Patent Kinetics, LLC

International CES: 3D Printers-Inventors Take Note

#CES #CES2013

After last year's CES, I noted that makers of 3D printers and 3D printing service provders had a small but noteable presence. This year their booths seemed larger and at least when I came by, the crowds around the booth seemed larger and more engaged than last year.

If you haven't looked and your invention involves "things," you might want to have a look at the growing market for 3D printers and related services. Here is a short list of those I looked at @ CES.  Look here for a basic view of 3D printing (stereolithography).

For those in Silicon Valley, the SVForum has established a 3D Printing SIG. Their next meeting is January 29th.

International CES 2013: Observations

#CES #CES2013

As the 2013 International CES (no longer officially the "Consumer Electronics Show") winds down in Las Vegas, a few observations.

• The show broke records in terms of show floor space--1.9 million square feet-- and attendance--150,000 people. The show felt much more crowded than it did last year. Long lines, very crowded show floor, etc.
• Noticeable was the continued absence of Apple and the absence on the show floor this year of an official Microsoft booth(s), this after Balmer announced Microsoft's withdrawal from the show last year. The official absence of both Apple and Microsoft felt like there were a couple of huge holes in the show. Given the empty conceptual space, if you will, the view provided--however broad and deep--has important limitations, chief among them is that it's not possible to leave the show with a reasonably complete picture of the "space."
• At the same time, Microsoft did have a substantial presence, but one had to look for it in the products of Microsoft's partners in the smartphone, PC, tablet, and other verticals.
• DRM remains alive and well in the TV / video / Blu-ray / Xbox / mobile space. The major smart TV vendors (LG, Samsung and then Panasonic, Sony, and may Sharp) remain committed to controlling video content, especially streaming movies, TV shows, and the like.

PTO Issues Inventor Trading Cards

[thanks to Hal Wagner for the info].  The USPTO has issued inventor trading cards to help inspire would-be scientists and inventors in the elementary and secondary schools.

The initial series includes Forrest Bird, Luthor Burbank, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Alec Jeffreys, David Kappos, Abraham Lincoln, Ellen Ochoa, Nickola Tesla, and James West.

Another Rant on Patent Value and Prior Art Searching

Greg Ahronian (Internet Patent News Service) emailed an article republished on this site suggesting that large Silicon Valley law firms are advising clients not to do any prior art searching. This is crazy advice in my opinion.

From time to time Patent Kinetics is asked to evaluate patent portfolios. The top three reasons why most US patents appear worthless are these:

1. Failing to search for non-patent prior art. This is by far the most frequent failing. It is seldom, if ever, the case that there is no relevant art in scientific journals, the trade press, the general and business press, and publications from competitors and others in various market adjacency spaces.
2. Failing to search for patent prior art. Assume that there is nothing new under the sun. Searching for relevant art can substantially strengthen the patent if and when issued.
3. Relying on the patent examiners to search the prior art (a very few do reasonable first passes). This is a dangerous strategy since many examiners in most art units lack the time, resources, and incentives to do a really thorough job of searching the patent prior, art let alone the non-patent prior art.

[From PatNews:] Are law firms telling applicants not to do prior art searches?

[Reposted with Permission of Greg Aharonian]

Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:59:29 -0400
From: patnews@ns1.patenting-art.com
Subject: PATNEWS: Are law firms telling applicants not to do prior art searches?

!20120910 Are law firms telling applicants not to do prior art searches?

But first, a neat article from the Journal of Chemical Education - that

Galileo is not the inventor of the Galilean Thermometer. Article at:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed200793g

====================

Hey Greg...

Long time reader here, a very long time inventor/serial entrepreneur/pat

agent (entrepreneurially, not private practicing yet.) I applied for

my first patent in 1990 as a UC Berkeley sophomore.

Your article on the Apple/Samsung's jury foreman's obviously invalid

patent, for lack of any real prior art searching - got me to thinking -

you do realize that all the big local Bay Area law firms now advise

companies and entrepreneurs to NOT do ANY prior art searching whatsoever?

CES 2012: Thoughts On The Way Home

There's a ZDNet post by Jason Perlow suggesting that the show has 3 years to live given that APPL doesn't participate and that MSFT has withdrawn starting next year. May be correct despite this year's apparent high energy and positive tone. It seems like a lot of "also rans" chasing market share of the remainder after Apple has gobbled up smartphones, tablets, etc.

The 3D printers from MakerBot and Cubify and the 3D printing service from Sculpteo were very interesting. Hard to tell whether this will be a "great idea" with limited markets or whether the vendors can do the right marketing to grow revenue sufficiently to sustain each of these companies.

For inventors working on ideas that have physical instantiations, 3D printing may help decrease the time to from initial conceptualization to the first reduction to practice to working physical prototype to licensing. Inventors organizations,garage works, and selected startups may want to consider having a 3D printer demo day if the vendors will cooperate.

The OLED TV screens (Samsung, LG) are superduper: vivid colors, very bright, very thin, very expensive although the prices will come down as manufacturing gets down the learning curve. Living room integration and home control integration have made incremental progress since last year, but no big "Ah Has". More floor space to digital health gizmos and applications. Auto / Entertainment integration continues incrementally in both the new car and aftermarket products. The distraction factor remains a concern.

There were all too numerous small companies trying to get design wins for their component products. Hope springs eternal, I guess. Then there were the also all too numerous companies displaing add-ons to Apple products.Substantially fewer--although more than last year--were displaying Android phone and tablet add-ons.

 

A Succinct Summary of the 2011 Patent Reform Act.

Yesterday the Senate passed without amendment the Leahy Smith America Invents Act, H.R. 1249 which will become law when signed by President Obama. This bill brings numerous changes, larger and small. A useful summary posted on  the Pharma Patents blog (at Foley & Lardner) can be found here.

Inventors Alliance Meeting Presentation: Common Patent Mistakes

On saturday morning, July 23rd, I gave a presentation to the Bay Area Chapter of the Inventors Alliance on Common Patent Mistakes That Waste Inventors' Time and Money.  The presentation can be downloaded here in PDF format.

The main points include:

• It’s possible to keep costs manageable and work with a registered patent attorney

• Discipline, patience, and diligence are required

• The two most important value killers are:

(1) not searching the prior art, and
(2) poor claim language

• Ego and greed frequently get in the way

• Small teams nearly always improve the outcome

• Bring a sense of humor and have fun

 

Getting the Most Value From Your Patent Claims

Heather J. DiPietrantonio and Edmund J. Walsh at Wolf Greenfield & Sachs have published an article on claim language that is both informative and useful. They relate this cautionary tale:

10 Common Mistakes That Detract From Patent Value

Creating a patent portfolio is time consuming and ultimately expensive. For a single US patent, some estimate that it may take on average $30K to create a patent specification and as much as another $20K for patent prosecution and maintenance fees over the lifetime of the patent. Yet it has been estimated that only 7% to 10% of US patents ever provide a monetary return to their owners.¹

In evaluating patents for sale or enforcement, I frequently encounter a wide range of mistakes that detract from patent value. Here are some of the most significant errors and what might be done to avoid them.

  (1) Being one’s own patent attorney:

An inventor does not have to hire a patent attorney to file an application at the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Especially in these difficult economic times, the incentive to go it alone may be irresistible. If possible, resist that urge.  There are so many rules and risks involved that will not be apparent at first blush, and even if you convince the PTO to give you a patent, you could find out years later that it is not worth the paper on which it is printed.