The Inventor's Guide to Trademarks and Patents

About the Author Craig Fellenstein, IBM Network Services Senior Executive Consultant, currently participates on several IBM Patent Evaluation teams. He holds 22 patents pending in the U.S. Patents Office, and 13 inventions publications in Journals for IBM. Fellenstein formerly served as IBM Global Services Integrated Technology Services Chief Architect and Senior Executive Consultant, working with leading IBM customers worldwide. © Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Preface.

1. Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks–A Look Back.

    The History of Inventions

    An Example of an Early Patent

    A Timeline of Inventions

    The History of Copyrights

      American Copyright Law Was First Seen in the Copyright Act of 1790

      1787: U.S. Constitution

      1790: Copyright Act of 1790

      1831: Revision of the Copyright Act

      1834: Wheaton v. Peters

      1841: Folsom v. Marsh

      1853: Stowe v. Thomas

      1870: Revision of the Copyright Act

      1886: Berne Convention

      1891: International Copyright Treaty

      1909: Revision of the U.S. Copyright Act

      1973: Williams and Wilkins Co. v. United States

      1976: Revision of the U.S. Copyright Act

      1976: Classroom Guidelines

      1976: CONTU Process

      1983: Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corp. v. Crooks

      1986: Maxtone-Graham v. Burtchaell

      1987: Salinger v. Random House

      1988: Berne Convention

      1990: Circulation of Computer Software

      1991: Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko’s Graphics Corp.

      1991: Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co., Inc.

      1992: American Geophysical Union v. Texaco

      1992: Amendment to Section 304 of Title 17

      1993: Playboy Enterprises Inc. v. Frena

      1993: NII Initiative
      1994: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music Inc.

      1994: Working Group’s Green Paper

      1994: CONFU

      1995: Religious Technology Center v. Netcom

      1995: Release of the White Paper

      1996: TRIPS Agreement

      1996: Database Protection Legislation

      1996: Princeton University Press, MacMillan Inc., and St. Martin’s Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc., and James Smith

      1996: World Intellectual Property Organization

      1998: Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act

      1998: Digital Millenium Copyright Act

      1999: Bender v. West Publishing Co.

      1999: UCITA Passed by NCCUSL

      1999: Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999

      2000: Virginia Passed UCITA

      2000: Librarian of Congress Issued Ruling on DMCA

      2000: Register.com v. Verio

      2001: Greenberg v. National Geographic Society

      2001: New York Times v. Tasini

      2001: Russian Programmer Arrested for Copyright Circumvention

      2001: State Sovereign Immunity

      2002: Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (S. 2048) Introduced in Senate

      2002: ABA Issues UCITA Report

      2002: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Challenge to 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act

2002: Senate Approves Distance Education Legislation

      Additional Reading on Copyrights

      Web Resources on Copyrights

    The History of Trademarks

2. Formulating the Idea.

    Ideas: Are They Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, or Engineering Innovations?

      Copyrights

      Patents

      Trademarks

      Trade Secrets

      Engineering Innovations

    Problem, Solution, and Novelty and Uniqueness Test

    Think Beyond Those “Skilled in the Art”

    Management of Innovation

3. Search Strategies, Techniques, and Search Tools to Validate the Uniqueness of Any Invention.

    Search Engines

      Identify Keywords

      Boolean AND

      Boolean OR

      Boolean AND NOT

      Implied Boolean: Plus and Minus Signs

      Phrase Searching

      Plural Forms, Capital Letters, and Alternate Spellings

      Field Search

      Domain Search

      Link Search

    Performing a “Search” in Five Easy Steps

      Step 1: State What You Want to Find

      Step 2: Identify the Keywords

      Step 3: Select Synonyms and Variant Word Forms

      Step 4: Combine Synonym, Keywords, and Variant Word forms

      Step 5: Check Your Spelling

    Meta-Search Engines

    Specialty Databases

    U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office Search Example

      An Example of a U.S. “Prior Art” Search Site

      A Simple Prior Art Search

      An Advanced Prior Art Search

      The Actual Prior Art Search and Evaluation

      Understanding the Patent Abstract

      Apparatus and Method for Blocking Television Commercials and Providing an Archive Interrogation Program

      Determine if There Is Prior Art–Using Several Real Examples

      Apparatus and Method for Blocking Television Commercials and Displaying Alternative Programming

      Invent Around the Prior Art While Strengthening Your Idea

      Apparatus and Method of Searching for Desired Television Content

      Record Keeping and Invention Strengthening

      The Illustration Pages

      Web Sources for Conducting Patent Searches

      Patent Law links

4. Invention Teams.

    Invention Team Core Members and Objectives

      The Leadership Team

      The Technical Writers/Technology Specialists

      Patent Defense Members

    Invention Team Processes

    Inventor Mentoring and Strengthening of Ideas

5. Invention Evaluation Teams.

    How to Start an Invention Evaluation Team

    Evaluation Team Roles and Responsibilities

      Inventor and Evaluator Interactions

      Inventor’s Protocol

      Evaluator’s Protocol

      Guidance on Secrecy Practices for Patents

      A1-1. Patent Applications and Government Security

      A1-2. A Secrecy Order Is Needed When the Application Includes Certain Items

      A1-3. A Secrecy Order Is not Needed When the Application Includes Certain Items

      A1-4. As an Expert in the Technical Area, the Review Should Provide the Following Recommendations

      A1-5. Some Clarifications Related to Secrecy Orders

      Intellectual Property Asset Commercialization

      Shanghai’s Intellectual Property Asset Evaluation System and It’s Growth

      China’s Growth in Intellectual Property Areas

6. Defining a Patent: The Problem, Solution, and Novelty.

    The Skill of Problem Identification

    The Skills of Solution Development

    The Skills of Novelty Harvesting

      What Are Claims?

    Idea Farming

7. Mining Intellectual Property Assets.

    How to Articulate Multiple Related Problems

    How to Articulate Multiple Solutions for Multiple Problems

8. Intellectual Property.

    Patents

      Definition: Patent

    Copyright

      Definition: Copyright

    Trademarks

      Definition: Trademark

    For More Information on Intellectual Property

      Selected References

9. Property Protection: Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Patents, and Publishing Intellectual Property.

    The Value of a Copyright, and How to Initiate It

    The Value of a Trademark (and Service Mark), and How to Initiate It

      International Trademark Association (INTA)

      The INTA Mission

    The Trade Secret and How to Exercise Control

    The Patent and How to Initiate It

    The Significance of Publishing Intellectual Property

    The Considerations of Intellectual Property Protection

      Intellectual Property in Simple Terms

      Responsible Protection of Intellectual Property

      Is Your Intellectual Property Secure?

      Offensive and Defensive Security Measures

    More Reading

Appendix 1.

Appendix 2.

Appendix 3.

Index.