Senate Defeats Feinstein Patent Amendment

An amendment that was offered by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to the patent reform bill (America Invents Act S. 23) has been tabled by a vote of 87 to 13.

The Feinstein Amendment removed the First To File provision in favor of the existing First to Invent System.  Arguments against the First to File System include not allowing independent inventors time to develop or market test their inventions prior to filing.  However, provisions do exist, such as the Provisional Patent Application, which can be filed less expensively and more quickly than a traditional non-provisional patent application.

The First to File provision is one of the primary components of the America Invents Act.  In addition, the Act would provide the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) full fee making authority and would prevent Congress from diverting funds obtained by the USPTO through its fee collections.

Inventive Eats: Incredible Food Innovations Now on Display at the USPTO

The US Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") opened a new exhibit yesterday at the Inventor's Hall of Fame, at the Madison Building in Alexandria, Virginia.  The exhibit is the first major exhibit installation to come to the Hall of Fame since it was relocated to Alexandria from Akron, Ohio in 2009.

The exhibit shows how our breakfast cereals, sandwiches, dinner entrees, and more have been transformed by significant events, discoveries and inventions.  It features the important role many of the National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees have played in the array of appetizing innovations that have made the food we eat safer, healthier and more economical.

The exhibit includes:

A full-size Mr. Peanut® character costume from the 1960s, used for Planters marketing, and additional Mr. Peanut artifacts

• A 1950s fully stocked walk-in kitchen
• 19th century patent models, including models of a refrigerator, an egg beater, a flour sifter, and the original Mason jar
• Displays of other well-known trademark food characters, such as the Pillsbury Doughboy® and the Green Giant®
• A Tappan vintage microwave from 1955, the first for home use
• A 19th century patented beehive

If you are near Washingon, DC or Northern Virginia consider stopping by the Inventors Hall of Fame!

USPTO Teams up With Google to Provide Free Patent Information

The United States and Trademark Office ("USPTO") announced last week that it has entered into a no-cost, two-year agreement with Google to make bulk electronic patent and trademark public data available to the public in bulk form.   Under this agreement, the USPTO is providing Google with existing bulk, electronic files, which Google will host without modification for the public free of charge.   This bulk data can be accessed at http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html.

 This arrangement is to serve as a bridge as the USPTO develops an acquisition strategy which will allow the USPTO to enter into a contract with a contractor to retrieve and distribute USPTO patent and trademark bulk public data.  The contractor will be capable of acquiring this bulk data and providing it to the public.

Until now, USPTO’s public data in bulk form has been provided solely as a fee-based service. The USPTO estimates that nearly ten terabytes of information will be made available.  Examples of the type of data that will be available through Google include:
 *   Patent grants and published applications
 *   Trademark applications
 *   Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings
 *   Patent classification information
 *   Patent maintenance fee events
 *   Patent and Trademark assignments

Patent searching data, however, is still difficult and inefficient to search on the USPTO website and a new searching engine is not a part of the Google deal.  For patent searching purposes, for example to determine patentability, right to use, validity or infringement, a search is most efficiently and effectively performed at the USPTO Public Search facility in Alexandria, Virginia.  Contact our office for more information about searching, applications, or enforcement assistance.