...The Non-Obvious Problem: How the Indeterminate Nonobviousness Standard Produces Excessive Patent Grants Gregory Mandel∗ The dominant current perception in patent law is that the core requirement of nonobviousness is applied too leniently, resulting in a proliferation of patents on trivial inventions that actually retard technological innovation in the long run. This Article reveals that the common wisdom is only half correct. The nonobviousness standard is not too low, but both too high and too low. It is indeterminate. Three principal factors produce nonobviousness indeterminacy: a failure to identify the quantum of innovation necessary to satisfy the standard, a failure to define the baseline level of ordinary skill against which to measure an innovation, and the epistemic infeasibility of requiring a technologically lay decision maker to judge from the perspective of a more highly trained and educated person of ordinary skill in the art. This Article introduces a mathematical model of innovation and patenting to analyze the effects of nonobviousness indeterminacy. Based on the model, indeterminacy in nonobviousness decisions has several unexpected consequences. First, indeterminacy results in an excessive total number of patent grants, and in many patent grants on obvious inventions. Second, indeterminacy leads to too many patent applications on obvious inventions and too few applications on non-obvious inventions. ∗ Professor of Law, Temple University — Beasley School of...
Words: 31121 - Pages: 125
...On the 24th August 2012, Apple won more than US $1 billion in a massive US court victory over Samsung, one of the biggest patent cases in decades – a verdict that could have huge market repercussions. A jury in San Jose, California awarded US $1.049 billion to the US tech giant, according to court documents. But analysts said the damages could be tripled because jurors found Samsung “willfully” infringed on patents. The decision was appeared to be an overwhelming victory for Apple but it was not immediately clear whether it would halt sales of Samsung devices or affect newer models released since the case was filed. Apple, the world’s most valuable company now gets richer. On one hand, I believe in the rule of law and Samsung was violating some Apple design patents. They should pay. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel something is wrong with the system. Samsung was trying to take a good design and duplicate or improve upon it. That is what competition is all about. Innovation today is the process of finding a way around a patent or beat it with an even better design. Who knows whether Samsung knew they were copy or not. In any case, they got caught. And the outcome has to be higher phone prices for everyone. Luckily, the hot new Galaxy SIII smart phone was not affected by the ruling. Nowadays, designing a smart phone is difficult. They all look alike, essentially work alike. All have big screens, touch control, icons for the functions and apps. How do the designers...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
.... Explain what happened to the Gore-Tex brand after the patent expired. What activity can firms use to try to maintain any advantage developed during the patent protection phase? Once the main patent on the Gore-Tex fabric expired it opened the door for other companies to duplicate it and possible make it better. When a patent expires the technology of the inventor no longer has the exclusive rights to his or her invention opening it up to everyone. At this point other companies can offer comparative products at reduced prices. I think that Gore-Tex was smart to take advantage of their own patent and expand the product line to include other products using the same technology. The company is overall smart by also not relying on only the Gore-Tex technology but expand into other areas which makes the brand very unique. 2. List some of the wide range of products where the Gore-Tex fabric has been applied. According to Gore-Tex web site they offer Raincoats, coats, back-packs, shoes, trousers, soft shell jackets, gloves, socks, hunter hats, baseball hat, gaiters, and bike hats all for men, women and kids. 3. It seems that Gore Associates is heavily oriented towards technology; what are some of the dangers of being too heavily focused on technology? It seems that sometimes when we too heavily into just technology we overlook the simple things that help develop into products. When too many projects are going on based on technology the costs can become astronomical and can...
Words: 473 - Pages: 2
...Many of you have heard the tale of Agapito Flores, Fe Del Mundo, and Daniel Dingel. We’ve all heard the stories of Filipinos making their mark on the world, be it in writing, singing, or inventing. But really, which of them really created their “invention?” Singers, writers, and athletes don’t have to worry about having their achievements stolen from them. Sure, some writers may worry about being plagiarized, but now Publishers are doing their best to watch out for their own writers; attentive professors and teachers are also on the lookout for faked essays. But in inventing, it all depends on the person and the invention. Why? You can easily claim you invented this, but no one will notice until it has become very useful. Even then, many inventors are still unknown. In order to receive claim and royalties from an invention, you must patent it to the government and show it to a noteworthy organization. Alas, there are a lot of “supposed” inventors of certain products. Stealing someone’s idea is as simple as taking it, patenting it, and marketing it to the public. But here, there are a lot of people who claim to have made famous products, yet they are not being recognized. Why? Because they didn’t invent it. Pride is good for a country, but claiming that a countryman invented another person’s product is a bad thing to do. Myths likes this thrive on people who are unaware, and they have gained notoriety after the birth of the internet...
Words: 606 - Pages: 3
...Learning Team Reflection: Week 3 IRAC Brief Dipesh Mistry, Hala Alnajjar, Chad Salcido LAW 531 August 23, 2015 Jonathan McGovern Apple vs Samsung Patent Case – Intellectual and Digital Property Dispute Intellectual property consists of patent, copyrights and ideas of the mind. Methods of dealing with disputes arising from theft of intellectual property include the uniform trade secrets act, US patent and trademark office and no electronic theft act. Personal property is any tangible property that is attached to the land or building owned or movable items like furniture or a painting. Case Apple vs. Samsung is an intellectual property dispute due to the seven issuing patents that Apple owns the rights to. On April 15, 2011, Apple issued an official complaint stating: "Instead of pursuing independent product development, Samsung has chosen to slavishly copy Apple's innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design, in violation of Apple's valuable intellectual property rights" (Elmer-DeWitt, 2011). Issue The dispute is if Apple's patent case against Samsung is valid under US patent law. Currently, patents are awarded to the 'first to invent' rather than 'first to file' (Jaffe, Adam and Lerner, Josh. p. 38-43). This creates issues with the companies contesting that they created designs prior to alleged infringing devices being released. Samsung claims that the patents are abstract and non statutory...
Words: 997 - Pages: 4
...NAME: Arthur Sicard PERSONAL DATA: Arthur Sicard was born in Saint-Léonard-de-Port-Maurice, Quebec on December 17, 1876. He died on September 13, 1946 at the age of 70. Canadian inventor, Arthur Sicard invented the snow blower in 1925. CLAIM TO FAME: Business Venture – Sicard Industries The invention consisted of three sections; a four-wheel drive truck chassis and truck motor, the snow scooping section, and the snow blower with two adjustable chutes and separate motor. The snowblower allowed the driver to clear and throw snow over 90 feet away from the truck or directly into the back of the truck and it worked on hard, soft or packed snow. SCOPE: Arthur Sicard is the inventor of Sicard Industries. He had created the snow blower to clear snow from drive ways, sidewalks, etc . SOCIETAL BENEFIT: This invention has helped the well being of many old aged people, people who are always on the go, and is a fast way to clear up snow, help to many citizens of Canada or the United states. RISK TAKEN: Risk taken of this invention is that every year 5740 snow blower-related injuries occurred such as the snow blower blowing up and being over pressured. MOTIVATING FACTORS: Motivating factors is that this venture is all Electric models that produce no emissions at the point of...
Words: 256 - Pages: 2
...Intellectual Property, Patent Infringement, Presumption of Validity, Burden of Proof Ken Intellectual Property, Patent Infringement, Presumption of Validity, Burden of Proof According to the case, Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information, Inc. (10-290) (2011), Microsoft was sued by the software entity i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc. The company alleged that i4i’s patent was infringed by Microsoft Word’s XML processing and editing functionalities (Microsoft Corp. v. i4i, 2011). Meanwhile, Microsoft put forth a counter lawsuit, challenging the patent registered by i4i was invalid under the on-sale bar provisions because the technology was sold more than one year before the patent was formally applied (Microsoft Corp. v. i4i, 2011). The software entity i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc. (henceforth referred to as "i4i"), is a computer software company that specializes in designing and selling computer software. In June 1994, i4i applied for a patent covering its innovative technology that enables the manipulation of the structure and content of an electronic document. This technology is commonly known as "markup language," and more specifically allows the placing of tags to facilitate the manipulation. One specific markup language, known as XML, allows users to customize their own tags. The overall entity of the document’s structure and tags is known as the...
Words: 2545 - Pages: 11
...In comparison with previous years, today we have great opportunities for getting information from different sources with the help of media and undoubtedly, books, radios, and TVs are the most effective and popular media for communicating information. It is almost unquestionable that all of them have irreplaceable role in human life, however, we can claim that all of them have both advantages and disadvantages for our lives and I am going to enumerate some of them below. Firstly it is undeniable fact that compared with TVs and radios books have longer history, precisely, they probably invented before other kinds of media. The main advantage of the books is that they contain necessary information and people can easily get them from libraries and bookshops. Nevertheless, development of technology decreases the interest in books and makes them tend to get such information from internet. In comparison with books, radios do not make worse the eyesight and waste their time, to say exactly, it only can be listened and this function makes tem useful. Furthermore, it is also considered that, most times radios are effective for getting daily news and major changes all over the world. As the life continues, radio becoming an old fashioned one and pass its role to TVs. Although sometimes TVs waste our time and can be damage children's psychology with violent scene, some pros such as visuality , variety of information make them the greatest invention during the human life. To conclude...
Words: 257 - Pages: 2
...Living in a world where you feel like you are not seen or heard can be mind blowing and depressing. A young high school boy named Brandon in the short film, The Most Beautiful Thing by Cameron Covell, is a social outcast and has an isolated mindset. He feels as if he is never seen nor heard. Knowing that, he realizes that prom is just around the corner and he has to build up the courage to not only find a girl but also to ask her to go to prom with him. He has his eyes on one girl in particular and attempts to speak to her every time he sees her. The first time he speaks to her in the hallway she keeps walking. He later sees this girl outside sitting beside him and he speaks again. She did not respond. He persists and yells, “You can’t hear me?” She realizes he is trying to get her attention so she looks over at him. She writes him a note informing him that she is deaf and refuses to speak and that her name is Emily. They start writing notes, and then transition into hanging out, texting and even liking each other. Then he realizes he just might have a date for prom. First he has to figure out how he will ask her. But one day just might change everything for the worst. An unexpected obstacle occurs and he has to figure out a resolution. The acting of the main characters, the setting where the short film takes place, and the music that is playing in the background all has a positive impact on my thought of this film. The acting in this film was highly significant. Due...
Words: 855 - Pages: 4
...unchanged. The title of this book is symbolic, with nectar representing goodness and kindness, and the sieve representing the world. When you put nectar (goodness) in a sieve (the world) it will only last a short time before disappearing without a trace. In other words, enjoy what you have while it lasts, do not try to save what is in the moment. 2) Why might the author have chosen to have Ruku tell her story in flashback form? Is Ruku a reliable narrator? - The author might have chosen to have Ruku tell her story in flashback form because this way, Ruku can foreshadow and add thoughts about the events. When a story is told in flashback form, it is easier to focus on the main events and conflicts of the story rather than the minute details. Thoughts and feelings Ruku had after the events in the story occurred can be added in, which helps the reader to understand the plot. The story makes more sense being told after the fact, and makes you think about how things have changed since then. I believe Ruku is a reliable narrator. She was involved in all of the events in the story firsthand. 3) How does Ruku’s experience as a daughter, wife, and mother inform her relationship with her daughter Ira? - Ruku gained a lot of life experience through all of her trials. Her parents were supportive of her and she had a smooth marriage. Ira was Ruku’s first child and only daughter, so this gives them a special relationship. Ruku was unfortunately unable to bear a son with her husband...
Words: 1364 - Pages: 6
...a True War Story How to Tell a True War Story is written by Tim O’Brien. It is set in Vietnam between the years of nineteen fifty-four and nineteen seventy-five. In this section, the story starts out by talking about a man named Rat Kiley. Kiley is writing a letter to a friend’s sister telling her how good of a man he really was. He also writes about different stories that happened and how he was the first to volunteer for things, just to emphasize the greatness of this man. The sister of the deceased man does not write back to Rat Kiley which greatly upsets him. The story goes on to identify the man as Curt Lemon. Eventually, it is clear how Lemon died. Kiley and Lemon were tossing a grenade back and forth to each other when suddenly Lemon ended up stepping into a booby trap. Another man in the military by the name of Mitchell Sanders tells O’brien a story to teach him lesson. The story is about two men who set out to the mountains on a mission. After a few days of living up there, the men hear strange noises. It gets worse and worse so they order that the land below them be attacked. They pack up their stuff and walk down the mountain. When they reach the bottom their commander asks them what they heard and the men reply with nothing. Sanders claims the moral of the story is that no one listens, you need to listen to the quiet. He goes on to say that the moral of a war story cannot be extracted without a deeper meaning surfacing. The meaning behind the story is if he really...
Words: 565 - Pages: 3
...bat. I find it awkward and sometimes too far off, raising a problem when ignoring it was all you probably needed. The thing is I still think about it. You’re not a idiot; it’s pretty obvious. I think you’re amazing and that won’t change no matter what this manages to morph itself into. And in my opinion, it doesn’t need to. But I think about the song, I think about the poems, I think about the unfinished story rotting because I’ve lost what motivated me to complete it. A story is a what-could-have-been right? When we daydream about our futures, daydream about bravery and acceptance and victory, it’s just a fantasy story of our lives. Sometimes I just have to write it down to make sure I don’t lose it. Don’t forget it. Understand that once upon a time, I was such and such. People say in the future, they’ll look back and laugh. I won’t laugh; I’ll understand. Perhaps not why, why you, why this time, why so silent and why so demanding but I’ll understand the circumstances. I’ll understand what drove me and what tore it apart. My entire life’s story out there for everyone to see. Sometimes I feel so exposed. It’s weaving together assumptions that are sometimes so out there, right in the open. But that’s okay, because even things I write a month ago, I no longer understand. I don’t know whom I was so pissed off at and what made me write a passage on loneliness. I don’t need to. It’s all in the moment. & It’s not so much that we lost it, as much...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...Story 1 Paddle Kink 2.5 Amy is deeply submissive and will do what Sir wishes, and when he invites her out a week before Valentine’s Day she has no idea what dinner will bring. While this story had a great theme to it, it just fell flat for me. There was very little emotional connection between the two leads to the story. Mr. Wood tried to weave a story that had all of the wonderful kinky things that I love but “Sir” just seems to cold and unemotional towards Amy and it left me scratching my head as to why he would even go to the trouble of setting up the dinner the story revolved around. There is lots of kinky pieces to this story that just did not seem to flow together as well as I would of liked. It is short story that had spankings, some MFM and FF action, voyeurism, and the most difficult one for me to read was the massive amount humiliation Sir used towards Amy. There was very little after care and this just made me want to get angry with them both. While the story does only comprise of one encounter between Amy and Sir, there is just to much missing for this to be a believable, even in the context of fantasy, match. If you enjoy humiliation with a side of voyeurism then you may enjoy this book, but if you like any sort of emotional connection I would skip over this...
Words: 253 - Pages: 2
...However, when he tries to find her, she is nowhere to be seen. He works as a security guard at Green Oaks, and basically his life consists of his work, as he has nothing else to live for. Lisa works at Your Music and considers her life miserable. She has lost her brother, who disappeared after he was accused of being involved in the disappearance of Kate Meaney. For 20 years there had been no lead in the case and Kate was never found. A string of strange events and lost memories tie together the lives of many people, all somehow connected to the case of Kate Meaney. A suicide, a memory from years ago, a lost brother and a hidden secret eventually lead to the closure of a case shrouded in mysteries for so long. Setting: Time The story begins in 1984, when the main character Kate is only 10 years old. You can tell by the page that says: “1984 – Falcon Investigations” (O'Flynn, 2007, p. 1) In the '80s everything was different than it is now. There was no internet as we know it now, people thought differently, there were other values, things we're just different than it is now in the world we live in. 20 years...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
...Book Critique for Likeonomics: The unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, And Inspiring Behavior Rohit Bhargava took the time to write Likeonomics: The unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, and Inspiring Behavior in 2012 and was published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. In this book Mr. Bhargava gives many examples about how if people like you, they are more likely to choose you, or trust you as opposed to not liking you and not wanting to be around you. He utilizes real life scenarios which brings excitement and interest to the reading. The stories of motivation and inspiration from some of the most successful people in the world and how their success was made because they were simply likeable, makes this book an easy page turner. He breaks the book down into three parts: The Crisis and the Solution, The Five Principles of Likeonomics, and The Storybook. This book offers you the ability to see the world through a different set of eyes. Exploring such things as “the Likeability Gap” gives one insight on simple things in life. Mr. Bhargava points out that simply offering a good service is not good enough for a customer to come back or to brag on what you are offering. It’s what makes people go out of their way for a customer simply because they like them. I am guilty of this myself. I work in a service related field and I often encounter clients that are rude and nasty. But every now and then I may encounter someone that I simply “click” with because they are pleasant, or...
Words: 1065 - Pages: 5
