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1500 questions
85
votes
6 answers
How to torpedo a bad patent my former large employer is filing?
I worked for a large software company recently and quit to go work a much better place. I thought I had a clean break, but apparently the company is filing to patent work I did there.
The specific patent is basically simple configuration screens on…
user1005
63
votes
10 answers
Scaling based on pixel density (Microsoft) - Patent Application - PRIOR ART REQUEST
In 2013, this Patent Application has received a final rejection by the US Patent Office.
The rejection was based in part on prior art found by Ask Patents community below! The main reference cited by the Patent Examiner in the rejection was found by…
PHOSITA
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53
votes
8 answers
Can a YouTube video be submitted as prior art?
I'm trying to determine whether there is evidence that definitively confirms that a YouTube video can be submitted as prior art.
If there is an example of one being used as the grounds for rejecting an application, that would obviously work, as…
samthebrand
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48
votes
6 answers
Is it practical for a novice to successfully file a patent without hiring a patent lawyer?
I am an undergraduate student in the US, and have come up with a (hopefully) patentable idea independently of my studies. The upside of that is the university cannot claim any rights to my invention; the downside is that I cannot take advantage of…
nhinkle
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47
votes
10 answers
Microsoft have submitted a patent for a whack to silence a phone ringer. How similar does prior art have to be?
Microsoft has filed for a patent on a new technique that allow users of mobile devices to silence them by delivering a firm whack. From The Register:
Patent application 20120231838, aka CONTROLLING AUDIO OF A DEVICE,
aims to patent:
“A method…
Rory Alsop
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39
votes
9 answers
Prior art for linked list (secondary and tertiary traversal)?
This is the first I've heard of this patent for linked lists and traversals filed in 2002.
Note that the claim is not a patent on a linked list itself (discussion on Hacker News), but apparently on a doubly linked list, or a secondary traversal…
Michael Pryor
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39
votes
111 answers
DISSEMINATING MEDIA CONTENT REPRESENTING EPISODES Issued Patent - PRIOR ART REQUEST
This call for prior art is part of EFF's effort to bust a patent being asserted against podcasting. Read more about the initiative here. Help narrow US patent applications before they become patents HERE
This issued patent relates to a system for…
Daniel Nazer
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36
votes
8 answers
Can a sci-fi technology be submitted as prior art?
In response to a question related to multi-touch user interfaces this answer states:
Prior art as published
Multi-touch computer pads were used throughout the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994.…
Ondrej Tucny
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36
votes
7 answers
Are text and images in the patent copyrighted?
Sometimes, during a patent research, I found patents which comprise one or more similar images and/or text paragraphs. Are text and images in the patent copyrighted? Does any 3rd party, other than inventor and patent attorney, who filed 1st…
dsplatonov
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34
votes
3 answers
What is the window for finding prior art on a patent application?
I know that patents are not part of the public purview until months or years after the patent application is filed. Once these patent applications are made public, for how long can I submit prior art (or ask other people to help me find prior art)?…
Laura
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33
votes
13 answers
Prior art for video games played according to a selected value system such as the claimed "codes of honor"
US patent application 2012/0052930 is titled "System and method for the heros journey mythology code of honor video game engine and heros journey code of honor spy games wherein one must fake the enemy's ideology en route to winning"
Claim 1. A…
bib
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33
votes
8 answers
URL pointing to time of video (Google) - Patent Application - PRIOR ART REQUEST
This Patent Application received a non-final rejection by the US Patent Office that was based in part on Ask Patents contributions! An initial rejection is part of the typical course of a patent application.
Thanks to the YOU, the Ask Patents…
Marc Gravell
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33
votes
5 answers
How long are patents valid?
As an independent software programmer it is very tricky and time consuming to understand these patents. I would say it is impossible for me. Do software patents have a lifetime? If they do, it would mean, that in a few years we do not have to care…
user61664
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33
votes
4 answers
What constitutes an original patentable idea in software?
We regularly hear a lot of news about software patents and how certain companies own or are buying gobs of patents in order to stave off potential law suits.
What constitutes an original patentable idea in software?
wax eagle
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30
votes
2 answers
I had invented and published before this patent application - How do I get it invalidated?
In reference to the patent: PCT/GB2014/051152 WO 2014/170646 A1 granted and pending patents: GB1307148.5, GB1500104.3 and GB1500105.0 to What3Words Limited:
Here is the screenshot from the video I had published on YouTube on 10th of April 2013 that…
Ujjwal Singh
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