Collar apparatus enabling secure handling of a snake by tether US Patent No. 6,490,999 Issued December 10, 2002 This invention is one of the all-time greats in the Obscure Patent category, and is back by popular demand (or at least the request of a longtime IPWatchdog.com reader).  As in practically all patents, there are multiple claims. The first claim and…

In order to stay atop of what is happening in the patent world I subscribe to a Google news service that will send me an e-mail whenever there is a new post relative to patents indexed with Google News.  Most of what crosses through Google News in terms of patent news are short news stories about whatever giant corporation has…

I am pleased to report our April 2009 statistics, which show what is probably fair to say is our second best monthly traffic totals since IPWatchdog.com went live in October 1999. I say “probably” because we had about 10,000 fewer unique visitors in April when compared to March, but the total number of pages viewed in April was more than…

Talk about turn of events.  Earlier today I posted an article regarding how patent reform legislation is not certain because it is conceivable that there will not be enough votes for the bill on the floor of the Senate.  As I was writing that post the House Judiciary Committee was holding hearings on patent reform, and the hearing did not…

As we continue to wait for President Barack Obama to select the next Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property (a.k.a. the Director of the USPTO), I feel compelled to make yet another nomination.  As some may know, since September 2008, I have periodically nominated various people who I thought would make a good choice for the next PTO Director, including…

As of today, legislative patent reform efforts are working their way through Congress. We are further along the road to legislative reform than at any point in time over the last 4 years, but the ultimate outcome is still not certain. The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported out a version of patent reform, so there is a real expectation that…

Those familiar with the patent bar exam will remember that just under five (5) years ago, on July 26, 2004, the Patent Bar Exam moved to a computer-based, virtually on-demand exam, which is available at a Prometrics testing site near you.  Prior to this change the patent bar examination was administered twice a year using examination booklets and multiple choice…

About two weeks ago I received an anonymous letter from “A concerned observer” regarding the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI).  I realize that anonymous tips can be dubious, but the more I write about the Patent Office the more anonymous tips I get, and the more anonymous comments are made to various posts.  Some of the comments and…

Last Thursday I wrote regarding the USPTO, GlaxoSmithKline and Dr. Tafas jointly requesting an extension of time within which to either request reconsideration or rehearing en banc of the Federal Circuit’s decision in the claims and continuations saga.  This morning I learned that the Federal Circuit has granted the requested extension of time, so the parties have until the end…

Earlier today I heard a rumor from an exceptionally reliable source regarding the United States Patent and Trademark Office efforts to reform patent quality review.  Quality review, or QR for short, has become an anchor around the neck of patent examiners, and more than any other single issue has lead to the astronomical backlog of patent applications now facing the…

Today, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Aventis v. Amphastar (Docket No. 08-937). Inequitable conduct was the sole issue presented in the cert petition, which Aventis filed on January 23, 2009. According to the procedural summary in Aventis’ cert petition, the Federal Circuit held the patent on Aventis’ $2 billion-per-year drug to be unenforceable due to inequitable conduct because of…

Bathing Poncho US Patent No. 7,509,689 Issued: March 31, 2009 I am almost speechless, which does not happen often.  I came across this patent over the weekend.  It was NFL Draft weekend, which means that I was parked in front of the TV all weekend.  Between picks, and while waiting for a pick from the Dallas Cowboys that never came…

The PLI Patent Litigation treatise edited by Laurence Pretty has just been updated and includes updates of five chapters, providing you with the information and strategies you need to litigate patent cases successfully. Contributors for this release are John M. Skenyon (chapter 2), Andrei Iancu, Lisa Partain, and Kenneth Weatherwax (chapter 3), Brian E. Ferguson (chapter 4), Patricia Martone (chapter…

Yesterday I wrote about how the growing backlog of applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office has caused the average time a patent application remains pending to rise to ridiculous levels. Some have contacted me to suggest that I am dead wrong to imply that the problem is getting worse given that the number of patent application is…

I just received word that the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Dr. Triantafyllos Taffas and SmithKline Beecham Corporation (i.e., GlaxoSmithKline) filed a joint request for an extension of time to request either reconsideration or rehearing en banc at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  The motion seems to be primarily provoked by the government who…