How to Invent and Protect Your Invention: A Guide to Patents for Scientists and Engineers

Table of Contents:
Preface: How This Book came to be and for Whom It is Written xi Acknowledgments xix Abbreviations xxi 1. The U.S. Patent System 1 1.1. What is a Patent? 1 1.2. Why Should You File A Patent? 5 2. Origins of U.S. Patent Law 7 2.1. A Brief History of Patent Law 8 2.2. The Fountainhead: The Constitution and the U.S. Patent System 9 2.3. Are Patents a Monopoly? 11 3. How to Invent: Intellectual Aspects of Inventing 12 3.1. On the Definition of Creativity 12 3.2. A Flaw in Patent Law 13 3.3. Patentable Creativity 14 3.4. Intellectual Requirements of Inventing 15 3.5. The Process and Product of Inventing 16 3.6. Pioneering versus Mediocre Inventions: The touch of the Expert 17 3.7. The Importance of Industrial Experience 17 3.8. The Ultimate Goal: Innovation 18 4. A Short Summary of Intellectual Property 20 4.1. Patents 21 4.2. Trade Secrets 21 4.3. Copyrights 22 4.4. Trademarks and Servicemarks 23 4.5. Other Types of Intellectual Property 24 5. Requirements of Patentability 26 5.1. What is Patentable? 26 5.2. Patentable and NonPatentable Subject Matter 27 5.3. The Three Classes of Patents 28 5.4. The First Law of Inventing 28 5.4.1. Utility 29 5.4.2. Novelty 31 5.4.2.1. The One-Year Rule 32 5.4.2.2. Derivation Proceedings 33 5.4.2.3. Anticipation 35 5.4.3. Unobviousness 35 5.4.3.1. Aggregates and Composites 37 5.4.3.2. The Teaching-Suggestion-Motivation Test 38 5.4.3.3. Secondary Factors Suggesting Unobviousness 39 5.4.3.4. The Doctrine of Inherency 40 5.4.3.5. Combination of References 41 5.4.3.6. New Compounds by Purification 41 5.4.3.7. Differences Between Novelty and Unobviousness 42 5.4.3.8. Why We Need Unobviousness 43 5.4.3.9. Summary of the Invention Content Law 43 5.5. The Second Law of Inventing 44 5.5.1. Conception 44 5.5.2. Reduction to Practice 46 5.5.3. The Prophetic Patent 46 5.6. The Structure of the Patent Document 48 5.6.1. The Cover Sheet 48 5.6.2. Specification 50 5.6.3. Claims 52 6. How Does The Patent Process Work? 55 6.1. The Notebook 56 6.2. The Provisional Patent Application 56 6.3. The (Regular or Nonprovisional) Patent Application 58 6.4. Prosecution: Convincing the Patent Examiner 60 6.4.1. Starting the Prosecution Process 61 6.4.2. The First office Action 61 6.4.3. Allowances and Rejections by the PTO 62 6.4.4. The Duty of Candor 63 6.5. Continuation, Continuation-in-Part, and Divisional Applications 64 6.5.1. Continuation Applications 65 6.5.1.1. Differences Between Priority Dates and Filing Dates 65 6.5.1.2. Requirements for a Continuation Application 66 6.5.2. Continuation-in-Part Applications 67 6.5.3. Divisional Applications 68 6.6. Allowance and Issuance 68 6.7. Loss of Patent Rights 68 6.8. Challenges and Changes to Issued Patents 69 6.8.1. Post-Grant Review 69 6.8.2. Inter Partes Review 70 6.8.3. Reissue Application and Reissue Patents 70 6.8.4. Supplemental Examination 71 6.8.5. Summary of Post-Grant Proceedings 71 6.9. Summary of Chapters 5 and 6 73 7. Infringement and Freedom to Operate 74 7.1. The Parable of the Knife 75 7.1.1. The Story of Chlorobutyl Rubber 76 7.1.2. Anticipation versus Domination 77 7.2. Types of Infringement 77 7.2.1. Literal (or Direct) Infringement 78 7.2.2. The Doctrine of Equivalents 78 7.2.3. Contributory Infringement 79 7.3. Infringement Suits 79 7.4. When to Sue an Infringer 80 7.5. Freedom to Operate 80 7.5.1. Patent Trolls 81 7.5.2. Submarine Patents 82 7.6. Prior Commercial Use Rights 82 7.6.1. Personal Defenses 82 7.6.2. Exceptions to the Prior Commercial Use Defense 83 8. Biotechnology, Computer Software, and Business Method Patents 84 8.1. Biology Meets Patents 85 8.1.1. The Supreme Court: Living Things Are Patentable 85 8.1.2. The Budapest Treaty 86 8.1.3. The Consequences of the Supreme Court’s Ruling 86 8.2. Computer Software Patents 89 8.3. Business Method Patents 90 9. Who is The Inventor? 91 9.1. Conceiving an Inventive Idea 92 9.2. Joint Inventors 93 9.3. Naming Inventors on Patent Applications 95 9.4. Qualifications to Be an Inventor 95 10. Ownership 96 10.1. Selling, Licensing and Assigning Patents 97 10.2. Hired-to-Invent and Shop Rights 97 10.3. Inventing on Your Own Time 98 10.4. Non-Compete Agreements 98 10.5. The Bayh–Dole Act 99 10.5.1. March-In Rights 100 10.5.2. University Technology Transfer 101 11. Translating Ideas into Economic Reward 102 11.1. The Costs of Patenting 102 11.1.1. Legal Fees 103 11.1.2. Patent Application Fees 103 11.1.3. Patent Maintenance Fees 104 11.2. Assessment 104 11.2.1. Technology Validation 105 11.2.2. Protection Validation 105 11.2.2.1. Assessing Patent Protection 105 11.2.2.2. Assessing Trade Secret Protection 106 11.2.2.3. The Economic Espionage Act 107 11.2.2.4. Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) 108 11.2.3. Commercial Viability and Market Assessment 109 11.3. Selling and Licensing a Patent 110 11.3.1. Licensors and Licensees 110 11.3.2. Exclusive versus Nonexclusive Licenses 111 11.4. Start-Ups, Spin-Outs, and Joint Ventures 112 11.5. Patenting and Marketing Departments; Technology Transfer offices 113 11.6. Patent Valuation 114 12. Foreign Patents 116 12.1. Distinctive Features of U.S. Patent Law 117 12.2. The International Patent Cooperation Treaty 118 12.2.1. PCT Examination Procedures 118 12.2.2. Deciding Whether to File a PCT 119 12.2.3. The Patent Prosecution Highway 119 12.3. The European Patent Union 120 12.3.1. European Patent office Procedures 120 12.3.2. Nationalization of European Patents 121 12.4. Other Foreign Patent Practices 121 12.4.1. Claims Interpretation 121 12.4.2. Patent Examination Procedures Abroad 122 12.4.3. Centralized Patent offices 122 12.4.4. Procedures for Rewarding Inventors 122 12.5. Enforcing Patents Abroad 123 12.6. Choosing Whether to File a Foreign Patent Application 124 13. Innovation 125 13.1. Innovation Is More Than Invention 125 13.2. What Drives Innovation 126 13.3. The Law of Innovation 126 13.4. Companies and Innovation 127 13.5. The Innovation and Job Creation Relationship 127 13.6. Discovery Push versus Market Pull Innovation 128 13.7. Incremental versus Disruptive Innovation 128 13.8. Sources of Innovation 129 13.9. Innovation and Public Policy 129 14. Concluding Thoughts 131 14.1. Is the Patent System Worth the Costs? 131 14.2. The Patent System Leads to Additional Research and Knowledge Creation 133 14.3. Fostering Competition 134 14.4. Results of Ignorance of the Patent System 135 14.5. How Law and Technology Yield Patents 136 Appendix 1: Important Forms 139 Appendix 2: Self-Assessment Questions 177 Glossary 196 Index 209

About the Author :
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, PhD, MBA, FACS, is a Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Chemistry at The University of Akron. He has authored four scientific books and more than 700 publications, and is the inventor of more than 100 issued U.S. patents, which have generated billions of dollars in revenue. His research interests include ionic polymerization and the design and creation of useful polymeric materials, particularly for medical applications. WAYNE H. WATKINS, BS (engineering), MBA, JD, is Associate Vice President for Research at The University of Akron, adjunct professor of law, and Vice President of the University of Akron Research Foundation where he leads technology commercialization initiatives. He has particular expertise in intellectual property management and new enterprise creation and growth. He is a principal in three companies in chemistry and biotechnology. ELYSE N. BALL, BS (journalism), JD, is a Project Manager for the University of Akron Research Foundation where she regularly works on technology licensing projects and supporting university startup companies. She is involved in technology development in the polymer science, advanced energy, and biomedical fields.

Review :
“The book will be useful to graduate students, as well as educators, business professionals, non-patent attorneys, and engineers who want to learn about the role that patents play in turning inventions into socially benefi cial products.”  (Chemical Engineering Progress, 1 May 2013) “Introducing an easy-to-read, jargon-free overview of the patent application process for scientists and engineers: How to Invent and Protect Your Invention: A Guide to Patents for Scientists and Engineers published by Wiley, is updated with the most recent changes to U.S. patent law that were made in Fall 2011.”  (Physorg, 27 November 2012)