The Invent Blog®

This month’s WIPO SMEs NEWSLETTER (November 2005) has the following articles of interest to inventors:

• Enhancing Value of a Patent [PDF]
• A Practical Guide to Managing Intellectual Property

Did you know that Wikipedia has a category called “patent attorney?” 

It even includes a sub-category called “Notable patent attorneys,” which includes the Patently-O Blog’s Dennis Crouch.  Very cool!

Other patent attorneys listed include:

• Alfred Ely Beach, inventor
• Ralph Beier, editor of “Intellectual Property Links”
• Sharon Bowles, British MEP
• Arnoud Engelfriet, editor of “Ius Mentis” web site
• Andrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of Wizardry computer game
• G. Donald Harrison
• Axel H. Horns, editor of “BLOG@IP::JUR” a blog on Intellectual Property Law
• Irving Kayton, former law professor, author of Kayton on Patents
• Stephan Kinsella
• Jeff Lindsay
• Steve Lundberg
• Daniel Ravicher, Senior Counsel to the Free Software Foundation
• Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, winner of the main event at the 2004 World Series of Poker
• Günter Wächtershäuser

A few weeks ago I blogged over at Rethink(IP) about how I manage my RSS aggregator by putting RSS Feeds on Probation.  Michael Hyatt (Working Smart) takes a similar approch with the applications on his computer, blogging on how he has a Death Row folder where he moves programs/program shortcuts.  If they don’t get used in the next thirty days…they get sent to the electric chair, er recycle bin. 

I think one of the problems bloggers have (a side effect of being nerdy) is that they frequently forget that not everyone knows what a blog is or realizes the web site they are viewing is a "blog" having an xml feed.  I thusly encourage all of my fellow blawgers to make their blogs a little more average reader friendly. 

I frequently receive requests from existing clients to review invention submission/invention disclosure forms that they were given by a corporation they tried to submit their invention to.  The agreements are typically one sided, sometimes eggregious, but they are just trying to protect themselves…

For instance, Apple’s policy says:

TERMS OF IDEA SUBMISSION

You agree that: (1) your ideas will automatically become the property of Apple, without compensation to you, and (2) Apple can use the ideas for any purpose and in any way, even give them to others.

One must always remember that such agreements are contracts and the contract almost always favors the entity whose attorney drafted the document.  Caveat emptor.

Performing a Google search for such agreements (and/or policies) yielded a large number of corporate web sites having them.  For instance:  Kodak, Hershey, Fruit of the Loom, Apple, Marvel (comic book and character ideas), Discovery Channel (show ideas), Microsoft, GE, DeWalt, USPS, GM, Avery, Olympus, Dial, Qualcomm, Macromedia, Activision, Ben & Jerry, and MagLite (to name a few….).

Remember…read carefully before you sign ANY agreement and my advice is to consult with a patent attorney FIRST.

Independent inventor resource of the week:  Lemelson-Mit Program’s "Inventor’s Handbook":

This handbook was created by the Lemelson-MIT Program to address the independent inventor’s and aspiring entrepreneur’s most frequently asked questions regarding United States patents. We hope that this handbook will provide some helpful information on the patenting and commercialization processes.

• Chapter 1: What Is Intellectual Property?
• Chapter 2: What Can Be Patented?
• Chapter 3: Is My Idea Patentable?
• Chapter 4: How Do I Conduct a Patent Search?
• Chapter 5: Is My Invention Worth Patenting?
• Chapter 6: How Do I Apply for a Patent?
• Chapter 7: How Do I Prove the Idea Is Mine?
• Chapter 8: What Are Some Options to Commercialize My Patent?
• Chapter 9: How Do I License My Invention?
• Chapter 10: What Are Some Guidelines in Developing a Business Plan?
• Chapter 11: How Do I Raise Capital?
• Resources for Inventors

The latest installation of iTunes/QuickTime seems to have killed my installation of AlternaTiff (my preferred Tiff viewer for USPTO patent images).  Reinstalling AlternaTiff didn’t work.  QuickTime was still taking over.  Argh.

Then I found instructions on AlternaTiff’s website regarding how to beat QuickTime into submission.

Update (2005.12.09):  My problems came back (in FireFox).  Deleting npqtplugin6.dll from "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins" fixed the issue.  Apparently, the QT plugin was overriding the AlternaTiff plugin (npzzatif.dll).

The Guide to Downloading PDF Patent Copies has been updated:

BrainDex Patent Downloader.
Gives you the ability to "right-click" on a patent number and download
the corresponding PDF patent copy.  $39.95.  Free trial available.

For those of you reading this who are attorneys and who use Macs…make sure you check out attorney Randy B. Singer’s MacAttorney website. The website is an excellent resource for all things Mac+Attorney and includes instructions on how to get on his e-mail newsletter list (highly recommended).

Update:  Randy fired me an email with some details on how to subscribe to his newsletter:

As the Windows malware (viruses, spyware, adware, etc.) problem gets more and more out of hand, a significant number of attorneys are instead using Macintosh computers, for which there virtually is no malware problem.

It is now not uncommon to see attorneys in law libraries using Apple PowerBooks or iBooks.  For those law library patrons using Macintosh computers, it might be helpful to them to point out these free resources.

- The MacAttorney Newsletter is a free electronic newsletter sent out via e-mail.

It keeps attorneys, law students, and legal professionals informed about the latest Macintosh news, events, products for law office use, and special promotions for attorneys.

At this writing there are welll over 5,000 law firms subscribed to The MacAttorney Newsletter!

To subscribe, send e-mail to: randy@macattorney.com
With the word: “Subscribe” in the SUBJECT line of the message.

Technorati Tags: Apple, attorney, lawyer, Mac, Macintosh, legal

The writer of this blog (igdmlgd.blogspot.com) sent me an email earlier today mentioning his post telling his personal experience with finding prior art to the Amazon One-Click patent and submitting it to the USPTO. Interesting story.

Keywords: Amazon’s “One-Click” patent (US Patent 5,960,411), Kingman DigiCash patent (US Patent 5,729,594)