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[Samantha Clark]

Does anyone know if an "intellectual passport" has any legal standing? Our company has a product that apparantly is not patentable but a company is trying to get us to buy an "intellectual passport CB" for $10,000 USD as protection from copying. Google "intellectual passport CB" to see the company information.

We have been producing and selling the product for 5 years but our patent was just rejected due to being too similar to existing patents so is the "intellectual passport" going to be of any use in protecting our Canadian company from international copyers?? I'm worried it is a scam with no value in courts and offering no protection.

Thanks in advance!

Sam

[JimIvey]

The Patent Office (here in the US and typically the same everywhere) nearly always rejects every application as being too close to other systems.  They're often wrong and you can often get a patent over such rejections by insisting that the Office follow the law and/or making minor changes to your application.

I can't say whether your application could have prevailed ultimately, but simply noting that the Office rejected it shouldn't have been the end of the story.

If the question is how could someone else get a patent on something we couldn't, the answer is far more complex than that.  It may be as simple as the other company by being persistent in pursuing protection when your company may have not.  Or, it may be that their system is different in some important way (need to read and analyze the claims -- can't get around that part).  It may be that their examiner didn't find the same relevant information about prior art that your examiner did.

If your use predated their filing date (especially by at least one year), you could pretty clearly show that their patent is invalid.  It's plausible that the other guys' examiner wasn't aware of your use and therefore granted the others' patent erroneously.

In short, there are many possible explanations for the situation you describe and many nuances that would require resolution.

Regards.

[Samantha Clark]

Thank-you James for the response.

My question was more aimed at finding out if anyone has heard of an "Intellectual Passport" and if it is actually any legal use as a way of protecting a product. The company who contacted us, sosinvention.com, is asking us for several thousand dollars to create and "Intellectual Passport" that is supposed to protect us from international copyright infringements even if we don't have a patent.

My question is if this a scam? I'd never even heard of a "intellectual passport CB" and so it sounds like a rip-off if they want $10,000 USD!!

I'd appreciate your help,

regards,

Sam

[JimIvey]

Never heard of an intellectual passport.  Be aware that copyrights and patents protect different things.  Don't expect something guarding against copyright infringement as a replacement for patent protection. 

In addition, if the passport protects you from copyright infringement, you might actually need enforceable copyrights to make the passport useful.

If a private company is offering worldwide intellectual property protection in the absence of government-granted intellectual property, I'd be very, very skeptical.  Governments tend to have means for enforcement of intellectual property rights.  The only private-party enforcement methods I've ever heard of for any sort of "rights" that are not illusory (such as selling a bridge with only illusory rights, for example) have been rather horrific.

Due to horrible customer service experiences the last 2 weeks with AT&T, I have very limited connectivity.  Otherwise, I'd look more into that company you mentioned to see if I could translate for you.  My intuitive sense is that you'd have to have copyrights in place and they'd help you enforce your copyrights.  If that's not helpful to you, don't give them any money.

Regards.

[DJoshEsq]

A complete scam!  stay away!

[rts]

Looks like some kind of copyright scheme. This is not at all like a patent.

At best it's defensive publication for freedom to operate (so you can invalidate someone else's later patent). At worst, it's a waste of money. Either way, it will not get you the exclusive right to make/sell/use the invention, which is what a patent is all about.

[ababab]

We have been producing and selling the product for 5 years but our patent was just rejected due to being too similar to existing patents so is the "intellectual passport" going to be of any use in protecting our Canadian company from international copyers?? I'm worried it is a scam with no value in courts and offering no protection.

Sam,

(1) The "passport" is nearly worthless, and certainly not worth $10,000 from what I can tell at their website.

(2) As Mr. Ivey explained above, it isn't at all unusual for an application to be "rejected due to being too similar."  Happens in nearly every patent application!  But patents still ultimately are allowed.  Please consult your patent agent or attorney to see how you can overcome the rejection.  You can probably amend your claims, or possibly make legal and technical arguments to overcome the rejection.

Having a patent could be worthwhile, and could easily be worth $10,000.  Getting this "passport" thing is not.