The Intellectual Property Forum

Can anyone share their experience seeking archived patent material at the national archives (NARA).  I'm trying to locate prosecution history material for patents from the 50's and 60's. PTO states these have been turned over to NARA for archive.

Quote from: IPJunkie on 04-11-10 at 10:10 am

... is there a quick methodology for me to figure out whether I should even approach a patent attorney?

consider trying to prove that there is no buffalo-head nickel in your home.  As long as you don't find a buffalo-head nickel in your home, you don't know there isn't one there.  However, the instant you find one, you know that there is one. 

Now let me get this straight...there's a buffalo-head nickel in my home...if I don't find it, nothing is proven, but if I do find the nickel...wait, there isn't a nickel in my house?  What if I have 5 pennies, one of which is Canadian...will that help me? Can you hurry this up...I've got to be on a 5:17 train to Philadelphia, hopefully traveling at 85mph.

With all the prior art in the area of location based alerting (stalking) Apple can't think they'll actually defend any of the claims that might get allowed. 

In 2004, Bounds, etal, from Texas A&M wrote...
"When two or more ReConnect devices come into range of one another, their desired interaction levels as well as personal data and location is exchanged via a Bluetooth ad hoc network."

Then there is Weilenmann & Holmquist in 1999 with their Hummingbird...
"...we developed the concept of inter-personal awareness devices, IPADs... The Hummingbird is an IPAD which enhances the awareness of presence between the people in a group by extending their range.
"A notion that came up in the focus group session was that the Hummingbird could be seen as a means to achieve status; users appeared more important when carrying technological equipment."

And, of course, who could forget the LoveBomb...
"When a button is pressed, an anonymous message will be sent to people (LoveBomb owners) who are positioned within a certain radius from the initiator of the message. The LoveBomb uses tactile cues - the heart message makes the device vibrate in a manner that resembles pulsating heartbeats, while the message of sorrow is characterized by irregular vibrations."

ReConnect: A Mobile Tool for Enabling Social Interaction (2004)
http://www.cens.ucla.edu/pub/CS219-Spring06/Anonymity%20Reading%205.08.06/Bounds.pdf

Hummingbirds Go Skiing: Using Wearable Computers to Support Social Interaction (1999)
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.65.1920&rep=rep1&type=pdf

The LoveBomb: Encouraging the Communication of Emotions in Public Spaces (1999)
http://www.viktoria.se/~tobias/pub/lovebomb.pdf

I'm a patent researcher and work with a number of inventors.  First thing I do before we talk in any detail is sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).  I tell new clients to start thinking about their idea as a valuable asset that needs protecting, don't share it with everyone. Which brings me to this topic...

As a researcher I've used a number of "Idea Banks" to search for non-patent prior art.  Sites like Halfbakery.com (http://www.halfbakery.com/).  I like the open discussion about ideas but also cringe when I think of all the openness. 

Think before you post.  Think before you tell a friend about your new idea, Think. Think. Think. Think of your idea as something valuable...start protecting it.

Design patents might have been called the “Jan Brady” of intellectual property; the awkward, middle child always overshadowed by her more popular, older sister, “Utility, Utility, Utility!” But after some good press, Google’s homepage design patent, and some good rulings, Egyptian Goddess v. Torkiya, design patents are starting to shine on their own and demonstrate their place in a mature, well conceived IP strategy.
From Best Mode http://www.gilmanresearch.com/bestmode/?p=416

"...Websites can generate millions think about facebook,dating.com,myspace etc..."
Generate "millions" of what? Page views, registered users, actual revenue? Keep in mind that for everyone of the successful websites, there are a thousand languishing in obscurity.

You won't be able to patent the "website" if you simply have a unique design, but does your system function in some unique or novel way, what problem does it solve? That is where patent protection will come into play.

Parents have taken it upon themselves to monitor registered sex offenders through websites and now on their iPhones thanks to Vision 20/20’s Offender Locator; open the app and see a map of the registered offenders in your area. But this solves only part of the problem. Do we really want to know where a registered sex offender receives mail or is it better to know where the offender is now, in real-time and in relation to my child?
From Best Modehttp://www.gilmanresearch.com/bestmode/?p=390

Thanks to Michael Lee Underwood of Scottsdale, AZ today’s posers will have one less question and possibly fewer chipped teeth. Michael realized in his 2005 patent, US6978639: Tongue jewelry clip and method of wearing the same…

http://www.gilmanresearch.com/bestmode/2009/08/31/clip-on-tongue/