What Impact Does a Patent Race have on Innovation?

 When we talk about patents, timing undoubtedly matters. In case two inventors are working on the same invention, then the one who reaches the Patent Office first holds the upper hand. The best example of a patent race is - Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell filing the Patent Application for the telephone on the same day. Bell received the patent, started a successful company, and is now synonymous with the telephone; on the other hand, only a few people remember Gray. For quite a while now, economists have been using patent races as a classic example of how firms innovate in a highly competitive environment. Let us now gain more valuable insight into the role of a patent race in the real world.

Winning the Patent Race

It is a matter of fact that yes - a patent office keeps the patent applications secret for sometime after they are filed. The same implies that two companies or firms may end up filing a patent application for the same innovation while not realizing that the other also filed. As per various reports and surveys conducted, a patent race has a significant impact on innovation both in terms of magnitude and direction. Winners, in this aspect, do 14% more follow-on innovation, and losers, in contrast, are near about three times as likely to abandon their innovation. The ones that keep going have to invent around and find some other technical paths to overcome or avoid the patent coverage of the winner.

If we consider the importance of winning a patent race, it won't be surprising to learn that firms in highly contested technology areas (where a patent race is frequent) do more R&D and file many patent applications. Furthermore, they usually patent in smaller steps instead of waiting until bigger milestones are achieved.

Who all are running in the Patent Race?

The patent racing behavior is surprisingly frequent - with somewhere around 10-11% of all the patents becoming a part of the race. In a few technology areas, a patent race occurs even more frequently; for instance, 13% of the patents in communications are in a patent race and 16% in computing, while, in comparison, only 5% of the patents in biotechnology are there in a patent race. There are various reasons, which explain the frequency of patent racing in these areas. In general, the patents in communications and computing are considered weaker, in contrast to the ones in biotechnology. Moreover, companies in fields like biotechnology avoid entering a patent race by either collaborating with the competitors or researching the already existing areas to minimize the risk of paying for expensive medical trials. To be specific, they don't wish to end up without patent coverage.

Bottom Line

All the points mentioned above prove that a patent race is indeed prevalent in the real world and is crucial for innovation. Without any second thoughts, winning a patent race protects the innovators, which, in turn, enables them to take their research agenda to the next level. On the other hand, a patent race deflects the losers, causing them to do less follow-on work and having to 'invent around' the winners.

Ref: https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/what-impact-does-a-patent-race-have-on-innovation/ 

Nike Secures Patent for Blockchain-based Sneakers Known as CryptoKicks

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently awarded a patent for blockchain-powered sneakers called "CryptoKicks" to the leading sportswear brand Nike. The company had filed the Patent Application this year in April to use blockchain technology for assigning a unique digital ID to its shoes and sneakers. As a creative blockchain-enabled system for recording and transferring the ownership of shoes, the patent describes how the digital assets shall be attached to the physical products. It has also further described how the ownership of the shoes would be recorded on the blockchain-based platform at the time of purchase.

As per the patent, the blockchain records enable verification of ownership instantly, with the buyers assigned a digital token at the time of purchase. Such tokens would then hold value in their own right, and can even be exchanged or traded in the same manner as other digital assets. The blockchain-based model also makes sure that the digital tokens are inherently scarce as they are tied to the production of CryptoKicks sneakers. When a customer would buy a genuine pair of shoes, its digital representation may be generated, linked with the customer, and assigned a cryptographic token, in which case, the digital shoe, and the cryptographic token would collectively represent the “CryptoKick.” The digital representation of the shoe may include a limited edition artist rendition of the shoe or a computer-generated avatar of the shoe.

Nike Again Sues Skechers Alleging Design Patent Infringement

Using this digital asset, the buyers can also trade or sell not only the tangible pair of shoes but also the digital shoe in a secure way. According to the patent, they can store the digital shoe either in a cryptocurrency wallet or any other digital blockchain locker. Moreover, if they sell the sneakers to another person, the ownership can also be transferred using the blockchain system and digital assets.

Additionally, the buyers of the shoes would also be able to “breed” or “intermingle” the digital shoe with another digital shoe for creating a “shoe offspring.” The newly bred shoe offspring can be custom made as tangible and new pair of shoes as per the rules of acceptable shoe manufacturability.

Nike's patent is an amazing example of how a company is using its creativity to retail products powered by blockchain. The patent suggests that the sportswear giant is moving towards launching more products tied to the crypto technology and blockchain-based system; however, no release date for CryptoKicks has come out in public.

Ref- https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/nike-secures-patent-for-blockchain-based-sneakers-known-as-cryptokicks/

The Importance of Patent Search before Filing the Patent Application

Though quite often overlooked, a Patent Search is indeed a valuable tool that can help the inventors and innovators to a great extent in saving money, time, and effort and avoiding the common pitfalls involved in patent prosecution. Under the United States Patent Law, the invention has to meet the patent requirements for even the Patent Application to be considered. The invention has to be non-obvious, useful, new, and subject-matter eligible. After coming up with their innovations, the inventors wish to dive straight into the patent application process. They believe that since the invention isn't there in the market yet, it automatically meets the said requirements. Unfortunately, this isn't the scenario. With somewhere around 40 million patent documents already published across the globe and a million more added to this number every year - only a small fraction of these inventions end up reaching the market. The reasons behind the same may vary, with the most general one being the inventor failing in addressing the issues at the stage of patent research, disclosure, evaluation, protection, marketing, or licensing. Additionally, there is an increase in the number of patent applications filed as well. As per the reports issued by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), in 2017, international patent applications had increased by 4.5% to 2, 43,500.

Not all the applications filed are successful in receiving a patent grant. The journey beginning from the conception of a unique idea to getting the patent registered can be a costly, time-consuming, and arduous affair. Therefore, it is highly advisable to be on the right track since the starting and conduct a patent search to get a clear idea of what kind of technology already exists. Undoubtedly, it will help the inventor in ensuring whether investing any further in his or her invention would prove to be fruitful in the long run or not. Furthermore, it is also imperative to make sure that your innovation is not infringing upon any already existing IP.

AVOID EXPENSIVE INVESTMENT DECISIONS

Without any second thoughts, filing a patent application, at the beginning itself, costs a lot more than conducting an adequate patent search beforehand. Going ahead with filing the patent application without knowing whether your invention meets the patentability criteria or not - makes no business sense at all. The consequences can be harsh in the long run, due to which, the inventors must analyze the results of the patent search before it is too late.

IMPROVE THE PATENT APPLICATION

By becoming a lot more familiar with the literature available in the field of inventions and innovations, the inventors can use the knowledge to their advantage and further implement strategies to draft the patent application. It will help the inventors by increasing the chances of getting the patent registered and also make the invention "litigation-proof" in the future.

GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE

One of the most intriguing benefits of conducting a patent search is investigating the already existing patents and the pending patent applications. By doing the same, inventors can gain useful insights into their competitors' corporate strategies and offerings and then accordingly make the business decisions. Technology maps, created as per the data obtained via the patent search, are specifically useful in this sense as they provide a precise visualization of the R&D expenditure and diversification of the competitors.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is quite evident now that patent search has a significant role to play in the IP Protection puzzle. Despite the initial investment made, an inventor can save quite a lot of headaches down the road. Moreover, even if the inventor is an expert in this field and believes that his or her invention is unique and original in all aspects, there are still any great ideas that have been disclosed in patents and are not yet known to most of the people around the world.

Ref- https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/the-importance-of-patent-search-before-filing-the-patent-application/

Protecting Ideas and Innovations Using Three Types of Intellectual Property (IP)

For protecting an idea so that someone else can't steal it, it is essential to secure one or more of the different forms of Intellectual Property (IP). Quite often, every invention begins as its owner's trade secret. Hence, there is a need to go ahead with Trademark Registration, Patent Protection, or Copyright Registration and have Intellectual Property Protection in hand before marketing the innovations or inventions. Most of the people around the world are not aware of the fact or haven't yet fully realized that they can protect their innovations using various forms of IP. Let us consider an example to have a better understanding of this concept. The brand 'Coca-Cola' is a trademark; its recipe is a trade secret; Copyright Protection is there on its packaging art, and its bottle or Can are protected by both a design patent and trademark in the form of trade dress. In the same manner, your unique product or invention can also seek protection by more than one type of IP. It is imperative to parse out which aspects of your innovation are suitable for Trademark Protection, patent protection, and copyright protection, respectively.

TRADEMARK

Safeguarding a brand's name deserves the utmost importance as one would never want to invest time and money at a later stage after finding out that someone else is already using his or her registered mark. A trademark is a name, symbol, or sign associated with a product or service and is known to protect a brand. To be specific, a trademark is anything that helps the customers in identifying a product or its source. Moreover, other things like color, sound, or smell can serve as a trademark too. The most common types of trademark include logos, watermarks, and slogans. If you are planning to go ahead with trademark registration, start by protecting the wordmark first and then seek trademark protection for the other aspects of your product as a part of your overall marketing and business strategy.  Besides, it is highly advisable to conduct a thorough search before filing a Trademark Application and ensure that nobody else is using a similar mark.

COPYRIGHT

Almost every product can seek copyright protection for at least one of its aspects. For instance - the images or words on the product's packaging, its label, and the product itself; can all be protected with a copyright. A few advantages of copyright registration include that the process is inexpensive, and the copyright is comparatively easier to secure. Copyright protection extends to the original and creative works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. It implies that creative or innovative works have been either written or drawn on paper, saved on an electronic storage device, or preserved in some other tangible format.
A few examples of copyrightable works include videos, articles, movies, books, software, and photos. Copyright protection doesn't extend to ideas or useful items, which fall under patent protection. It is a matter of fact that yes - software is a functional item, yet it can get copyright protection due to the creativity involved in the entire process of selecting, ordering, and arranging multiple pieces of code in the software.

PATENT

A patent offers an owner or inventor the exclusive rights to his or her invention and excludes others from using, selling, manufacturing, distributing, or licensing the product until the term of patent protection. Generally, a patent is defined using three attributes, namely, newness, non-obviousness, and usefulness. Patent protection helps in establishing a healthy market position as your new idea or invention can prove to a great differentiator among your business competitors. Also, you can commercialize the concept to earn higher returns on your investment. An interesting thing about receiving a patent is that even if you don't have enough time to exploit your invention, you can still license or sell it for generating a new income stream. Without patent protection, the world economy shall become a place of less creativity, innovation, and discovery.

Ref- https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/protecting-ideas-and-innovations-using-three-types-of-intellectual-property-ip/

Microsoft's new Patent Filing Reveals A Mysterious Portable Speaker

The world's leading multinational technology company, Microsoft, has been working on microphones and portable speakers for quite a while now, and it seems as if we are about to come across a final product very soon. Microsoft's recent Patent Listing specifies a portable speaker that appears similar to Google's Home Mini, in terms of design and size. Moreover, Microsoft has even referenced Google's device in its Patent Application.

Malek Chalabi, the principal design manager for Microsoft Teams devices, is one of the inventors of the portable speaker. He has suggested that the speaker will be used in the meeting rooms. In the past, Microsoft has shown "meeting room of the future" along with various prototype devices having the capability of improving the meetings in its labs. It also illustrated that the company would be further investing in new devices and the latest technology with an objective of re-imagining how meetings work. Another inventor in the patent listing is Dustin Brown, who leads the Industrial Design efforts and operations to create and prototype forward-looking experiences and hardware for the company's envisioning labs.

Coming to the design of the portable speaker, it appears to have fabric wrapped around its top along with volume buttons on the side and the facility to receive, make, and mute calls. All these details further suggest that the patent relates to Microsoft Teams and its meeting rooms, but doesn't specify whether the speaker would be Surface-branded or not. Additionally, the speaker also seems to have a removable base, which would allow it to charge and be positioned in the meeting room as per the need.

As of now, Microsoft has declined to comment on this patent listing. However, on 2nd October 2019, the company will be holding a Surface hardware event in New York City, in which it might reveal the details of this particular patent. According to the current rumors, Microsoft is also set to launch an ARM-based Surface, an AMD-powered Surface Laptop, and a new Surface Pro with USB-C.

Apple Files Patent Application for Gas Sensors in Future iPhones

With yet another possible aspect of technology in future iPhones, Apple has recently filed a Patent Application relating to dangerous gas detection sensors with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent hints at notifying the device users of the hazardous levels of gas in their environment. This time, Apple has focused intensively on adding a new ozone sensor (an in-sensor span calibration for the micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)) for detecting dangerous gases. Furthermore, the patent also relates to transducers, and gas sensor baseline correction using various other co-located gas sensors.

In the big picture, smaller than usual gas sensors or miniature gas sensors for consumer electronics represent a technology category that could empower up the upcoming features and items in applications such as smart homes, Internet of Things (IoT), and environmental and health monitoring. However, deactivation of the sensor materials in metal oxide sensors, along with chemical poisoning, can cause a drift in not only the sensitivity but also in the baseline resistance, posing a threat to the mass-market adoption of miniature gas sensors.

Apple's new invention addresses all these challenges. In one or more aspects, Apple has noted that the subject technology directs to configurations and devices for an in-sensor span calibration of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) ozone (03) sensor in devices including a smartwatch or a smartphone. The subject technology uses a light source to produce the ozone gas from the air inside a gas-detecting device. Ozone gas can be produced by using either UV light of short wavelength or with corona discharge. As the UV light of short wavelength can split O2 molecules into two free oxygen radicals, they can then readily combine with O2 molecules to create ozone gas molecules (0+O2=O3). The uncovered solution is to incorporate a controllable UV light source inside an enclosure of a gas-detecting device alongside a sensor particularly for ozone gas, including a metal-oxide (MOX) or another ozone gas sensor.

Apple's patent, as shown in the image, illustrates a method of providing a miniature gas-detecting device capable of in-sensor span calibration. A light source at no. 340 hints at facilitating the generation of the ozone gas inside the enclosure (no. 530). The gas sensor or detector is calibrated periodically by using a heating element to dispose of the ozone gas thermally for providing a calibration baseline (no. 540).
The USPTO published Apple's new patent application on 29th August 2019. However, when would such kind of a product come to the market stays unknown as for now.

Ref: https://www.kashishworld.com/blog/apple-files-patent-application-for-gas-sensors-in-future-iphones/

Image Credit/Reference: https://www.patentlyapple.com/