May 2010 Edition
In This Issue:
Welcome Message
Welcome to the May 2010 edition of the Innovation e-Review.
This month’s feature article “Obviously a Challenge: Patent Survival Statistics & Tips” by
Steven C. Carlson and
Willy Chang of
Fish & Richardson PC describes the rationale behind what makes patent claims “obvious” in light of the prior technology, and offers pointers on how to use patents to extend a product line.
This issue also highlights
KinetiCast, a Web-based technology company in Coxsackie, NY that has developed a unique online presentation tool to meet the needs of today’s sales professionals, allowing them to send highly personalized and interactive presentations that catch the attention of their prospects, engage them in an interactive viewing experience, and then track their level of interest.
For May, our Research Spotlight focuses on
WebAnywhere, a new form of assistive technology designed by Dr. Jeff Bigham, professor at University of Rochester. WebAnywhere is a Web-based, self-voicing Web browser that enables blind Web users to access the Internet from almost any computer that can produce sound, without installing any new software. The system serves as a convenient, low-cost solution for blind users who are on-the-go or unable to afford a full screen reader, and for Web developers targeting accessible design.
The next webcast in our
Lab-to-Market series, ‘Social Media: Implications for Intellectual Property Law’, will be aired on Wednesday, May 12, from 12 to 1:45 pm. Attorney
Blaine Bettinger of
Bond, Schoeneck & King will be presenting. To register, please click
here.
And save the date for the NYS STLC Spring 2010
Lab-to-Market Conference entitled ‘The Task Force Report: Building an Innovation Ecosystem in New York State’. On June 18th, the event will be held at the Welch Allyn Lodge in Skaneateles. Click
here to register.
As always, we welcome your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to contact us at
nysstlc@law.syr.edu. Thank you.
Feature Article: ‘Obviously’ a Challenge: Patent Survival Statistics & Tips
by Steven C. Carlson and Willy Chang
Reprinted with permission from Biotechnology Law Report 2007 published byMary Ann Liebert, Inc., New Rochelle, NY.Patents are a key to product life cycle management. Successfully using patents to extend a product line often boils down to the legal question of obviousness. This is because an attempt to patent a modified technology is likely to be faced with the question of whether the newly proposed claims are “obvious” in light of the prior technology. What it takes to make a modification “nonobvious” over the prior art is one of the most important legal questions facing pioneering companies. It is the key to product life cycle management. And it is not an easy question.
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Intellectual Property News: ABA and SJC Back Patent Reform
by Amy Kim and John Amandolare
The American Bar Association (ABA) and the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) have reaffirmed their support for the Patent Reform Act of 2010. The Act is the third attempt at a major overhaul of the US patent system since the 1950s. Past proposals have failed due to lack of support for various controversial sections included in the bill. This new bill, however, makes considerable steps to find common ground between various opponents.
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Intellectual Property News: Report to UN Weighs Human Rights Against IPR
by Erin Lawless
The United Nations Human Rights Council recently received a report claiming that the United States is violating the human rights of the world’s poor. More specifically, the report claims that by promoting international intellectual property and pharmaceutical regulations that restrict access to affordable medicines, the United States is violating human rights.
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Intellectual Property News: Likely Supreme Court Justice Picks
by Erin Lawless
While President Obama and White House officials contemplate candidates to replace Justice John Paul Stevens as our newest Supreme Court Justice, the media speculates and weighs the likely nominees.
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Company Spotlight: KinetiCast
by Amy Kim and Eric Berlin
KinetiCast is a Web-based technology company in Coxsackie, NY that has developed a unique online presentation tool to meet the needs of today’s sales professionals. Through KinetiCast, subscribers can send highly personalized and interactive presentations that catch the attention of their prospects, engage them in an interactive viewing experience, and then track their level of interest. What’s more, KinetiCast even sends email notifications when the a presentation is being viewed, so that you can follow-up with prospects that are interested, even if you’re away from your desk.
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Industry News: USPTO Launches Ombudsman Pilot Program
by Amy Kim
In April, the USPTO announced the launch of its new “Ombudsman Program”, which is designed to assist patent applicants with application processing problems if the regular channels of correcting the problem fail. The pilot program, which is planned to run for one year, was introduced with the goal of saving applicants and the USPTO both time and resources while improving patent quality.
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Industry News: Peer-to-Patent Project Extended
by Erin Lawless
The Peer-to-Patent project, also known as the Community Patent Review project, is one of the USPTO’s many attempts to reform the patent system. This particular reform seeks to capitalize on gathering public input in a structured, productive manner by connecting the PTO to an open network of experts online.
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Industry News: TechCrunch to Host Startup Competition in NYC
by John Amandolare
On May 24–26, TechCrunch, the popular online website devoted to tech startups, products and websites, will host its first conference devoted to all-things startup in the technology world, TechCrunch Disrupt. Topics to be discussed include the role of media and technology today and in the future, as well as the growing presence of tablet computing, smart phones, software in the cloud, and rich-media platforms, among others.
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Research Spotlight: WebAnywhere
by John Amandolare
At University of Rochester, Assistant Professor Jeffrey Bigham has been leading an advanced research team in the development of new assistive technology to expand Web access for the blind. In 2009, they made a significant contribution towards this goal with the invention of
WebAnywhere, a self-voicing, Web-browsing application that can work off of practically any computer with an Internet connection. The application was designed to address the general absence of such Web-browsing applications for blind users. Despite the fact that the U.S. blind population is more than 1 million, no applications of this sort have been made available at an affordable price. WebAnywhere is an open source project and is free.
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Grants and Funding Opportunities
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