Can You Patent "Something For Nothing?"

Section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act seems simple enough. You can patent a “new and useful” process, machine, article of manufacture or improvements of these things. But the invention has to be “new” and it has to be “useful.” Now, for the invention to be new, two other parts of the statute apply. In 35 USC §102, we have all of the requirements for novelty. And in 35 USC §103, the requirement for non obviousness is promulgated. We’ll discuss those at a later time.


But it might be fun to discuss what it means to be “useful.” How about a machine that gives us more energy output than we put in? How about a perpetual motion machine?


Now, something that can't possibly work, such as a perpetual motion machine, is arguably not very useful. So, in theory, one should not be able to obtain a patent on such a device. But right now, there are at least 8 issued U.S. patents, apparently still in force, that describe what appear to be perpetual motion machines.


For example, in U.S. Patent 7,379,286 "Quantum vacuum energy extraction", issued on May 27, 2008, we read “When atoms enter into suitable micro Casimir cavities a decrease in the orbital energies of electrons in atoms will thus occur. Such energy will be captured in the claimed devices. Upon emergence form [sic] such micro Casimir cavities the atoms will be re-energized by the ambient electromagnetic quantum vacuum.” It certainly looks like we’re getting energy for free. But how are the atoms “re-energized by the ambient electromagnetic quantum vacuum?” Where does that energy come from? The patent states that the “process is also consistent with the conservation of energy in that all usable energy does come at the expense of the energy content of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum." Good!


Now, there is a lot of fancy talk about “zero-point-energy,” “Casimir cavities” and “a supply of fluid characterized by its ability to… take in electromagnetic radiation from the ambient surroundings.” What “fluid” would not do that? Anyway, even though we have no idea what all that means, there is something about it that doesn’t seem quite right. This is an issued patent that describes a device that is supposed to give us energy for nothing.  And all we have to do is to harvest that energy from the "electromagnetic quantum vacuum."  The examiner allowed this patent on first action without even considering that this device might not work as claimed.


You might be able to spot some perpetual motion patents. Look for phrases like “zero-point energy,” or in the claims for “alternator and electric motor work in combination,” or “spring driven apparatus which, in essence, feeds upon itself,” or “all of the flux from a permanent magnet” (all???) in combination with “enable useful work,” or, a favorite, “A chamber with a partition which lets gas molecules flow one way and not the other.” Or maybe you can find your own.


Have fun!

Build Me a Stradivarius

Here's an article about printing anything - including 3-dimensional objects with, for example, an ink-jet printer.  Fascinating.

http://www.economist.com/node/18114221

USPTO opens satellite office in Detroit

Interesting move by the USPTO to establish new jobs and help with the patent process. Detroit is also and interesting choice. However, in the on-line statement the following is said: “The current backlog of patent applications delays the commercialization of American innovation and the creation of new jobs and economic growth.” . Hmmm...According to the statistics, of the top 10 companies that received patents in the US in 2010, fully 56.1% of the patents were issued to Japanese or Korean companies. Draw your own conclusions but I'm not sure "American Innovation" is as properly served as Locke would want us to think.

USPTO to Open First Satellite Office
in Detroit

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
and USPTO Director David Kappos
announced in December plans for the
USPTO to open its first satellite
office in Detroit, Mich., in 2011.
The new office is expected to create
more than 100 new jobs in its first
year and provide a boost to the
region’s innovation economy.
The office will represent the first
phase of the USPTO’s Nationwide
Workforce Program, an effort to hire
more patent examiners and seek out
additional resources and technical
expertise in locations across the
country. More information can be
found in the press release

Single Year Patent Filings Over 1M in China

You may see this title reported, but some explanation is needed to put it all in perspective.

On November 18, SIPO received its 1,000,925 application, of which 323,266 are for inventions, 337,659 for utility models and 340,000 for designs, representing 32.3%, 33.7% and 34% respectively.

By comparison, the total number of patent applications in the US for 2009 was 482,871of which 456,106 were for utility, 25,866 were design and 959 were plant applications.

CIPO PATENT RULES:
Rule 2 "Invention" in the Patent Law means any new technical solution relating to a product, a process or improvement thereof.
"Utility model" in the Patent Law means any new technical solution relating to the shape, the structure, or their combination, of a product, which is fit for practical use.
"Design" in the Patent Law means any new design of the shape, the pattern or their combination, or the combination of the color with shape or pattern, of a product, which creates an aesthetic feeling and is fit for industrial application. (Design also includes any integrated circuit design used on computer chips)

So the numbers are a bit misleading. However, make no mistake, the Chinese application rate is increasing at a rate of 24.1% from 2000-2008, with the US rate at 5.6%, EPO at 4.8%, Korea at 6.8% and Japan at NEGATIVE 0.8%.

Just thought ya might wanna know.

If You Invent It - Claim It.

Mr. Italo Marchiony had a problem.  He was selling a wonderful confection – an Italian lemon ice – from a push cart (also called a hokey-pokey) on Wall Street in Manhattan, and it was among the most popular treats of its day.  The problem was the container – a small liquor glass which was to be returned to the push cart after the customer was finished so that it could be cleaned and reused.  But Mr. Marchiony's customers were usually in a hurry and did not bring their glasses back - or the glasses got broken, increasing his overhead considerably.

So he went to work and invented a wonderful new, leak proof, edible ice cream cone and a mold for making it; for which he was awarded U.S. Patent No. 746,971 on December 13, 1903.  The mold was in four sections, all hinged together so that the small cups could be taken out without breaking them.  By pouring in a waffle batter and heating the mold in a very hot oven, Mr. Marchiony could make a large supply of the edible cups very quickly.  They even had a small handle.  Customers loved them. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Marchiony only claimed the mold in his patent  - not the cones.  So when Mr. Ernest A. Hamwi began selling waffle type cones filled with ice cream at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, Mr. Marchiony was powerless to stop him.

Fortunately, the story ends well.  Mr. Marchiony’s treats were so popular that by the time of his retirement in 1938, he had a fleet of 45 push carts in New York, operated by men he had hired.  He made an excellent living from his invention right through the great depression – and gave people jobs in the process.

But the moral of our story is this:  if you invent the ice cream cone and a mold for making it, and you wish to protect your invention, be sure to claim the mold and the cone.

What would cable TV be without the cable?

Look behind your TV set and you’ll probably find one.  It all seems so simple now.  Take a wire, surround it by a dielectric, insulating shield, surround that by a conducting shield and surround the whole thing by a plastic insulator.  It was not so simple on December 8, 1931 when Messrs. Lloyd Espenschied of Kew Gardens New York and Herman A. Affel of Ridgewood New Jersey were awarded U.S. Patent No. 1,835,031 for a “Concentric Conducting System.”  Per their employment agreement, they assigned their patent to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. 

Telephone calls were sent down a “twisted pair” cable.  Transmitting one call was reasonably easy.  All you needed was a long enough pair of wires and a signal that was amplified enough to overcome the electrical resistance of the long wire.  One wire in the twisted pair carried the signal while the other wire was grounded.

Sending 10 calls or 100 calls on a twisted pair was only slightly more difficult.  The signals for each of the calls were divided into short slices of time on one end.  Each slice was given a turn on the wire and all you needed was a “carrier” signal of sufficiently high frequency to time them so that they could be reassembled on the other end.  Here is the problem:  more calls require higher frequencies – and the longer the cable, the more the multiplexed signal would bleed off to ground.

What was needed was a low capacitance cable, in which the interaction between the carrier signal and ground could be minimized.  If you have that, you can send not only telephone calls but many TV signals – and of course, many internet signals at the same time.  That's where the coaxial cable comes in; without which, even this blog would not be possible.

Don't Try This at Home!

Really - don't try this at home.  

His wife told him repeatedly not to do it.  But one day in 1845, while his wise and good wife was away, Professor Christian Friedrich Schönbein of the University of Basel in Switzerland was doing chemistry experiments in his own kitchen.  During the course of his experiments, he spilled a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids on his kitchen table and used wife's cotton apron - he was using it as a lab apron - to clean up the mess.  Realizing that his wife was on her way home, he finished cleaning up and hung the apron over a warm stove to dry.  Once dry, the apron ignited spontaneously and nearly burned down the house, which did not make Frau Schönbein very happy.

Professor Schönbein  discovered a new, safer (believe it or not) way to make nitrocellulose - what came to be known as "guncotton," a kind of smokeless gunpowder that gave off much less ash than black powder and released far more gas on ignition.  For his discovery, he was awarded U.S. Patent No. 4874 on December 5, 1846.  But the story doesn't end there.  It turns out that nitrocellulose can be dissolved in acetone and used for casting excellent polymer films.  As such, it was used as a varnish to coat furniture and billiard balls.  Add a little camphor to plasticize it and nitrocellulose is a great, although flammable, base for photographic movie films; for which it was used until 1951, when it was decided that a few too many movie theaters had been burned down.  Scientists also found nitrocellulose useful for detecting alpha particles and immobilizing proteins for studies in an atomic force microscope.

As for Schönbein, his wife did not throw him out.  He also was the first to discover ozone while he was experimenting with the electrolysis of water and also invented what came to be known as the fuel cell, used by astronauts to generate electricity and make water during space travel.