What Inventors Should Know About the Patent Reform Act

Experienced inventors exist in great numbers. They’ve most likely filed a number of patent applications and know generally how patent filing works. Nevertheless, with growing technologies and changes to invention paradigms, the US government has had to keep patent law up-to-date. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) often has rule changes, and they do their best to inform the public what the changes are. However, every now and then the US Congress makes large changes to patent law. In 2007, the Patent Reform Act was reported, containing many alterations to patent rules. A summary of the changes are listed.

The First-to-File Rule

Prior to 2007, the United States was the only country in the world that would evaluate patent applications in the order of the creation of the invention, rather than the date of patent filing. The change introduced here would make the USPTO evaluate patent applications chronologically based on the date of filing. The benefits of doing this would be to a) conform to international processes of patent handling and b) reduce legal costs and court time related to the length of each evaluation. Opponents to this change see a potential problem of inventors rushing through patent applications in order to file their patents earlier than competitors.

Approximation of Damages

In the past, inventors who recognized patent infringement could sue the infringer for royalties equal to the amount that their whole invention could sell for. In the Patent Reform Act of 2007, a change was made to this rule: the patent holder would only be able to claim royalties for the invention they created, and not the sales related to the improvements that the infringers made. This clarification was made in order to reduce the amount of frivolous litigation that has been apparent in recent years with high-technology instrumentation and software. Those opposed to the changes claim that the market value of the changes would be difficult to estimate, and would tie up the courts longer when a patent infringement case occurs.

Inventors Oath Changes

In any patent application, there is an oath that an inventor must sign to declare that the application is true to the best of his or her knowledge. The Patent Reform Act adds leniency to this rule. If the inventor is dead or disabled, and cannot sign the application, an assignee can sign the patent application in the inventor’s absence.

Interlocutory Appeals

Large companies who are frequently targeted legally during the patent process are always looking for ways to reduce their legal costs. With this change, a case which revolves around an incorrect interpretation of a patent can avoid a full appeal which leads to a second trial. Due to the fact that around two-thirds of incorrect interpretations are found through a full trial, an interlocutory appeal would increase courtroom availability. Although this idea would shorten court time, the interlocutory appeal would have to come from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and would take up a significant chunk of their time.

Third Party Opposition

Anytime a patent is issued, it’s unclear how the patent will affect the world around it. As a result, the Patent Reform Act changes the rules so that an opponent to a particular patent can file an infringement lawsuit up to twelve months after the patent was granted, assuming that the patent caused the person or group significant economic harm. Arguments made against this change focus on the idea that twelve months was too much time, and would allow for frivolous lawsuits. The change also proposes the creation of a new part of the USPTO, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, who would look over these legal actions.

Prior Use Defense

Before 2007, the prior-use defense, which protects companies from losing revenue gained before a patent or trademark was issued to them, was only applied to business methods. While this rule could essentially invalidate the purpose of the patent, it favors small businesses that do not have the know-how about patenting their trade secrets. In the Patent Reform Act, the prior-use defense is applied to all types of patents issued by the USPTO.

These were the most crucial changes to patent law introduced by the bills. Currently the Patent Reform Act is still being evaluated by the Senate, but in general, the support of these changes is significant.

About Invention Company Scams

Throughout history, the spread of literacy and the advent of engineering made intellectual discovery become a significantly defined part of reality. Engineering is the root of all invention, and inventors first came along when scientific discoveries were published and printed throughout the world. At first, there weren’t many early inventors. Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Leonardo da Vinci were considered invention pioneers. However, now that the world has gotten metaphorically smaller and knowledge about the world has become larger, inventors have become much more common than they were even 100 years ago.

Even though invention has been a popular activity, about only ten percent of patentable inventions are marketed successfully. In fact, if you are considering going down the road to get a patent, you may be turned off by the idea that your invention may never be widely used. Nowadays, though, you can find an expert at just about anything by just searching for it. If you do search for someone who can help your invention become popular, you’ll likely fall upon a large list of invention companies. Invention companies claim to help your invention get off the ground. However, very often, these invention companies are only interested in getting paid money that’s not owed to them.

Usually these companies are very attractive at first. They provide colorful brochures describing what it is that they can do for you, the inventor. They list patents that they had worked on and have shown success. They offer an invention kit – which contains a summary of the services that they will offer to you – and a place where they can be reached. If you contact them with a general idea about what your invention is, they will be very quick about getting back to you with their invention marketing plan.

This is the first point in which you could get scammed. They will compliment your invention, and claim that it has enormous potential to bring in large amounts of revenue. They’ll state that they’ll help you with the patent application, which, to many new inventors, can take a load of stress off their hands. They’ll say that they will run a search for patents that are similar to yours, and will make sure that your invention will be suitable to get a patent. In order to do this, they’ll ask you to pay a fee which is usually in the hundreds of dollars. If an inventor sends in the money, it’s very likely they won’t see it again.

Some inventor marketing companies will actually do a patent search for you. However, the search will be monumentally smaller than what a patent lawyer or a respected patent search firm could accomplish for you. The company will send back to you their search results, which are usually trumped by more marketing material that claims that your invention will go far when it’s taken into their hands. They’ll ask for more money – usually around $10,000 – to file a patent application, help with licensing, and market the invention using brochures and displays at trade shows. In addition to the up-front fee, the invention marketing company will indicate that they’ll require royalty fees in the ballpark of 10-15%.

When they get paid the fee, what they will really do is list your invention on a website or in a database. They may display it at trade shows, but the trade shows will be few and far between. They will, however, send you updates about its success, and in some cases, they may spin the success to sound better than it is. In this case, they may go on to say that the invention is so good that they expect it to make an exorbitant amount of money, and they’ll need a down payment on their royalties so that they can properly market it. This down payment can also be into the many thousands of dollars, and you won’t see any return on your investment.

The web is an excellent place to check up on inventor marketing companies to see if they are scams. It’s always important to determine just how many customers they’ve had and to get customer feedback. The Better Business Bureau also has quite a bit of resources available to the inventor looking to avoid scams.

What You Need to Know About Writing Articles for Money

Are you interested in making money writing articles? You may have read online that is a relatively easy way to make money from home. Yes, this is true, but there is more to writing articles for money. If you want to be a successful article writer, on all fronts, please continue reading on for a few helpful tips.

If you work for a client, you are usually referred to as a contractor. This means that the individual or company in question does not legally employ you. Instead, you complete a little bit of work for them, on an as needed basis. Since you will likely not receive health benefits, you need to closely examine your situation. If you are looking to replace your current job with article writing, examine health insurance and your need for it.

If you want to earn money writing articles for others, you may actively search for projects online. Online bidding websites, classified ads, and job boards are great places to find article writing projects. With that said, there are online scams that focus on freelance writing. The most popular of these scams is writing articles for a client and not having that client pay you. Use your best judgment when working with a new client. Ask for references or request to receive a small portion of the payment upfront or once the project reaches the halfway point. This way you won’t lose all of your work.

Also, know that you can write for yourself. To get started, find a third party content website. They allow you to post your articles on their website. For giving them usage rights, you may be paid. Popular forms of payment include an upfront payment or a page view bonus. There are also third party websites where you can list your articles for sale.

Articles can also be used to create a content filled website or blog. These articles make money through website advertisements. Depending on your personal preferences, you can apply for programs where you are paid for each click or paid a percentage of each sale that you help to generate.

Regardless of whether you write for yourself or a client, you will want to signup for a PayPal account. PayPal is a safe way to receive payments online. Instead of issuing checks, many paying clients and third party revenue sharing websites prefer sending payments through PayPal. An account is free to have. In fact, if most of your clients pay you through PayPal, you can request a debit card, which will give you easy access to your money.

Also, regardless of who you write for, you need to report your earnings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You will be subject to the self-employment tax. This is important as many new writers are left trying to come up with the needed cash at the last minute. When you are self-employed, even just part-time, you not only need to pay your income tax, but the self-employment tax too. You are encouraged to start saving money for payment throughout the year.

As for writing your articles with ease, are you using Microsoft Word? If not, you will want to purchase a copy. If you opt to acquire paying clients online, many require articles to be formatted with Microsoft Word. It also has helpful spell check and grammar check tools. Although this software can be expensive to purchase, you will easily recoup the costs in no time at all. In addition, save your receipts as all business related purchases can be recorded as a business expense.

The above mentioned tips are just a few of the basics that you need to understand to start making money as an article writer. To help increase your chances of making money, you will want to familiarize yourself with internet marketing, search engine optimization, and keyword articles. Doing so will allow you to increase your profits, no matter who you are writing for.