FILE  PATENTS  ON-LINE


The US Patent Office apparently has been paying some attention as to what is
happening today on the web, and has been developing some methods which might
streamline the patent application process. They have developed a Digital Certificate
method to carry on a private on-line communication between an inventor and
the Patent Office.


The following are the actual windows that appear during the patent uploading
process. The technical details to this invention can all be found here.


googlePatents.jpg


One of the greatest labor saving devices on the web is the Google Patent search
web site. This site is very good. It will enable one to see if something is already
invented in very little time. Patents were originally meant to provide a way for
inventors to publish the critical details of their inventions. Before the
Google Patent
site, usually only people in the legal departments had practical access to patents.
Now with the patent more publicly available, the US Patent Office may become a
more effective library for technology. Inventors must publish all critical information
in a patent so that a person skilled in the art can build a working prototype.

If one fails to find anything that comes close to your invention, it might be
wise to collect anything that comes closest as Prior Art.


spec_AB_Bias.jpg


Probably the easiest way to construct all the required text in the
proper format is to clone an old word document patent application.
Open it up in Microsoft Word and keep all the format the same while
changing the text. Then just print the Word document as a pdf file.

wordFormatting.jpg

There are lots of web sites on how to write patent claims.
Again it is easiest to just modify a Word document that
is already in the right format.

artwork.jpg


While the US Patent Office does have some rules about the
format of pdf files, it does look like the artwork can be
draw in vector format as oppose to raster. The artwork above
was done on Canvas. While it is always possible to convert
the artwork to raster format during the conversion to pdf
format, apparently it was not needed.


signIn.jpg


The Digital Certificate is a file that you can keep on desktop
and you will assign a password to it. To file a new patent,
go to the PAIR web site at the US Patent Offices and fill out
the on-line forms.



NewApplication.jpg

This is an electronics circuit invention, so it is a
Utility Application.


TitleIt.jpg


The Customer Number (covered by yellow) really just represents
an assigned address for the inventor.


DataSheet.jpg

One smart thing the US Patent Office did is to use pdf files
which have form fields. By selecting the two view option
boxes at the top of the acrobat reader window, the required
lines that need to be filled out will be highlighted. This
is great since all the data your type in will be uploaded into
their system.

add_check.jpg


All documents will be uploaded as pdf files. It is highly recommended that
each pdf file gets uploaded and checked one at a time. At this time,
one of their
form fields pdf files had a problem.

IDS_Form_Error.jpg


The Patent Office recommended to reprint out this form as a 300dpi raster
pdf file. That was submitted and it worked.

 

CalcFees.jpg


The web site includes a Fee Calculator with all the options.



submit.jpg
disclose.jpg



All nine required pdf files are shown above. The "disclose_LinAB_in.pdf
file was on another page and was the one that needed to be reprinted as
a 300dpi raster pdf file.




CanNowPayFees.jpg


Now that everything has been accepted, on to paying fees.



PayFees.jpg



And Credit cards are accepted.


recept.jpg


The PAIR system allows one to keep track of what is happening in the
Patent Office. Just log in and navigate to the application to see the
current status.


check_Up_On.jpg


Apparently all claims were accepted.

NoticeOfAllowance.jpg

And the fee to complete the patent is...

feeTransmittal.jpg



And the following will be sent by mail to your address..

patent_cover.jpg

Still waiting on Google to list this patent.

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