exclude
Making, using, selling,
importing
Unfairly acquiring Using similar mark on
similar product
Copying (all or part)
Scope of
Protection
Potentially broad, defined
by the claims
Typically narrow,
limited to the secret
Proportional to the
commercial strength
of the mark
Typically narrow,
limited to the work,
fair use exceptions
Duration of
Protection
20 years from the
application
Perpetual (until not
secret)
Perpetual (until not
used or abandoned)
Varies (usually 50+
years)
Cost Expensive Inexpensive Moderately expensive Inexpensive
Legal
Requirements
New, useful & non-obvious Commercial value &
secret
Source indicating &
creative
Original work &
fixation (on tangible
medium)

17. September 4, 201417
Patents

18. My Favorite Patent – The Dead Ringer
September 4, 201418

19. Good Patenting: A Two Step Process
July 16, 201819
Identification
90%
Expression
10%
Identifying the “invention”
Understand the “prior art”
Is it “cute” or is it “sexy”?
Expressing that “invention”
Claims  Fences
Claims  Checklists

20. 20
Claims Define What is New and Not Obvious
September 4, 201420
A vessel for holding liquid comprising:
a generally cylindrical side wall that
defines an opening at one end with
a bottom wall at an opposite end;
a handle secured to an outer surface
of the side wall
wherein the handle defines an
opening through which at least two
fingers can be inserted.
As an example, lets write a
claim for a coffee cup
The “invention”
The “prior art”

21. “Show Me the Money!”
July 16, 201821
Purpose of Patents
Provide an economic advantage
To do so, claims must cover that advantage
Kinds of Patents
Blocking Patents - completely exclude
Shoving Patents - protect economic
advantage in a market
U.S. vs. OUS – patents only cover activity
within a given country
Price of Patents
Think – price of a car per country
U.S. – $25K-$75K (attorney and PTO fees)
OUS - $50K-$500K (depending upon
number of countries and translations)

22. Freedom to Operate
September 4, 201422

23. Identifying the FTO Risks
Patent Searching
www.uspto.gov
Google patents
Search firms
Ever-changing Target
250,000 U.S. Patents issued each year
Plus, the ability to modify scope of child
patents by “late-claiming”
Built-in Blind Spots
Patent Applications not published until
18 months after earliest filed case
U.S., but not OUS, application can be
kept confidential until issuance
July 16, 201823

24. IP Insurance for Risk Management
Traditional FTO by Attorney
Very expensive: $10K-$100K+
No guarantees
IP Underwriting
Evaluate Risk
Identified Excluded Risks
Focus Attorney Review on Exclusions
Defensive Insurance
80/20 Coinsurance for Attorney Fees
Premium 1-2% of insured amount
Offensive Insurance
Similar to Defensive Insurance
Not available for pre-existing conditions
July 16, 201824

25. Current Trends in IP
September 4, 201425

26. September 4, 201426
U.S. Patent Litigation: A Patent Troll Problem?

27. U.S. Patents and Lawsuits
September 4, 201427

28. U.S. Patents and Lawsuits: As a Function of GDP
September 4, 201428

29. September 4, 201429
Exponential Technology/Information Growth

30. Big Changes for U.S. Patent System
September 4, 201430

31. America Invents Act (AIA)
Signed into Law
September 16th, 2011
Three Big Changes
PTO Fee Setting, but not Fee
Spending Authority
First-Inventor-To-File (FITF)
(for new cases after 3/16/13)
Improvements to Patent
Validity Challenges at the PTO
Changes Not Included
Contentious Litigation Issues
July 16, 201831

32. July 16, 201832
FIG. 1 – Scenarios where both parties are seeking a patent
(based on hypothetical evaluation of weighted likelihood of 200 typical
fact patterns from “The Matrix” article at Cybaris IP Law Review)
AIA – First-Inventor-To-File Will Be Different

33. Suggested AIA Filing Strategies
Always File First!
Treat the AIA as a First-To-File
patent system
Avoid Using the First-To-Publish
Grace Period if at all possible
Avoid publishing before patent
applications are filed
Use quickly filed provisional
applications to limit exposure for
publication before filing
Choose Quality over Quantity
AIA applications needs to be
well-researched and well-written
July 16, 201833

34. Anti-Patent Supreme Court Cases
Alice v. CLS Bank
Many software patents will not be
“patent-ineligible” for claiming
nothing more than an abstract idea
implemented on a general-purpose
computer
Other Recent Decisions
Limelight v. Akamai – infringer must
perform all of claimed elements (not
joint infringement, so many client-
server type patents will be invalid)
Octane Fitness v. Icon – losing party
may be assessed other party’s legal
fees if case is “out-of-the-ordinary”
July 16, 201834

35. PTAB “Patent Death Squad”
New Review Proceedings at PTO
Challenges to patentability can be
heard by panel of 3 Patent Judges
Faster (< 18 months) and less
expensive than Patent Litigation
Early Results Are Not Favorable
for Patent Owners
75%+ of challenges are being tried
80%+ of challenged claims are
found invalid in the predictable arts
Proceedings tend to emphasize
Fast over Fair
July 16, 201835

36. The Future of IP?
July 16, 201836

37. Do We Need IP in the Future?
Why IP?
English and Venetian royalty wanted to raise taxes/bust
trade unions
US Constitution Article I, Section 8:
“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing
for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to
their respective Writings and Discoveries”
Do we need IP to innovate?
IP Does Not encourage innovation – humans are already
predisposed to innovate
IP Does encourage investment in commercializing
innovation – “Adding the fuel of fire to the genius of our
innovation” Abraham Lincoln
Until the Internet, IP also served to codify human
knowledge
September 4, 201437

38. September 4, 201438
U.S. Patent Terms – Not Tracking Technology Terms
Year Term Delay
1790-
1834
14 yr
issue
1-2 yr
1835-
1860
21 yr
issue
1-2 yr
1861-
1995
17 yr
issue
1-3 yr
1996-
date
20 yr
filing +
PTA
2-5+
yr

39. Predictions for IP and Patents
5 Years - Computer Tech will Dramatically Improve the Patent System
Current trend is toward harmonization – Global Dossier
Common patent application forms – XML-based filings
Automated search/translation of “prior art”
10-20+ Years – AI may Eventually Obsolete our current Patent System
“Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art” (POSITA) will become an AI
There won’t be anymore “unpredictable” arts
Distributed, not centralized, systems will prevail
September 4, 201439

40. Thank you!
Brad Pedersen / 612.349.5740 / pedersen@ptslaw.com
July 16, 201840