[nylug-talk] Employer Pattent Rights

Fri Feb 2 23:23:50 EST 2007

On 2/2/07, Andrew Pliszka <apliszka at alienforceit.com> wrote:
> Thanks a lot for your help. The problem is that if you tell your
> investors that a patent is pending, then they are more interested.

   Andrew,

     This is the ethic that provisional patents were meant to support.
 What I am trying to illustrate, though, is that the patent system is
not really an adequate tool for small entrepreneurs.  Many of the
changes in character at the USPTO require the public consensus that
that the changes are for the public benefit.  The fact is though that
the progressions at the USPTO in the last 10 years are anything but
good for the public.

     A major name in patent reform is Bruce Perens.  Mr. Perens has
worked tirelessly in speaking about these issues and sorting them out
for the good of the public at large, and for this he deserves a
measure of respect.

    http://perens.com/Articles/PatentFarming.html

  -jmz


>
> Andrew
>
> Joshua Zeidner wrote:
> > On 2/2/07, Tom Moran <tom1116 at optonline.net> wrote:
> >
> >> It's in your best interests to consult an attorney.
> >>
> >
> >    This is not legal advice.  I am not an attorney.
> >
> >    Your employer has no default rights over your invention.  If you
> > had signed anything in the form of NDA, NCA, Trade Secret agreement,
> > etc. then you may be infringing on those agreements by filing for a
> > patent.  I cannot tell you how your violation of the said agreements
> > would effect the status of a patent.
> >
> >     Judging by the sophistication of your query, I am assuming that
> > you have never really worked with the US patent system before.  I can
> > tell you that many of the generally assumed ideas concerning the
> > opportunities the patent system affords for individual 'inventors'
> > have no grounding in the reality of today.  Patents are expensive to
> > develop and expensive to protect in court, and only really make fiscal
> > sense for large companies with a staff of patent lawyers.  Even the
> > preliminary ground you must cover of prior art search can be quite a
> > daunting task, especially if your invention is in computer science.
> > For example, I am developing an application involving graph
> > visualization, and it so happens that IBM has a patent on a very
> > general and obvious( in my view ) method of manipulating graphs in a
> > GUI.
> >
> >   http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5515487.html
> >
> >   These points are an indication of some serious problems with our
> > current patent system and who is actually gaining from it's support.
> > These issues  are compounded even further by the glaring problems of
> > international patent protection and the fact that I can host my
> > invention anywhere in the world for little or no additional cost.
> > Currently, large lobbying groups are working furiously to tighten
> > international trade agreements and close these loopholes as well( WIPO
> > ).  You will pay to enforce these new agreements of course.  The EU
> > had oscillated on its stance towards software patents, and I believe
> > that currently the commissions involved are /not in favor/ of allowing
> > software patents in the EU.  How large software companies respond to
> > this is anyone's guess.  Lobbying groups backed by Microsoft
> > repeatedly raise this issue in the EU despite it being a considered a
> > closed case time and time again.  In addition there is the new class
> > of "Business Method Patents" which are an entirely new form of IP
> > altogether, which seriously undermine the free market basis upon which
> > our country was built.  These BMPs allow for the ownership of business
> > ideas whose implementation can take place in third world countries
> > without risk of domestic competition.
> >
> >   Clinton did make the patent system a bit more accessible for the
> > average person with the creation of 'provisional patents' which are
> > inexpensive to maintain and basically act as a placeholder for you if
> > you do manage to develop the invention.  They are very inexpensive to
> > file for.  Whenever you encounter the term 'patent pending' this
> > refers to a provisional patent.  The expire within a certain time
> > frame and the filer is expected to file for a full patent application
> > within a certain interval.  They offer you evidence in court of prior
> > art against patents that are filed for similar ideas.
> >
> >   I would think that, in general, the idea of patenting and profiting
> > from a computer related invention is totally infeasible for an
> > individual of modest means.
> >
> >   -jmz
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: nylug-talk-bounces+tom1116=optonline.net at nylug.org
> >> [mailto:nylug-talk-bounces+tom1116=optonline.net at nylug.org] On Behalf Of
> >> Andrew Pliszka
> >> Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 3:49 PM
> >> To: NYLUG Technical Discussion
> >> Subject: [nylug-talk] Employer Pattent Rights
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> I would like to apply for a patent. Does anyone have some experience
> >> with Employer Patent issues? I work for Internet company, and the patent
> >> will be related to Internet applications.
> >>
> >> Thanks
> >> Andrew
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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