First to File – Patents for Today′s Scientist and Engineer

<p>List of Figures ix</p>
<p>List of Tables xi</p>
<p>Preface xiii</p>
<p>Introduction xvii</p>
<p>About the Author xix</p>
<p>1. The First–to–File Rule: Evolution and Application 1</p>
<p>1.1 History of the First–to–File Rule in the United States 2</p>
<p>1.2 Who s on First? : The Rule and Its Application 5</p>
<p>1.3 Adapting Business Routines to the First–to–File Rule 7</p>
<p>2. Prior Art before and after the AIA: Two Standards Compared 9</p>
<p>2.1 Prior Art and the First–to–File Rule 9</p>
<p>2.2 But Is It Art? : The Art of Prior Art 10</p>
<p>2.3 And Is It Prior ?: Pre–AIA Law vs. the AIA 11</p>
<p>2.3.1 U.S. Patents and Published U.S. Patent Applications 11</p>
<p>2.3.2 Patents and Patent Applications Other than those of the United States 14</p>
<p>2.3.3 Other Published Literature 16</p>
<p>2.3.4 Commercial Activities 17</p>
<p>2.3.5 Otherwise Available to the Public 21</p>
<p>2.4 A Servant of Two Masters?: The Effective Filing Date and Its Role in Determining the Governing Rule 21</p>
<p>2.5 Conclusion 23</p>
<p>3. Creating One s Own Prior Art: Self–Imposed Barriers to Patentability 25</p>
<p>3.1 The On–Sale Bar 26</p>
<p>3.1.1 Ready for Patenting? 26</p>
<p>3.1.2 Exceptions for Experimental Use 33</p>
<p>3.2 The Publication Bar: Publish and Perish? 35</p>
<p>3.2.1 Posting on an Internet Server 36</p>
<p>3.2.2 Slide Presentations and Posters at a Conference 37</p>
<p>3.2.3 Submission of a Thesis to a University Library 38</p>
<p>3.2.4 Grant Proposals 39</p>
<p>3.3 Observations 41</p>
<p>4. Canceling Prior Art and Other Benefits of Record Keeping 42</p>
<p>4.1 Derivation Proceedings 42</p>
<p>4.2 Disqualifying Reference Materials as Prior Art 45</p>
<p>4.3 Records Showing Collaboration 46</p>
<p>4.4 Records of Public Disclosures and Commercial Uses 48</p>
<p>4.5 Laboratory Notebooks 50</p>
<p>5. Inventing in an Employment Environment: The AIA s New Recognition of Employer Interests and Project Management 52</p>
<p>5.1 Project Management and the New Definition of Prior Art 53</p>
<p>5.2 Allowing the Employer to Stand in for the Inventor 54</p>
<p>5.3 What Constitutes an Obligation to Assign? 56</p>
<p>5.4 Implying an Obligation to Assign When There Is No Express Agreement 60</p>
<p>5.5 Having a Sufficient Proprietary Interest Other than by Assignment or Obligation to Assign 63</p>
<p>5.6 When No Assignment, Obligation to Assign, or Proprietary Interest: The Shop Right 63</p>
<p>6. The Novelty Threshold: Can You Recognize It When You See It? 67</p>
<p>6.1 Anticipation and the All Elements in a Single Reference Rule 68</p>
<p>6.1.1 Incorporation by Reference of the Missing Element from Another Source 70</p>
<p>6.1.2 Inherent Disclosure of the Missing Element 72</p>
<p>6.2 Novelty in the Arrangement of Parts 73</p>
<p>6.3 Another Argument Against Anticipation: The Nonenabling Reference 77</p>
<p>6.4 Caution: A Reference Can Anticipate an Invention Even if It Teaches Away from the Invention 79</p>
<p>6.5 Novelty versus Anticipation among Genus, Subgenus, and Species 84</p>
<p>6.5.1 Species Anticipating a Genus 84</p>
<p>6.5.2 Specific Value Anticipating a Range 85</p>
<p>6.5.3 Shotgun Disclosures in the Prior Art 85</p>
<p>6.5.4 Species or Subgenus Novel over a Larger, Encompassing Genus 86</p>
<p>6.5.5 Narrow Range Novel over a Broad Range Encompassing the Narrow Range 86</p>
<p>6.6 Are We Done? 87</p>
<p>7. Confronting the Prior Art: What Makes an Invention Nonobvious? 88</p>
<p>7.1 But Every Invention Is a Combination of Old Elements! 90</p>
<p>7.1.1 Synergism and Changes in Function 90</p>
<p>7.1.2 But Why Would a Munitions Manufacturer Go to a Horse Trainer (for the Missing Element)? 92</p>
<p>7.1.3 But Nobody Knew What the Problem Was (Before I Came Along)! 94</p>
<p>7.1.4 But They Said It Couldn t Be Done! 95</p>
<p>7.2 Pursuing the Unpredictable 99</p>
<p>7.2.1 Predictable Now but Unpredictable Then? 101</p>
<p>7.2.2 Finding a Needle in a Haystack 103</p>
<p>7.2.3 Unpredictability versus Optimization 105</p>
<p>7.3 In Hindsight (and Other Obvious or Nonobvious Thoughts) 107</p>
<p>8. The View from the Infringer s Side: Challenging a Patent s Validity 108</p>
<p>8.1 Do You Really Want to Go to Court? 109</p>
<p>8.2 Selecting Claims 111</p>
<p>8.3 Options for Challenge before the Patent Is Granted 115</p>
<p>8.4 Options for Challenge after the Patent Is Granted 118</p>
<p>8.4.1 Citation of Prior Art and Written Statements 118</p>
<p>8.4.2 Post–Grant Review and Inter Partes Review 119</p>
<p>9. Patent Eligibility: Pushing the Envelope on Subject Matter Appropriate for Patenting 122</p>
<p>9.1 Medical Diagnostic Methods 123</p>
<p>9.2 Computer–Implemented Processes 127</p>
<p>9.3 Business Methods 130</p>
<p>9.4 The AIA s New Procedure for Challenging Business Method Patents 133</p>
<p>9.5 Conclusion: A Rule for Patent Eligibility? or a Case of I ll Know It When I See It ? 135</p>
<p>10. Selected Topics in Patent Strategy 139</p>
<p>10.1 Provisional Patent Applications 139</p>
<p>10.2 Strategies in Claim Construction 145</p>
<p>11. Patents and Beyond: The Variety and Scope of Intellectual Property 157</p>
<p>11.1 Trade Secrets 157</p>
<p>11.1.1 Scope 159</p>
<p>11.1.2 The Right of an Individual to Use Fundamental Skills 159</p>
<p>11.1.3 Comparing Trade Secrets to Patents 160</p>
<p>11.2 Trademarks 163</p>
<p>11.2.1 Choosing a Trademark 163</p>
<p>11.2.2 Securement, Maintenance, and Infringement of Trademark Rights 164</p>
<p>11.3 Copyrights 164</p>
<p>11.4 Design Patents 166</p>
<p>11.5 IP Coverage for Plants 167</p>
<p>11.6 Conclusion 167</p>
<p>Appendix A Selected Fees Charged by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Other U.S. Agencies for Intellectual Property as of January 1, 2014 170</p>
<p>Appendix B Patent Searchers 175</p>
<p>Acronym Glossary 178</p>
<p>Glossary 179</p>
<p>Bibliography, Websites, and Blogs 185</p>
<p>Patents and Published Patent Applications Cited 188</p>
<p>Cases Cited 191</p>
<p>Index 194</p>