Tag: patents

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Can I Add New Invention Developments to My Previously Filed Patent Application?

Many times a company or individual will further develop a product / service / invention after a patent application is filed on the original invention. In that scenario the question arises whether the further development (new developments) can be added to the original patent application or otherwise be protected by the original patent application. Generally, new matter, not supported by the original application, cannot be added to a patent application after the application is filed. However, there are a number of ways to protect new developments after a patent applications filed on the original invention.

Covered by the Original Patent Application
The first step is to determine whether the new developments are covered by language in the originally filed patent application. Your patent attorney will generally attempt to draft a patent application that covers your idea and provides reasonably broad protection at the outset within the bounds of known prior art. Therefore your first application might be written in such a way as to cover the new development. If the original application was written broadly enough to cover the new developments a decision might be made that an additional patent application filing to cover the new development is not necessary.

It is sometimes a difficult decision whether to file a new application with the new development. It’s possible that the original patent application includes broad language that would cover the new development but the original application does not include specific details describing all the various components of the new development. In this scenario where the new developments are broadly covered but not specifically described, there is a risk that the broad language can not be used in a claim because of limiting prior art that requires more specific language not coving the new development.

If they novelty search was performed, the patent attorney may know well the boundaries of the prior art in order to assess whether or not the specific details of the new development are necessary in a patent application. However if a search was not performed it is oftentimes not known the prior art that the examiner will use, and therefore not known whether more narrow specific language would be necessary. In many cases, a new application can be pursued out of caution if the inventor/company determines there is a business case justifying the costs of a new application.

New Application
If it is determined that the original patent application does not cover the new development or that the new development has an importance such that additional details regarding the new development should be included in a patent application, then filing a new patent application should be considered. Often times such a new patent application will include much of the subject matter of the original application in addition to the new developments.

Subsequent Provisional Application
If the original patent application was a provisional patent application and the new development has come to light within one year of the filing date of the original patent application then there is an option to file the new development as a provisional patent application. It is possible that many provisional applications can be filed on new developments during one year beginning from the date of the first application filed.

On or before the one year anniversary of the filing date of the first provisional application, a non-provisional application can be filed with the subject matter of the first and one or more intervening provisional applications. In other words, all of the provisional application subject matter can be rolled into one non-provisional application as long as that one non-provisional application is filed within one year of the earliest filed provisional application. Alternatively, multiple non-provisional applications can be filed containing the subject matter of corresponding provisional applications.

Continuation-In-Part Application
Often times it is suggested to file a continuation-in-part (CIP) patent application so that the new subject matter can be included with the subject matter of the originally filed patent application while claiming priority to the original application. This can be done in the case that the originally filed patent application was a non-provisional application.

However many times filing a CIP application provides the inventor or owner with no additional benefits and shortens the patent term of the resulting patent, when compared to filing a new application that does not claim any priority to the original patent application.

CIP applications may be advisable when the application will include claims directed to both the original subject matter and separate claims directed to the original subject matter plus the new developments. Determining whether a CIP is appropriate is a complex issue that involves the determination of claim strategy and filing dates. Therefore you should work with your patent attorney to determine whether a CIP is the right strategy for you.

Non-Provisional Application
If the new development is new and patentable over the disclosure in the original patent application, then a new non-provisional application could be filed containing the new developments without claiming priority to the original application.

Conclusion
New matter not supported by the original disclosure in the original patent application generally cannot be added to that original patent application after the patent application is filed. However, as explained above there are numerous options for covering new developments that arise after a first patent application is filed on the original invention. You should consult with a patent attorney on whether the subject matter of your new development is covered by the original patent application filed, or whether filing a subsequent provisional, filing a continuation in part application, or filing a new non-provisional application is the appropriate path for your circumstance.

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Do I Qualify for Small Entity Fees at the USPTO?

The USPTO has three fee categories: large entity, small entity, and micro entity. Previously I wrote about micro entities that usually get a 75 percent reduction from the large entity fees. If you don’t qualify as a micro entity, you might qualify as an entity, which usually gets you a 50 percent fee reduction.

USPTO rule 37 C.F.R. 1.27 defines which persons, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations qualify as a small entity. An owner of a patent application or a patent is entitled to small entity status only if, the owner is:

  • A person … meaning any inventor or other individual ( e.g., an individual to whom an inventor has transferred some rights in the invention) who has not assigned, granted, conveyed, or licensed, and is under no obligation under contract or law to assign, grant, convey, or license, any rights in the invention. An inventor or other individual who has transferred some rights in the invention to one or more parties, or is under an obligation to transfer some rights in the invention to one or more parties, can also qualify for small entity status if all the parties who have had rights in the invention transferred to them also qualify for small entity status either as a person, small business concern, or nonprofit organization under this section.
  • A small business concern . . . meaning any business concern that:
    • (i) Has not assigned, granted, conveyed, or licensed, and is under no obligation under contract or law to assign, grant, convey, or license, any rights in the invention to any person, concern, or organization which would not qualify for small entity status as a person, small business concern, or nonprofit organization; and
    • (ii) Meets the size standards set forth in 13 CFR 121.801 through 121.805 to be eligible for reduced patent fees.
      • Section 13 CFR 121.802 provides that a small entity small business concern is an entity that has 500 or less employees, including affiliates and,
      • has not assigned, granted, conveyed, or licensed (and is under no obligation to do so) any rights in the invention to any person who made it and could not be classified as an independent inventor, or to any concern which would not qualify as a non-profit organization or a small business concern under this section.
      • The definition of who counts as an employee and an affiliate for the purpose of determining the 500 employee limit is defined by several Small Business Association regulations. See, e.g. 13 C.F.R. 121.103, 121.106. If your business, including employees of any affiliate, subsidiary, or parent company, has near 500 employees, it is best to pay the large entity fee.
  • A nonprofit organization … meaning any nonprofit organization that:
    • (i) Has not assigned, granted, conveyed, or licensed, and is under no obligation under contract or law to assign, grant, convey, or license, any rights in the invention to any person, concern, or organization which would not qualify as a person, small business concern, or a nonprofit organization; and
    • (ii) Is either:
      • (A) A university or other institution of higher education located in any country;
      • (B) An organization of the type described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 19 86 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(a));
      • (C) Any nonprofit scientific or educational organization qualified under a nonprofit organization statute of a state of this country ( 35 U.S.C. 201(i)); or
      • (D) Any nonprofit organization located in a foreign country which would qualify as a nonprofit organization under paragraphs (a)(3)(ii)(B) of this section or (a)(3)(ii)(C) of this section if it were located in this country.

Federal Government
If a person or small business concern licenses rights in an invention to the federal government/agency, then depending on the circumstances that person or small business concern may or may not qualify as a small entity. Generally the federal government or agencies of the federal government are not considered small entities. MPEP 509.02. Therefore, licensing to the federal government might prohibit you from claiming small entity status.

However, there are some exceptions for certain licenses. For example, a “person” under the above definition that licenses rights to a federal agency under Executive Order 10096 may still qualify as a small entity. Further a small business concern or non-profit may still qualify as a small entity if they license to a Federal agency resulting from a funding agreement with that agency pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 202 (c)(4).

Loss of status
Once small entity status is claimed it will continue in an application until an issue fee is due or maintenance fee is due. 37 C.F.R. 1.27(g)(1). Therefore, a new determination of small entity status needs to be made at the time issue fee is due or maintenance fee is due. A notice of loss of small entity status must be filed, if such status is lost, when paying an issue fee or maintenance fee. The paying of the large entity fee alone is not sufficient. Id. at 1.27(g)(2). A new assertion of small entity status is required in any continuation or divisional application. MPEP 201.06(c)(VIII).

Erroneous Claims
Claiming small entity status when an applicant or patent owner is not entitled to it could be considered fraud on the patent office and could negatively impact the owner’s patent rights. 37 C.F.R. 1.27(h). Therefore it is important to ensure that a claim for small entity status is made only when the owner qualifies.

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Ensuring Strong Patent Enforcement Position Through Virtual Patent Marking

U.S. patent law encourages patent owners to mark products or services that are covered by at least one claim of a patent. Therefore patent marking is an important step in ensuring a strong patent enforcement position if infringement occurs. The America Invents Act now allows “virtual patent marking” as explained below.

Reason for Marking
Section 287 of Chapter 35 of the U.S. Code provides that if a patent owner fails to mark its patented invention, then the damages will be limited to those arising after the infringer was notified of the infringement. However, if the invention is marked, then the patent owner will be able to get damages back to the start of the infringement (subject to any applicable statute of limitations).

Therefore, lets see what happens if the invention is not marked. Assume that an infringer starts infringing your patent five years ago, but you only discovered the infringement today and thereafter quickly sent the infringer a demand letter notifying the infringer of the infringement. Lets assume that the sales over the last 5 years resulted in 3 million dollars in recoverable patent infringement damages. Since the invention was not marked, the patent owner would only be able to recover damages arising after the infringer received the infringement demand letter, and not the 3 million dollars accruing over the last 5 years.

Therefore, marking has an impact on the damages that are recoverable for infringement. Also, whether the invention was marked impacts how a infringer might react to a claim of infringement. If the infringer has a liability of 3 million dollars in damages the infringer is obviously in an inferior bargaining position in terms of settlement as compared to if the infringer as no monetary liability because the invention was not marked.

Who Should Mark
Those that are making, offering for sale, or selling within the United States any patented article or importing any patented article into the United States should mark. Therefore if you are not commercializing your invention by the above activities, you are not subject to the damages limitations of section 287.

How to Mark
Marking notice may be given either by (1) fixing on the product the word “patent” or the abbreviation “pat.”, together with the number of the patent, or (2) by fixing thereon the word “patent” or the abbreviation “pat.” together with an address of a posting on the Internet, accessible to the public without charge for accessing the address, that associates the patented article with the number of the patent.

If from the character of the patent article, the product itself cannot be marked, then it is permissible to fix the above notice on a label attached to the product or to the package of the product.

Virtual Marking
As provided above, you can provide notice by listing a internet address together with the word patent or pat. where the resulting internet webpage provides an association between each patented article and the corresponding number of the patent. In this way you can quickly and easily update the marking of products with newly issued patents by updating the patent marking webpage to show the patents that apply to the corresponding product. This alleviates the need to change molds or packaging as new patents are issued.

Routinely Updated. The webpage should be updated whenever a patent status changes, including when a patent issues and if a court or the USPTO invalidates or narrows the patent in a way that would change whether the corresponding product is covered by the patent.

Availability. The webpage should be continuously available so that anyone trying to determine the patents covering a product/service will be able to have ready access to the webpage. Records of continuous webpage availability should be kept.

Change log. Further it would be best to keep a change log of the changes to the patent marking webpages so that the log shows the details of each change made to the webpage and the date that change was made. This change log is important to show when marking related to a given product/service or patent began on the webpage.

Published Applications. Published patent application and corresponding products may also be listed on the same or a different web page. When listing published patent application on the same page as issues patent, it should be clear that the published application are not issued patents. The benefit of listing published patent applications is that the webpage might provide actual notice that could allow for the recovery of royalties under provisional patent rights statute.