The Lessons (click on each lesson for expanded description):

Lesson 1.  Patents, Patenting and Patent Law:    The Fundamentals.

    A moment of clarity.                                

Lesson 2.  The Claim(s)   "Good fences make good neighbors." Robert Frost.              

Lesson 3.  The Specification  "Why Johnny can't read patents."

          Attention:  We are now shipping lessons 1-3  for the price of $389.00 .

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Note: in lessons 1-3 despite their titles we include sections on the search, infringement, divisional and CIP applications, licensing, foreign filing prosecution, litigation  etc. 

Lesson 4.  The patentability search.  Just because your invention is not for sale at Wal Mart doesn't mean there isn't a patent on it somewhere, and just because there's no patent on it anywhere doesn't mean it's not for sale at Wal Mart( Mr. Van Moor in Van Moor v. Wal Mart found this out the hard way).  Either way spells trouble.     $49.95

            image courtesy    officemuseum.com

Lesson 5.  Formal Drawings.   If you have enough "bread" you can hire out this P.I.T.A..   Unfortunately we don't.   CAD programs leave me in the dark.  Until I can figure one out, I'll teach you how I produce patent drawings using Microsoft Paint®.  I discovered this by accident, fueled by desperation.        $49.95

We use a video tape to walk you through two drawings.  Every click and drag, the drawing, the hidden lines, the phantom lines, normal shading, glass shading,  figure numbers, part numbers, etc.  We start with a rough sketch and a tracing from a photo.  A little Kinko's field trip (also on tape) then back to the computer.  The whole thing is narrated:   the Kinko's run and then the computer work start to finish.  The phrase worth repeating here is "START TO FINISH"   Tabula rasa to the finished product.   Plus how to save and retrieve it from your computer.  Got that?        Smart friends can also come in very handy regarding patent drawings, if case you have a cad buddy.  But even if you have some cad work done, you'll almost always need to do some touch-up work or change a figure number or something, That's where the MS Paint can save the day.

Lesson 6.  Finalizing the application                 

Completing US and Foreign Forms,  PCT,EPOetc.                                                  $19.95

Lesson 7.  Prosecuting the application                  $49.95

Office actions and reactions.           CFR Title 37 and the MPEP for morons.  Tought by those that are emerging from the ranks of the morons.  (probably our greatest qualification as teachers)

The USPTO is bound by three sets of documents:

1.  U.S. law:  Title 35  "the rule of law"

2.  The Code of Federal Regulations Title 37  "the law of the rules"   and

3.  The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, the MPEP

We touch on Title 35 in the free mini lesson.   Regarding the CFR:  The patent office is a government agency and as such gets to make up some of it's own rules.  So does the Coast Guard (CFR Title 33).  Congress doesn't tell us we have to have a PFD (personal floatation device) for each person in a boat, that's the Coast Guard's job.   Get it?  The House of Representatives doesn't enact laws requiring a kayak to give right of way to a supertanker, the Coast Guard does, and puts it into CFR Title 33.  Same with the patent office.  They get to make up some rules also.  The patent office along with granting patents in the U.S., also is a publisher of technical documents and drawings (amongst other things) that will be viewed worldwide, therefore they don't want to photo copy bar napkins (albeit replete with clever drawings) for the world to investigate inventor excellence.  So they make up rules, like paper size and drawing requirements.    And, uh ... lot's more.

Sec. 175.15  Personal flotation devices required.

    Except as provided in Sec. 175.17:
    (a) No person may use a recreational vessel unless at least one PFD
of the following types is on board for each person:
    (1) Type I PFD;
    (2) Type II PFD; or
    (3) Type III PFD.
    (b) No person may use a recreational vessel 16 feet or more in
length unless one Type IV PFD is on board in addition to the total
number of PFD's required in paragraph (a) of this section.
 

What you see above is Section 175.15 of Title 33 from US Code of Federal Regulations.  The Coast Guard make up these type rules to keep folks safe whether they like it or not.    Again the patent office makes up their rules also:  CFR Title 37.   Note:  I wonder what a Type IV PFD is?  Think I'll have a look on the web.  Be right back.

Here's all of them:

   Type 1 Type 2, Type 3 Type 4

And so if you're in a boat longer than 16 feet you must have at least one of those throw things at the far right.

Violation of CFR 37 § 175.15 b .   That's what they'll write at the bottom of the ticket you get if you're puttin' around without one.   Notice the underlined b.

The MPEP narrows down the rules  and deals even more closely with the interaction of applicant and the USPTO.  

   Here's one dedicated to the self-filing inventor:

MPEP § 707.07(j) State When Claims Are Allowable :

INVENTOR FILED APPLICATIONS

When, during the examination of a pro se application it becomes apparent to the examiner that there is patentable subject matter disclosed in the application, the examiner should draft one or more claims for the applicant and indicate in his or her action that such claims would be allowed if incorporated in the application by amendment.

This practice will expedite prosecution and offer a service to individual inventors not represented by a registered patent attorney or agent. Although this practice may be desirable and is permissible in any case deemed appropriate by the examiner, it will be expected to be applied in all cases where it is apparent that the applicant is unfamiliar with the proper preparation and prosecution of patent applications.

Note!  Even though the above sounds all warm and fuzzy,  you do not want to rely on it, nor count on it to be the best deal.

Our approach to CFR Title 37 and the MPEP is to take the Patent Bar Exam.  Well, sort of.  We print out the old exams and answers then go to work on remodeling*  them for you (and us).  These type tests are "real life" examples and situations that require knowledge of the subject matter (the laws and rules primarily) and require that the qualified test taker finish in 3 hours with 70% correct answers.  We're not worried about 3 hours, more like 2 months!  What's the rush.  As long as you learn the stuff right?   (we get rid of the tricky distractions and other stuff designed to bog down the slow pokes)

Lesson 8.  Divisional,  CIP and reissue applications.      $19.95

    To paraphrase Yogi Berra  "At the patent office, if you come to a fork in the road you might need to take it."      

How to best respond to restrictions and double patenting (statutory and non statutory).  

Inventions breed like rats, divide like  amoebas and replicate like viruses as you'll find out when you start patenting.  Edison had over 10 stock ticker patents and oodles of concrete patents, etc.    etc.    etc. 

Lesson 9.  Foreign Filing.  PCT, Paris Convention, EPO, UK, Canada etc.

    decisions, decisions.  Time tables and costs.  Getting Kinko's to slice you a stack of A4 paper from legal.    Filing for a patent in a foreign country is probably a pretty irrational act for an inventor, but hey, if you've saved all that cash by not using a patent professional, go for it.     $49.95
In foreign patent offices you do not need an agent or attorney, you do need an address for service in those countries or represented areas.  We'll hook you up with one.    Here's one in the UK

http://www.adressforservice.com    And speaking of that, if you're a non U.S. resident we will provide a mail drop for you.

Lesson 10.  Licensing and Assigning.

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man.....It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of a man's fears and the summit of his knowledge.  This is the dimension of imagination.  It is an area, which we call..." selling your idea to someone else.  Welcome to "THE TWILIGHT ZONE."   Rod Serling

 I wonder how many times Rod Serling tried to pitch a new idea only to look into the combined emotion of :  fear, disgust, hatred, pity, wonderment...  etc.

We submit for your amazement the following:

In 1877Alexander Graham Bell (through his father in law-partner) tried to sell the telephone patent (the greatest of all time) to the Western Union Telegraph company for a measly $100,000.  They passed.  Think about it, they had the equipment, the manpower, the poles, the wire, the tool belts, the tools, vast amounts of experience, cash (50 million+ in the bank), credit, everything and yet they passed!  Once the telephone took off they decided to get in and subsequently lost an infringement case to Bell.  He picked up Western Atlantic Phone Co. at a "getting out of this kind of business" sale and promptly changed the name to Bell Atlantic.  At the time Western Union would have paid 25 million for Bell Telephone.  And in 1909 Bell's newly named company AT&T purchased a controlling interest (at an estate sale) in Western Union Telegraph.  The telephone patent launched a monopoly that lasted a hundred years.  Cent' anni!

Howard Aiken invents a mechanical computer  in the '40's  tries to get Monroe Calculating Machine Co. to build it, they passed.  International Business Machines builds it (The Harvard Mark IV) and ultimately becomes Big Blue.  Howard Aiken wrote, "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas.  If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."  The Harvard Mark IV was essential in crunching data for the Manhattan project.

Bette Nesmith tried to get IBM to manufacture and sell her invention "Mistake Out" correction fluid, they passed.  Bette changed the name to Liquid Paper ® sold it from her home for years and ultimately sold the business to Gillette in the late seventies for $47,000,000. plus she would receive royalties from, amongst other things, that drop dead gorgeous trademark - - Liquid Paper ®-- until Y2K.

Chester Carlson tries to sell his copy machine patent to everybody including Kodak.  They pass.  It's easy to imagine the brush off rap the executive at Kodak gave him.  "Hey Chester, do you have any idea what this thing'll cost?  Do you know the going rate for draftsmen much less secretaries?  What's wrong with the mimeograph machine Chester?  It ain't broke Chester."  Chester Carlson ultimately convinced a group of investors to put up 3 grand for two thirds of the patent.  Eventually the Haloid company went for it, built the machines and later changed their name to Xerox.  Regarding the cost of the machine, Xerox beat Kodak at their own game and turned a negative into a positive.  They didn't "sell" their machines they gave them away.  Xerox would deliver, maintain the machines and be paid on a per copy basis.  One high school teacher poking around a two year old machine happened upon a counter.  It read 4 million.  With Carlson's patent Xerox had a "license to print money" and Chester Carlson made over 150 million dollars with his third of the patent.  IBM reportedly told Chester Carlson that at most they figured they could only sell 5000 of his copiers.  I wonder how long it took IBM to acquire 5000?  Hopefully Carlson kept track.

A Xerox design team invents a mouse operated, graphic interface-controlled computer, the first of it's kind.  Apparently Xerox couldn't see much market for such a thing and gave it away to Apple and Microsoft.

Bill Gates sashays out of IBM owning the licensing rights to the operating system (that he would later purchase from a third party for $50,000.) for the IBM PC, cloned by everyone, all of whom would need the Microsoft operating system.  IBM could have easily put together a team of software designers to write the OS but didn't bother.  They were into main frames and didn't appreciate where the PC was going. 

 Selling your idea is the hard part.  You'll want to learn from each pitch and realize you have equity to share.  Greed must overpower fear.  This is the  "The Twilight Zone".  And as the Chinese say "If you fall down 9 times, get up 10".

Reading and dissecting a "boilerplate" licensing agreement.                                                $19.95

Lesson 11. Litigation. 

From "The Last Starfighter"          Alex Grig

The following exchange takes place when Alex finds out that their ship alone will take on the evil armada:

Alex:  "you mean it just us against the entire armada?!"
Grig:   "yes, we'll use classic military strategies, surprise attack..."
Alex:   "It'll be a slaughter!"
Grig:    "That's the spirit!!" 
 

 "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thomson

Suing for patent infringement:

Criminal Cases for the most part are "who done it's" patent cases for the most part are "what is it's".  Big difference.  They're "what is it's" and time lines.

Don't get bluffed out of the game when your holding the winning hand.  Patent Lawyers often scoff at independent inventors knowing as they do the lawyer fees regarding patent litigation.  State and federal prisoners sue in "pro per" state pens and wardens and win every now and then.  As noted by lawyers, prisoners that sue operate with copious amounts of time and motivation.  Everyone in this country can have their day in court sans lawyer.  It's the law.  

Conversely you'll need to "Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em" Kenny Rogers

And,     

  If you're getting sued for infringement:

 "If life hands out a surprise, have a few surprises of your own" George Strait from "Ace in the hole"

One posse member currently infringing says:  "I don't have a commandment but I do have a psalm:

  "Yea though I walk through the valley of  patent infringement I fear no litigator,

        for mine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory of clear and convincing evidence."

It's quite possible to be a patent infringer and still be a very nice person. 

If you create something and use it openly for more than a year prior to someone else filing for and receiving a patent on your idea, their patent can be ruled invalid.  Clear and convincing evidence is what you'll need. 

Recently here in Louisiana a state penitentiary inmate started acting up one day.  The screws took away his bedding and he was forced to sleep on a concrete bed.  He sued the state claiming that this cruel and unusual treatment  by the La. DOC  exasperated a  prostate condition.  After filing a hand written complaint and several motions and answers to those filed by the state's lawyers with the district court he ended up at trial and convinced a jury to award him over $600,000.00.  The state is trying to hang him up with appeals but he's hanging in there.  This guy's probably not the brightest crayola in the box, but he did it, didn't he. 
 

Lesson 12.  Interference     this happens in 2% of patent cases.  You need to be the firstest with the mostest.   Since large entities show a statistical advantage in these no matter the seniority , we hope for one day a "first to file" statute.    The B.P.A.I. settles these.    Junior and Senior   Burdens of proof.

© 2002 Devinet Inc.