Recent Articles

Jake Ward

Jake Ward
June 01, 2009 17:31

The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari today (courtesy of SCOTUS Blog) in the case Bilski v. Doll. See previous AT! coverage of Bilski here, here, and here. In short, the CAFC in Bilski has held that business methods are not patentable unless they satisfy the machine-or-transformation ...

Jake Ward

Jake Ward
May 31, 2009 07:38

Well, we originally weren’t going to post a link to Gene Quinn’s recent IPWatchdog poll on the top patent law blogs (in which AT! was kindly named), in an effort to not overtly ”skew” or “boost” our ratings.  However, we have succumbed to the pressure.  After all,...

Jake Ward

Jake Ward
May 28, 2009 04:17

Continuing our earlier discussions on how art may be submitted to the USPTO by third parties for pending patent applications (see post on Protests here, and post on Third Party Submissions here), one option to be considered is the so-called “poor man’s opposition”.  The poor man...

exerchair

Jake Ward
May 28, 2009 03:15

U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,935: Office gym exercise kit.   What is claimed is: 1. An exercise kit for attachment to a chair having a central post, a base, and a chair back support, said exercise kit comprising:          (a) a generally T-shaped flexible body constructed of flexible fabric, the top of the T...

personmuffler

Jake Ward
May 20, 2009 15:50

U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,212:  Sound muffler for covering the mouth.   We claim: 1. A human sound muffler and indicator comprising a unitary body adapted to be grasped and manipulated by a user, at least one end of said body comprising a saddle shaped body of compliant sound absorbing foam material ad...

Jake Ward

Jake Ward
May 19, 2009 18:02

Per this interview at IPWatchdog with Peggy Focarino, Acting Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO, the Office may be implementing a Technology Center (TC) -level “Ombudsman” position as part of an overall effort to improve the patent application process.  Ms. Focarino stated that the TC...

michaeld40

Jake Ward
April 20, 2009 15:57

We continue our discussion of how patent practitioners may submit art to the USPTO that may invalidate a patent or result in §102 or §103 rejections of pending applications. Many are aware, of course, of the methods of bringing new art to the USPTO’s attention with respect to issued patents, for exa...

tipla1

Jake Ward
April 17, 2009 13:28

  As some of our readers may know, I currently preside over the Toledo Intellectual Property Law Association (TIPLA).  TIPLA has organized a number of great CLE events this year (and shall remain my number one excuse for the sparse postings to AT! over the past several months).  To round off the 20...

duckblind

Jake Ward
April 16, 2009 13:26

U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,807: Decoy hunting/observing blind.   I claim: 1. A blind comprising in combination: a housing in the form of a hollow shell, said shell having segmental wall portions, and opposite sides of said shell terminating at a lower annular edge, said shell being sized to accommodate a ...

cheesecigarette

Jake Ward
April 09, 2009 00:55

U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,948:  Cheese-filter cigaret. JW Note: The inventor observes that “it is preferred to use a hard cheese as exemplified by Parmesan, Romano or Swiss cheese . . . [however] Aged Cheddars and other “hard” cheeses may also be used”.   I claim: 1. A cigaret f...