INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTIONBy Trevor Yates

Patent Your invention:

Product: entire assembly

Component: member of a collection

Characteristic: descriptive quality

Element: most elementary member, a subunit of a component or product

Attribute: capability

Example• Cover Page• Background• Summary• Description

Composition and Process For Treating Metal

• Abstract: “…provides a conversion coating with good protection against corrosion while requiring substantially less chromium than previous coatings of equal corrosion protection quality.”

• Background: “A very wide variety of materials have been taught in the prior art for the general purposes of the present invention, but most of them contain hexavalent chromium or other inorganic oxidizing agents which are environmentally undesirable….”

Summary of the Invention• A. “a component of dissolved fluoroacids of one or more

metals selected from the group of elements consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, boron, aluminum, silicon, germanium, and tin”

• B. “a component of one or more:”• 1. dissolved or dispersed finely divided forms of

metals such as…but later mentions dispersion is preferred

• 2. the oxides, hydroxides, and carbonates of such metals that can chemically interact

Summary Continued• A + B in sufficiently high enough concentrations, then

chemical reactions may occur at ambient temperatures within 24 hours

• Some agitation and heating will help speed up the reaction

• Also you do not want particles to settle in dispersed phase

• Compositions resulting from chemical interaction may then be utilized as metal treating compositions, optionally after being combined with a component (C) and component (D) and component (E).”

What is Component (C)?A water soluble or dispersible polymer and/or copolymer, preferably selected from the groups consisting of:

• 1.) “Polymers and copolymers of one or morex-(N—R1—N—R2-aminomethyl)-4-hydroxy-styerenesx = 2, 4, 5, or 6 and R1 is preferably a methyl groupR2 = H(CHOH)nCH2--, where n is an integer 1 to 7 but preferably 3 to 5

2.) epoxy resins

3.) polymers and copolymers of acrylic and methacrylic acids and their salts

-Or a composition containing hexavalent chromium and optionally trivalent chromium

What is Component (D) and (E)?Component D• Made up of water soluble oxides, carbonates, or

hydroxides of at least one metal element Ti, Zr, Hf, B, Al, Si, Ge, and Sn

• Must be added after A + B

Component E• Consists of oxidizing agents other than compounds

containing hexavalent chromium• Comprises both nitrate (16-18 mM/L) and halide (0.50-

0.55 mM/L) ions

Patent Timeline

Lawyer Fees• Odds increase that a meaningful patent will issue when

using an attorney with more skill and experience • $10,000 to $20,000 for non-provisional

Average Pendency US Patent Application

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 20140

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

25 2427

32 32

41 40 41

Months

Months

• 1600 – Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry• 1700 – Chemical and Materials Engineering• 2100 – Computer Architecture, Software, and Information

Security• 2400 – Computer Networks, Multiplex communication, Video

Distribution, and Security• 2600 – Communications• 2800 – Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and

Components• 2900 – Designs• 3600 – Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce,

Agriculture, National Security and License & Review• 3700 – Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Products

Laws• Provisional vs. non-provisional

• Patents undergo serious examination by USPTO patent examiner

• Patent examiners have incentive to reject over approve

• Professional response to case objections is a combination of claim amendments and arguments on the law as applied to the case’s facts

Is it worth it?

• Protection• Legitimacy• Leverage

• Time• Money• Exposure

Business Strategy• Licensing deals• Trade secrets

“In the pharmaceutical industry it costs an average of $350 million for a new drug to be developed and 95% of drugs tested on people cannot be proven to be both safe and effective.”-Forbes

“IP-intensive industries are estimated to generate 72% more value-added per employee than non-IP-intensive industries.”-RTI Group