Week 8 - Patent Litigation & The Government

Hi everyone! We have been able to get some great insight on patent trolls and patent litigation from this whole week, and I have really learned how important the government and laws in place either encourage or discourage these horrible practices.

In this blog post, I wanted to give some tips on how to navigate the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website that was recently launched. President Obama has done a great job of enacting legislation and putting pressure on the Supreme Court to encourage a system that punishes patent trolls.

I highly encourage all of you to go to:

1. Patents
2. Maintaining a Patent
3. Patent Litigation

This website is a great starting point for those who want to be up to date on the government's legislation regarding patent trolls and steps that you can take to avoid getting sued by them! Enjoy!

Thanks,
Payal

Week 8 - Patent Litigation Laws

Hi everyone! Last time, I talked about the patent trolls we are really hurting businesses and innovation by suing companies left and right in order to gain contract/licensing fees from patent infringement. Today, I want to talk to you about the steps the United States government has taken to combat these issues.

In April 2014, the Supreme Court voted in Octane Fitness vs. ICON Health & Fitness to essentially get rid of the "American rule" in regards to patent litigation. What is the American rule?

American rule: both parties involved in patent litigation case each pay for their own attorney and legal fees through the entire process - no switchover costs associated with who wins or loses

British rule: the losing party involved in a patent litigation case must pay for the attorney and legal fees for both parties

Now, if you were faced with each situation, what would you be more inclined to sue people in? The difference in these two rules is why there exist far more patent troll cases in the States than in Europe. However, the Supreme Court has shown through this ruling that it is committed to changing this, and now the payment for losses in court of the legal fees now goes to the losing party. This has decreased the amount of patent trolls in the US by far, but this is just the first step. The US government needs to enact much more in-depth legislation if we are to rid ourselves of patent trolls forever.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 8 - Patent Trolls

Hi everyone! We know about "trolls" on the Internet as millennials, but I never realized this term would have real world implications to patents! These patent trolls have many official names,  patent holding company (PHC), patent assertion entity (PAE), and non-practicing entity (NPE). However, the essence of what they do is to sue anyone or any company that has infringed upon patents they hold in order to gain money from licensing fees. These NPE's do not even produce products/services that incorporate the patent, but simply "hold them" in order to sue other company's for their money.

I feel that the practices of these trolls are extremely anti-business and discourage innovation, as it constantly keeps entrepreneurs and other innovating companies on their feet worried if they will be sued by these patent trolls. They need to deal not just with the lost time of dealing with the patent litigation, but also with the MONEY to pay for attorneys to deal with these NPE's in court.

Check out my video below for more info!

Thanks,
Payal

Week 8 - Patent Infringement

Hi everyone! Great to be posting on here again all the way from the East Coast where I am right now :) We had an amazing guest speaker come give his thoughts in class, and that really gave a good world perspective on everything we have been learning about so far! This week's topics are extremely interesting - patent infringement and the "patent trolls" that often go along with them. 

In this blog, I want to discuss what patent infringement means, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

What is patent infringement?

Patent infringement is the act of making, using, selling, or offering to sell a patented invention, or importing into the United States a product covered by a claim of a patent without the permission of the patent owner. Further, you may be considered to infringe a patent if you import items into the United States that are made by a patented method, unless the item is materially changed by subsequent processes or becomes a trivial and nonessential component of another product. A person “infringes” a patent by practicing each element of a patent claim with respect to one of these acts.  Further, actively encouraging others to infringe patents, or supplying or importing components of a patented invention, and related acts can also give rise to liability in certain cases.

What I thought was most interesting about patent infringement is that is completely REGIONAL - who would have thought? This means that all the intellectual property filed in the United States cannot be enforceable in any other region. This is quite scary for any inventor, as they need to ensure they go through the patent filing process in numerous countries so that they do not have to worry about patent infringement occurring halfway across the world! Check out my video below for my further thoughts on patent infringement.

Thanks,

Payal

Week 7 - Obviousness & My Thoughts

Hi everyone! It's been quite a week delving into the world of patent searches! I wanted to give my own thoughts and advice after reading through material online and watching a few tutorials on the best practices to start your own personal search online.

Your first step is to conduct a prior art search, as I mentioned before in the previous blog posts. This is the basic first step because you need to see what other patents have been filed, and just to get a better sense of what is happening in the realm of patents for the specific industry/topic you are focusing on.

The biggest takeaway to starting your search is that the regular "search bar" on whatever search engine you are on (Google, Bing, etc.) will NOT give you the results you need. You must go to a patent tailored search engine (Espacenet, Google Patents) and then go from there!

Please find below a great tutorial for you on a good patent search & my own thoughts on this topic:

Week 7 - Obviousness & Patent Search

Hi everyone! Now that I have defined what exactly prior art is, and the definition of a prior art search, I really want to delve into how you should conduct a patent search. 

I have found a lot of great tutorials on how to conduct a patent search, but found this step-by-step tutorial as the best way to go about this. One of the best ways to conduct a search is to go through Espacenet.com - this website is dedicated to helping find patents online for anyone.

Looking through this tutorial and the website for Espacenet.com, I realized that it is more tailored to those who are active participants in filing patents, as I found that the design of the website was meant for a more advanced search experience.

But have no fear - Google also has a great search for patent discovery as well for the "regular" people too.... Simply type in www.google.com/patents and you will be able to discover pictures, official documents, and more in your patent discovery search!

Best,
Payal

Week 7 - Obviousness Youtube Search

Hi everyone! Obviousness is a huge theme for this week's lectures. I never realized how many helpful resources online exist for regular people not educated in patent law to understand what the terminology and jargon is in this field. 

In order to begin a patent search, it is extremely necessary to understand what prior art means. The prior art means "any information available to the public that can be found in a printed publication format" according to the IP Video group. Now prior art can be found in books, magazines, and on the Internet through various media sources. 

So... what is a prior art search?!

Conducting a prior art search means that you are looking through all these publications to find your invention, and to see any patents or inventions that have been filed that are similar in nature to it. 

Thanks,
Payal 

Week 7 - Obviousness Personal Search

Hi everyone! Great to be posting on my blog again after a week's hiatus. This week's blog posts and Youtube videos will surround the topic of "obviousness." This one term is extremely significant to the patent world, and really requires. 

In order to understand the patents, we need to realize what the exact specifications are for a patent to be true. Please find below the five key metrics that must be true for a patent to be established below:

1. Subject matter requirement
2. Written description
3. Utility
4. Novelty
5. Non-obviousness

Obviousness is a huge part of these metrics. For a patent to be true, it must be "non-obvious" or that a regular person (like myself) would not have been able to have come up with the idea of this patent and its applications. The reason why this is so important is so that patents are not granted to "obvious" inventions, and to encourage innovation for things that have not been made yet. 

Thanks,

Payal

Week 5 - Patent Personal Viewpoint

This post will be going over my own personal perspective on the patents that I discussed in my previous post. I want to make sure that I outline a solid definition of anticipation and obviousness before I go into my own viewpoints on the patents before.

Anticipation: this means that the patent itself should be a novel concept, and should be a completely new concept.

Obviousness: a patent is only allowed to be approved if it is "non-obvious" or trivial, according to our professor's lecture slides. There must be significant differences between the filed patent, and what is already been issued for the patent to be approved. 

After looking over all these patents, I was completely shocked to find that there was so much innovation in something that seems so trivial as a coffee sleeve holder. I had never put thought into the process that went behind the structure that keeps my drinks warm and insulates them! The innovation and technology behind this simple item was so complex, and really made me look at other "trivial" products once more. 

I really liked the hot and cold cup sleeve the best from all the patents. It satisfied a huge problem that faces coffee shops and other beverage retailers everywhere that want to have a product that can be used for both hot and cold beverages. The fact that cold beverages "sweat" is a huge problem, and a reason why I personally never use the other types of sleeves used for hot beverages when I get a cold beverage. The multi-functional nature of the product is perfect!

The temperature gauging sleeve was great too because it gives the consumer an indication for how hot their drink is - a huge problem for those who do not wish to get burned by their hot cups of coffee in the morning! It adds the protection of insulation with a huge added feature of informing the consumer of what is best for them.

It's been great knowing the progression of the "coffee cup sleeve," and I look forward to seeing where the next wave of innovation takes these products. I will definitely be keeping up with the new patents being filed in this realm because I use these products on a daily basis.

Further Analysis (3-unit student):

In regards to the patents, I definitely think each of them fulfill the anticipation segment, as each was very novel and had entirely new features that the previous patent did not. From adding on features for environmental benefits to the new mechanism that gave consumers knowledge of the temperature of their drinks, each of the patents offered a novel approach to the regular "sleeve." For the obviousness, all the patents were extremely non-obvious to a regular consumer like myself. I am no expert in sleeves or the engineering/design of a coffee cup sleeve, and saw all the items as non-obvious. This was helpful to see that it really took an expert in the field to describe the differences between the patents.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 5 - 9 Patents Discussion

For this blog post, I will be discussing the nine patents listed below and their main applications. This is the background and story for each of the patents and the variety of applications they have.

#1: US 6343735 B1 

Insulating sleeve

Priority Date: May 4th, 2000

The new insulated sleeve has the function of protecting the consumer from any harm of a hot beverage. The use of foam for hot beverages also gave an "insulative" nature, but the rise of environmental awareness brought down the use of this in the marketplace. This patent provides both a cost-saving perspective, as people do not need to double-seal their containers, and also an environmental positive since foam is not used as much anymore. 

The sleeve itself actually has a design of ridges that give the user a great grip for everything so they do not spill when using it. The specifications itself are that there are ridges that go across the sleeve, both from the top and from the middle. This creates just an overall great grip for the sleeve.

#2: US 2661889

Thermal coffee cup
Priority Date: July 20th, 1948

This thermal coffee cup gives the consumer the ability to have a hot drink without any injury. This invention allows 1) insulation from the heat 2) the ease of portability

The design of the coffee cup is that it has an inner lining and an outer lining that allows for the cup and the lid to remain together. 

#3:  US 8,251,277 B1 

Thermal sleeve, method for manufacturing a thermal sleeve, and combination cup and thermal sleeve

Priority Date: April 15th, 2005

This sleeve is used to give the right insulation for any hot drinks the consumer gives. This sleeve can be provided as a cup sleeve, and includes 1) creped paper 2) first end 3) second end 4) first cup opening 5) second cup opening 6) adhesive to hold the ends together. These sleeves are now able to be made with mostly paper-based materials, and has many applications with different types of materials to wrap around different sized cups. 

#4: US 7,922,031 B1 

Insulator sleeve for a beverage container
Priority Date: March 1st, 2007

This sleeve combines a frusto-conincal cup with an outer surface. This sleeve can be customized to numerous types of coffee mugs and cups, and is actually sold in a lot of coffee establishments because it is so popular. The present invention allows for repeated use as well, which now voids the "disposable" insulating invention. There is a lot of texture to the container, which allows for great gripping by the user. The material itself can be manufactured with a variety of raw materials (vinyl, rubber), which gives manufacturers great flexibility. 

#5: US 8118189 B1 

Temperature-indicating sleeve and related container
Priority Date: December 15th, 2006

This invention actually allows the customer to know approximately how much the temperature of the product is. In the past, it is unfortunate that the cups in the past give no inclination as to how hot or cold the beverage is, and this allows for the customers to have some type of indicator as to the temperature of their drink. The material itself of the sleeve allows for the heat to determine the temperature indicator. This has a huge utility to the customers.

#6: US 6152363 

Sleeve construction for improved paperboard cup insulation
Priority Date: May 3rd, 1999

This variation on the heat sleeve has an insulating sleeve, with a top convex edge and a bottom concave edge. It utilizes air gaps in its design, and is able to be manufactured with "green certified" materials that give this product a great environmental edge in its manufacturing. Recyclable paper and other materials are completely viable options for the manufacturing of this cup.

#7: US 20080078824 A1 

Beverage cup sleeving system and method 

Priority Date: August 23rd, 2007

Sleeves are used in a variety of food places - coffee shops, fast food restaurants, etc. However, the problem is that there is no method at the moment that helps the sleeves to not get wet, and what ends up happening is that many of these establishments actually provide two different sleeves to their customers. This is both a problem in a cost and an environmental perspective. With this patent, now there is a technology that allows for the sleeve to have two layers to stop the product from becoming null if it gets wet. The "wet" part usually comes if the product "sweats" or creates moisture on the outside, ruining the sleeve.

#8: US 20100019023 A1  

Protective sleeve
Priority Date: July 25th, 2008

The main problem that this sleeve settles is the uncomfortable nature of the sleeves. It is able to provide a more comfortable experience for the user, and the design of this product promotes that. In addition, it uses much less materials to manufacture, which reduces the environmental impact, and most of the materials that can be used to manufacture this are actually biodegradable.

#9: US 20140151385 A1 

Hot and Cold Cup Sleeve
Priority Date: February 6th, 2014

This sleeve is a perfect use for the hot and cold drinks, and is able to be used for both. The hot drinks sleeves do not fare well with cold drinks because of the moisture that accumulates on the surface, so this patent has a water-absorbent inner lining and a water-repellent outer lining that satisfies the need to have both a hot and cold drink. Now, different places that sell hot and cold drinks can offer this sleeve to their customers who order either products.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 4 - US Patent #8046721

For this particular US Patent, the first claim states that it is: "A method of unlocking a hand-held electronic device, the device including a touch-sensitive display"
The claim itself goes on to describe a three-step process that is needed in order to work in the same way this patent is describing. The first step is that the touch-screen needs to detect that there is a contact on its screen that occurs in the allocated portions of the screen. Next, the touch needs to be continuous along the screen and maintained where the user is directly interacting with the device. Lastly, the device can be locked when it reaches the predefined location.

Overall, this invention was extremely useful, as it is now a staple part and feature of most smartphone devices. Although it started with Apple, many other companies have instituted an "unlocking feature" as part of their phones now.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 4 - Top 5 Internet Quotes

Please find below the top 5 "failed" quotes that I found through my own research. Enjoy!

1. "0x2026Apple is already dead." --Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft

As this was the CTO of Microsoft, it is in their best interest to bring down their competitors, and at the time, Microsoft did not see this company as a threat to their business at all. However, given how fast technology changes, it should have been in his best interest not to have said this against an up-and-coming competitor.

2. "There's just not that many videos I want to watch." --Steve Chen, CTO and co-founder of YouTube

Chen was onto something when he said this, as he realized how much the Internet lacked in online video content for people. He was able to identify a need, and help build an entire business off this need that lacked in a giant entertainment medium.

3. "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." --Sir William Preece, chief engineer, British Post Office

The chief engineer did not realize how much time is valued by people, and that the telephone would create not only a quicker communication time for the messages, but would also help to cut down on costs for the company as they did not need to pay an entire workforce of messenger boys anymore.

4. "We are on a tear to be the undisputed winner in China." --Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay

Whitman, who was speaking to the stockholders of eBay, needed to sound confident in her plans for the company, and was trying to demonstrate how great eBay was going to do in this new market to help justify the investment that the shareholders were giving.

5. "Television won't be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." --Daryl Zanuck, film producer, co-founder of 20th Century Fox

Zanuck, as many of the others in this assignment, did not realize the value that customers put on time, and spending weeknights in a movie theater as opposed to the comfort of their own home was something that appealed to consumers when purchasing a TV.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 4 - Top 5 Class Quotes

The entire list of Top 25 predictions were extremely interesting, but I have picked the Top 5 to analyze today. Please find them below.

1. "No one will pay good money to get from Berlin to Potsdam in one hour when he can ride his horse there in one day for free." - King William I of Prusisa on trains, 1864

This is an interesting quote, as the King of Prussia was not taking into account people's willingness to pay for their time. Travel is an especially important industry that people are willing to spend above and beyond for convenience. He is completely forgetting how important people value time. 

2. "No, it will make war impossible." – -Hiram Maxim, inventor of the machine gun, in response to the question "Will this gun not make war more terrible?" from Havelock Ellis, an English scientist, 1893

Hiram was probably thinking more about how the mechanics of the gun itself are extremely complicated, and the method to "shoot" would take a bit of learning from soldiers. What he did not see was the amount of time it would save in the battlefield, and that it would change the way we conducted battle in the future.

3. “There will never be a bigger plane built." - A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people

Many people just do not have the imagination or idea that anything can always be improved. The engineer was probably boasting about how amazing of an invention this was, but it was very short-sighted of him to believe that nothing could ever be engineered any bigger.

4. "It'll be gone by June." – Variety Magazine on Rock n' Roll, 1955

People love to comment on "trends" and what is in fashion, and Variety is in the business of assessing the entertainment field. At this point in time, it probably saw an "underdeveloped" music scene, and was relying on the established base to not adopt this new medium of music. However, it really only takes one or two key players to legitimize a music following.

5. A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.” — New York Times, 1936

The New York Times was probably extremely ignorant to fact that physics would allow for a rocket to leave the atmosphere, given the design and other contingencies were met. They probably did not consult with NASA or any other agency to confirm these details.

Thanks,
Payal

Week 3 - Top 10 Inventions Revised

After attending lecture and discussing with my classmates, I feel that my top 10 list can be edited a bit with the new information presented.

1. The Cell phone: after looking at other blogs and discussing with classmates, I feel that the cell phone is extremely important to our society today. It allows us to not only communicate with each other, but also is now the primary mode of communication for most people around the world. They are defined and able to be communicated to with their cell phone, either through call/text. 
2. The Clock: I did not realize how important this one invention was to our society to be able to define chunks of time as never before, and I feel like that is extremely important for us to be able to keep track of everything happening in the world. 
3. The Internet: this one invention has probably changed the way humans interact with each other, live their lives and conduct themselves in society more than any other invention in contemporary times. What started off as a government invention in the 1960's has spurned unlimited new uses for everyday citizens, small businesses, corporations and governments. This medium remains the primary method of communication for most of the modern world today. This impact of this invention cannot be understated.
4. Wheel: this archaic invention allowed the civilizations of our ancient ancestors to transport much more goods and items farther distances now that they did not have to simply carry everything on their backs. It provided the option of mobility for our ancient ancestors, so they could be mobile across the continents if they so pleased. It also spurned a variety of other spin-off inventions (carriage, wheelbarrow, etc) that made life exponentially easier.
5. Cotton gin: this invention had a huge impact on the history of the United States, as it severely impacted the slave industry due to the fact that cotton farmers did not need as many slaves to separate the cotton from the rest of the plant. It was able to separate the commodity from the useless part of the plant, and contributed heavily to the end of slavery in the United States due to the fact that slaves did not need to be used in the cotton industry as much anymore.
6. Patents: after attending lecture, it is obvious how important these are to our society today to feel that people can invent new items and ideas without having to worry they are subject to copyright from imitators. This gives people the important security of knowing they can protect their ideas.
7. Airplane: the airplane allowed for faster transportation and cargo transport that was much faster than that of the previous modes of transport (trains, ships, cars, etc.). It also allowed for exploration and more visual mapping of landscapes, which contributed to a more accurate mapping of the world. In addition, more cargo could be shipped to other parts of the world with the use of the airplane because now perishable items could be flown across the world. 
8. Refrigeration: this was huge for food production and for the poor because now, food could be preserved without being pickled. It reduced the amount of food borne diseases because now there were options to buy food and have it last for a longer period of time. Those from poorer classes could afford the option to purchase food, and have it last for a longer period of time. It also spurned new types of cuisines and food, as before, food could not be preserved without pickling, and now the option was open to store fruits, vegetables, and others 
9. Television: this created an entirely new medium of communication, and spurned a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to providing information and entertainment to the masses. The influence of television has allowed us to communicate to most people around the world, while also creating "stars" who work on the silver screen.
10. Electricity: this one invention cannot be understated given how important it has been to connecting our world together, and allowing humans to work and achieve more than they could to harness the power of machines and technology. 

Thanks,

Payal

Week 2 - Top 10 Inventions

Our generation has spurned thousands of inventions that we simply cannot live without. However, there are other numerous inventions that were invented hundreds of thousands of years ago that serve a key purpose to us even today. Please find below my list for the Top 10 inventions:

1. The Internet: this one invention has probably changed the way humans interact with each other, live their lives and conduct themselves in society more than any other invention in contemporary times. What started off as a government invention in the 1960's has spurned unlimited new uses for everyday citizens, small businesses, corporations and governments. This medium remains the primary method of communication for most of the modern world today. This impact of this invention cannot be understated.
2. Wheel: this archaic invention allowed the civilizations of our ancient ancestors to transport much more goods and items farther distances now that they did not have to simply carry everything on their backs. It provided the option of mobility for our ancient ancestors, so they could be mobile across the continents if they so pleased. It also spurned a variety of other spin-off inventions (carriage, wheelbarrow, etc) that made life exponentially easier.
3. Cotton gin: this invention had a huge impact on the history of the United States, as it severely impacted the slave industry due to the fact that cotton farmers did not need as many slaves to separate the cotton from the rest of the plant. It was able to separate the commodity from the useless part of the plant, and contributed heavily to the end of slavery in the United States due to the fact that slaves did not need to be used in the cotton industry as much anymore.
4. Airplane: the airplane allowed for faster transportation and cargo transport that was much faster than that of the previous modes of transport (trains, ships, cars, etc.). It also allowed for exploration and more visual mapping of landscapes, which contributed to a more accurate mapping of the world. In addition, more cargo could be shipped to other parts of the world with the use of the airplane because now perishable items could be flown across the world. 
5. Refrigeration: this was huge for food production and for the poor because now, food could be preserved without being pickled. It reduced the amount of food borne diseases because now there were options to buy food and have it last for a longer period of time. Those from poorer classes could afford the option to purchase food, and have it last for a longer period of time. It also spurned new types of cuisines and food, as before, food could not be preserved without pickling, and now the option was open to store fruits, vegetables, and others 
6. Fire: this allowed for our ancestors to not only create light and heat, but also to bring them an added source of protection against the elements. They did not have to rely on their own body heat to survive colder temperates, and this gave them the freedom and flexibility to move to colder regions of the world.
7. Television: this created an entirely new medium of communication, and spurned a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to providing information and entertainment to the masses. The influence of television has allowed us to communicate to most people around the world, while also creating "stars" who work on the silver screen.
8. Radio: now information could be instantly spread to the rest of the world simply through speech. Although this came early on in the 1900's, it was a huge way to relay news and information to the masses during the numerous wars that occurred over this century. It was faster than the newspapers, and leaders of the world now had the power to communicate with their countries directly.
9. Electricity: this one invention cannot be understated given how important it has been to connecting our world together, and allowing humans to work and achieve more than they could to harness the power of machines and technology. 
10. Democracy: this was an interesting "invention" by the Greeks which has changed the way we govern ourselves completely. It has given us another way to govern our nations that involves the "power to the people" and not just the royals and monarchy. Although numerous variations of democracy have been formed, the core of this invention is extremely useful to us today.

Thanks,

Payal

Week 1 - Class Introduction

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog for IEOR 190G - I will be using this website to post all the class assignments and links to my YouTube videos. Here's a quick introduction about myself :)

My name is Payal, and I am a junior at UC Berkeley studying Business Administration with a concentration in Engineering Leadership. I was originally born in England, but have lived all across the United States, and currently reside in sunny Los Angeles. After working at Amazon my sophomore year, I have been extremely interested in technology since that internship, and have always been interested in the methods that new technologies are created, developed, and then patented. Given the intensely face-paced nature of tech, I am really looking forward to learning the nitty-gritty of the patent space, and diving deeper into the terminology in particular. I regularly read TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal, and love to follow the "patent wars" that the tech giants of our generation are always involved in. Patents play a huge part in which products and companies "win" over customers, and I believe learning about them is critical to understanding the core competencies of the company.

I hope this class will build upon the past business and engineering courses I have taken, and am looking forward to diving deeper into the world of patents. I'd love to connect with any classmates on LinkedIn.

- Payal Patel