| Patentlessons.com Quiz for the mini lesson |
Patentability Jot down your own answer sheet and fill in your answers or:
Questions 1 - 4.
The following excerpts are taken from U.S. law. Pick the correct code and section for the following: remember the symbol § stands for section. Also remember that regarding U.S. law: U.S.C. 35 and Title 35 are interchangeable. We've added bold words to enhance clarity and to provide "give away" hints.
1. "...A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art...."
a. Title 35 section 102
b. Title 18 section 922 clause o
c. U.S.C. 35 § 103
d. U.S.C. 35 § 100
2. "..A person shall be entitled to a patent unless - the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States,..."
a. Title 11, Chapter 11
b. Title 11, Chapter 13
c. Title 35, section 102
d. U.S.C. 18 § 922 paragraph 0
3. "Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title."
a. Title 35 section 103
b. Title 35 section 102
c. Title 35 section 101
d. Title 35 section 100
4. "When used in this title unless the context otherwise indicates - the term 'invention' means invention or discovery.....The term "process" means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition...."
a. U.S.C. 35 § 100
b. Title 35, section 101
c. U.S.C. 18 § 922 (o)
d. Title 35, section 103
5. Name the specific part of the U.S. Constitution that's referred to as "the Patent and Copyright Clause".
a. Article 1
b. The Second Amendment
c. Title 18, section 922 (o)
d. Article 1, section 8, clause 8
6. From the "inventors search prayer" what do the letters P M M C N stand for?
a. please make my coffee now.
b. pack my machine-guns carefully now.
c. process, machine, manufacture, composition and "new use".
d. perpetual motion machines can't never-work.
7. Who is smarter?
a. a person of ordinary skill in the art... or,
b. a person skilled in the art
8. The following definitions for the word "patent" come from our unabridged dictionary. Which is the broadest definition? (hint, this answer is obvious, also, the sooner you start thinking in terms of broad and narrow the better).
a. a government grant to an inventor
b. obvious
c. to grant public land to an individual
d. an official document conferring some right
9. Which definition above is the second broadest.
10. If an invention has no use, is it patentable?
a. yes
b. no
11. Below is a Browning 50 caliber model M2 heavy machine gun. If you had an operational one of these in your basement, what U.S. law might you be running afoul of?
A. The Mann act
B. Title 35
C. U.S. Title 18 Section 922 (o)
D. Section 10 of the Riot act
12. Let's say you invented an anti-gravity flying machine. After a stunning demonstration you sell your prototype to the circus for $20,000. on Jan 10, 2000. You apply for a patent regarding this device on Jan 5, 2002. Can a valid patent issue?
A. yes
B. no
13. Regarding the above question: what if you filed a patent application on Jan 10, 2001? Can a valid patent issue?
A. yes
B. no
14. From reading Popular Farmer Magazine you read about an effective new tranquilizer for chickens: noklucin. You are a Long Island duck producer and have a rowdy bunch of ducks and try medicating them using the chicken relaxant with great success. You file a patent application for a process for giving this drug to ducks. What U.S. statute would most likely be cited in denying your patent.
A. Title 35 section 100
B. U.S.C. 35 § 102
C. U.S.C. 35 § 101
D. Title 35 section 103
15. Regarding the above application: you receive a letter from the U.S. Patent office rejecting your number 1 patent claim for giving ducks noklucin. The examiner says that since this drug calms down chickens it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to give this compound to ducks for the same reason. In your response you point the examiners attention to paragraph [0030] in which you show that noklucin also increases the concentration of myoglobin in the muscles of ducks. In this paragraph and in the preceding ([0029]) you explain how myoglobin gives some animals' meat it's characteristic deep maroon color. And that myoglobin is the back up oxygen storage pigment in animals that heard, migrate or dive deep into the ocean. It also gives red meat the hearty flavor that many people enjoy. You inform the examiner that not only do your ducks behave better, they also taste better. Your ducks have been heralded by chefs as the Long Island Super Duck!
In response to your letter, the examiner, as he is required to do by the patent office, writes you a new patent claim covering the myoglobin feature. You get your patent. In what statutory class would your invention/discovery fall under.
A. Machine
B. Composition of matter
C. "new use"
D. Process
E. none of the above
F. Both C and D
G. B, C and A
16. Following the grant of your patent, you write to the pharmaceutical company that manufactures noklucin and suggest a licensing agreement between you and them so they can repackage noklucin to sell to duck farmers paying you a 5% percentage-of-sales royalty. You get no response. After a glowing article in Popular Farmer magazine in which you are interviewed (along with some Manhattan chefs) explaining the benefits of noklucin in producing better tasting ducks you notice something that you find disturbing: the shelf space at your local feed and seed dedicated to the over the counter medication noklucin has increased 20 fold! You live on Long Island and to your knowledge only one chicken farmer lives in the area: a "free range" nut case that promotes holistic veterinary medicine. In fact in a published organic farmer journal he reports that when his chickens get agitated and start killing each other he plays Pat Boon's "Love Letters In The Sand" over a loudspeaker via an endless tape loop system. "They go into a sort of stupor" he writes, "and calm down immediately."
You suspect that your patent is being infringed by scores of Long Island duck farmers. What do you do?
A. nothing
B. You have a close friend who's son Larry is an over-worked and under-paid employee at the above mentioned feed and seed. You give Larry a list of names and addresses of local duck farmers and tell him to do a little detective work for you. He photo copies the invoices from those duck farmers that include purchases of noklucin. These list the sizable amounts purchased. He also copies all the purchase orders between the drug manufacturer and the retailer and supplies all documentation to you. The drastic increase in orders of noklucin coincide with the magazine article about your ducks. Time to "send one across their bow" You send by registered mail "cease and desist" letters to all of the above parties. You explain in your letter to the retailer and to the manufacturer that under U.S.C. 35 § 271 they are exposed to "contributory infringement" legal action in your opinion. You once again offer a licensing agreement. The only response you receive is a "get lost" letter from the drug company's legal council.
17. If the answer to 15 is B. What do you do now?
A. nothing
B. Time for a broadside. Since you've received patentlessons.com's free Lesson 11: "Litigation" and have studied it. You pay $150. and file a patent infringement law suit in federal district court at the 2nd Circuit, Divisional Office, Central Islip, Suffolk County, New York listing all of the above (minus the chicken guy) as defendants and request a jury trial. Hire a process server to serve the defendants. Next to a long complicated patent a federal civil complaint looks like a cross between a short diary and a shopping list.
18. If the answer to 16 is B: All the parties decide to settle. What do you do now?
A. Schedule meetings with the various parties.
B. Hire a lawyer to negotiate the settlements.
You may consider this our entrance exam. Take the test till you get every question right.
The core information* of this lesson must be memorized. If you can do that, you'll do fine. If you can't you're either: A. too dumb, or B. too lazy to do this.
*Article 1, section 8, clause 8 The patent and copyright clause.
Title 35, Sections 101, 102 and 103 and what they cover as taught in this lesson. That's all.
Be able to explain the core information to someone else from memory with a pen and a piece of paper if necessary. We don't insist that they learn it (we'd kinda' rather they didn't), only that you're able to explain the information. That's a good indicator that you know the material.
Once you're satisfied that you know this material Take Lesson 1.
© 2002 Devinet Inc.