Design patents and utility patents are two different things. Design patents protect ornamental designs, such as the shape of a perfume bottle or the design on flatware. Utility patents protect four categories of functional inventions: machines, articles of manufacture, compositions of matter, and processes (methods).
Continue Reading Obviousness Test for Design Patents Unchanged
A lot of people have gotten patents for things related to Christmas. Here are some of the most interesting ones I’ve found.
Continue Reading Ho, Ho, Ho and Fa-La-La-La-La: Christmas Patents
One of the most amazing accomplishments in the field of biotechnology has been the development and distribution of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19). The numbers tell the story.
The time from when the coronavirus’ RNA sequence, identified by China, was published on January 11, 2020 to the date that clinical trials in the U.S. began in March 2020 was 66 days. From the date the RNA sequence was published to the date that a vaccine was first administered to the public, on December 11, 2020, was 11 months. Within a year of the date the RNA sequence was published, both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech were providing thousands of doses of mRNA vaccines to people around the world. The mRNA vaccines were extremely effective – they provided about 94-95% protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. These vaccines are now available to anyone over the age of six months. In the world’s wealthiest countries, and in much of the rest of the world, vaccine availability is no longer a factor getting vaccinated.
Continue Reading From Saving the World to Fighting Over IP: Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech
In the last few years, the U.S. Copyright Office refused to allow a copyright registration for a work of art created by a machine, and a federal district court held that an artificial intelligence system could not be an inventor on a patent. However, before we decide whether an AI machine can have property rights, we will need to resolve a far more difficult question. Should AI machines have basic rights? This question requires consideration of ethical concepts, scientific knowledge, and legal issues. We cannot answer this question now because we do not have enough information.
Continue Reading Should AI Machines Have Rights?
On Monday this week, the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that the PTO would be revisiting the test for patent subject matter eligibility. The announcement was made on the blog homepage of PTO Director Kathi Vidal.
Continue Reading PTO Revisits What is Patentable
