Patent Blog

Patent Search India - Prior art search By Skilled Professionals.

A good professional lookup will be far more thorough than any search an untrained individual will be able to conduct.

Main points of a prior art search by TT CONSULTANTS skilled professionals:

• Key terms search

Identification of analogous terms with regards to your proposed invention is mandatory. Specialized jargon features its own importance while conducting key phrases search.

• Classification codes search
Recognize applicable patent classification codes related to your invention. Presently, commercial patent search databases have accessibility to utilize IPC-R (IPC amended) version and US classification maintained by WIPO. This facility allows executing a dynamic research by collating advanced level; subclass level; primary level and/or innovation level searches.

• Mixed search (classification codes+ keywords)

Oftentimes, the hybrid lookup will pitch much less number of publicized patent documents when compared with the other two steps. However, to get other hits you could amend the keywords which have been identified in the initial step.

• Worldwide databases search

This type of search is done on expensive paid databases like Thomson Innovation, MPI-Inpadoc, which provide access to patent data of almost 100 involved countries in patent filingenhancing the probabilities of getting pertinent results of your invention.

• NPL (Non Patent Literature) search

Whilst patent searching is a major part of prior art, it is not everything. Searching non-patent literature for instance any magazine, newspaper, or trade paper article created about inventions like your own.Keywords based lookup is done on The search engines, Google Scholars and also Google Books.

• Inventor/Assignee centered search

This type of search normally get you the patents which have either the similar assignee making the search even thorough.

• Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese indigenous patent Search

An overall search is not thorough until and until patent search is conducted by native searchers and also TT Consultants does that. We at TT Consultants offer a one stop program for multi lingual and multi geography patent search at very competitive prices.

Related Articles :

Changes in Patent Database and Final rules for AIA

The prime solution – Invalidation search

The significance of patent landscape

How do you safeguard intellectual property?

If you have Requirements, Please Submit Your Query

Automatic prior art searching

In the intellectual property field two task s are of high relevance: prior art search ing and patent classification. Prior art search is fundamental for many strategic issues such as patent granting, freedom to operate and opposition . Accurate classification of patent documents according to the IPC code system is vital for the interoperability between different patent offices and for the prior art search task involved in a patent application procedure. In this paper, we report our experiments with prior art search ing and patent classification in the context of CLEF - IP ’10 evaluation track. In the Prior Art Candidates search task, we strongly improved our last year’s model based on our experiments on training data (MAP 0.22) , but official results , alas, w ere far from the expected one s (MAP 0.14) .

According to EPO, i t is estimated that 80% of the knowledge is found in patent documents. Due to its importance as source of knowledge and to the delay in patent analysis caused the growth of applications, new areas of knowledge and size of patent databases, new tools to automate patent search ing and classification process es have become a hot topic in the last decades . As example, we can cite the challenges CLEF 2009, TREC - CHEM 2009 - 2010 and the workshops SIGIR 20 00, ACL 2003 and NTCIR 3 - 8 which all have tasks dedicated to patent retrieval. In that context, the CLEF - IP 2010 evaluation track proposes two tasks for automation of prior art search ing and of patent classification.

Global cos reluctant to introduce latest cancer drugs due to fear of patent infringement allegations: HCG chief

Global pharma companies are reluctant to introduce the latest cancer drugs because they fear patent infringement allegations from India. The stalling of clinical trials since January 2013 has also made access to advanced cancer drugs impossible in the country, said Dr. BS Ajaikumar, chairman, Healthcare Global Enterprises (HCG) which is India’s largest network chain of 27 dedicated cancer care centres in the country.

The hostile response from global pharma majors to boycott new cancer medicines into India ensues Novartis’ Gleevac drug which lost its patent protection here. This has turned painful for the scores of cancer patients in the country as they do not have access to the advanced targeted therapies. In this regard, HCG has made a representation to the new government and its health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan to take a look into the issue and provide remedial measures at the earliest.

It was at the conference of the Association of Surgical Oncologists in the US where global drug majors told the HCG chief that India was no longer on their radar for new cancer drugs. They were wary of the Union government as it did not comprehend innovation nor valued the intellectual property rights but were more keen to protect its generic drug manufacturers. Unless there is a relook by the government, only then India would be reconsidered, said Dr. Ajai during an interaction with the media.

http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=82842&sid=2

Collegium gets US patent covering Oxycodone DETERx

Collegium Pharmaceutical, a specialty pharmaceutical company, has announced that U.S. Patent No. 8,758,813 has been issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The patent relates to Collegium's Oxycodone DETERx formulation and contains claims that cover the Company's lead product, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release oxycodone product utilizing its proprietary DETERx technology.

Collegium currently has six U.S. patents that are Orange Book listable. All issued patents provide protection until 2025. Outside of the U.S., Collegium has three patents in Japan, Australia and Canada.

Oxycodone DETERx is currently in Phase 3 clinical development and topline data is anticipated in Q3 2014. The product has been designated Fast Track Status by the FDA.

http://itsoftware.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/news/collegium-gets-us-patent-covering-oxycodone-deterx-030714-4309528

Can You Identify These 12 Brands By Their Trademarked Colours Alone?

Colour can be one of the most important elements of branding.

For instance, Ford’s blue gives people a sense of comfort and stability, while Barbie’s bright pink evokes femininity and warmth.

As a result, many brands have trademarked their recognisable colours to protect the signature shades that help form their identity in the marketplace.

For instance, Coca-Cola has its iconic red and white scheme protected. Plenty of other companies have single shades of colour trademarked, which are crucial to how brands create their marketing, packaging, uniforms, and in-store design.

We wanted to see just how successful these companies have been at getting people to associate their brands with their trademark colour.

Can you name the company based on its trademark shade?

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/which-brands-own-these-signature-colors-2014-7#hint-shipping-1

New Patent Prosecution Standard? USPTO Provides Preliminary Post-Alice Corp. Guidelines for Evaluating Patent-Eligibility

In the Software Intellectual Property Report, Charlie Bieneman has posted some recommended best practices for patent applicants in light of new preliminary USPTO examination guidelines relating to patent-eligibility following Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l.

Read the full post on the Software Intellectual Property Report blog.

IKEA waits 8 years, then shuts down IKEAhackers site with trademark claim

Jules Yap (a pseudonym) created the IKEAHackers website in 2006 for the purpose of gathering together all the cool "hacks" of IKEA furniture she had seen around the Internet. The ideas range from simply adding decorations to make a piece look unique to major revamps that require "power tools and lots of ingenuity."

Yesterday, Yap told her following that she had "a bit of bad news"—IKEA's trademark lawyers sent her a "cease and desist" letter that was causing her to give up the domain name. "I am crushed," wrote Yap, who will move to a new as-yet-unnamed domain in the near future.

While she will keep the IKEAHackers site, Yap will transition to a new as-yet-unnamed domain in the near future, where she will be able to host advertisements. Yap described herself as "a blogger who is obviously on their side," and she lamented the fact that the company didn't talk to her "like normal people do without issuing a C&D."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/ikea-waits-8-years-then-shuts-down-ikeahackers-site-with-trademark-claim/

China’s new trademark law strengthens position of trademark owners

China’s new trademark law entered into force on 1 May 2014 and ushers in key changes in the areas of trademark registration, anti-piracy, well-known marks, proceedings and enforcement. This new law strengthens the position of trademark holders to act against infringement. And procedures will be shortened in time and carried out more efficiently. The new law is of great importance for companies that want to do business in China. However, there is much uncertainty amongst Chinese practitioners how the law will work in practice and what it will mean for the registration process. We will continue to monitor and report on developments.

China has long been criticised for being a safe harbour of counterfeit and trademark hijacking and for trademarks rights being violated on a large scale without repercussions. The rights of trademark holders will now be protected more effectively and efficiently. The new law is based on international standards, and De Brauw contributed to drafting the new law before the parliamentary committee in China. There are now substantial changes for rightsholders to strengthen their trademark protection and other new provisions, some of which are highlighted below.

Chevy trademarks 'Zora,' is a special Corvette on the way?

Automakers trademark names all the time, whether they want to protect some part of their past or if they are considering a model even far in the future. But occasionally a trademark pops up that is much more enticing than the rest. For example, General Motors recently reserved the name Zora for "motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles," according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The name Zora in association with GM immediately calls to mind the Corvette. Zora Arkus-Duntov is generally considered the father of the 'Vette, at least as the performance car we know it today. He helped get the Chevrolet V8 in the first-generation model to provide a performance boost over its relatively anemic inline-six. He also spearheaded the Grand Sport program that aimed to make the second-generation a world-class racing success.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/10/chevy-corvette-zora-grand-sport-trademark/

IFone Trumps IPhone In Mexico Trademark Ruling

Mexico's intellectual property agency said Friday it has ruled in favour of a small local firm's rights to the 'iFone' name, saying that ads for Apple's iPhone have encroached on the trademark.

The Mexican firm iFone SA de CV registered the name in 2003 to cover specialised telephone service for call centres and businesses, well before Apple registered the similar iPhone moniker in 2007 for its popular mobile handset. iFone doesn't make mobile telephones.

Mexico's Institute for Intellectual Property ruled Thursday that the two names are phonetically identical, and thus there was a trademark encroachment.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140608/business/business33.html

NEW PATENT REVEALS THAT AMAZON MAY SOON ACCEPT BITCOIN

Despite reports that America’s largest online retailer, Amazon, has no plans to jump on the bitcoin bandwagon; a recent patent filing by the online retailing giant may suggest otherwise.

Amazon’s head of payments recently told Re/Code that the company, as of now, has no plans to accept the digital currency. “Obviously it gets a lot of press and we have considered it,” he said, “but we’re not hearing from customers that it’s right for them.”

Nonetheless, Amazon was just awarded a patent that includes the mentioning of bitcoin as a source of funding for its cloud computing services, known as AWS (Amazon Web Services). The service according to Amazon “is a collection of remote computing services that together make up a cloud computing platform, offered over the Internet by Amazon.com,” the most central and well-known of those being Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3.

PATENT ABSTRACT:

Multi-tenant resources can be funded using payment submitted with requests for those resources, such that the resources do not need to be associated with a specific user account. A resource can be allocated and available as long as payment has been provided. If a user wants the resource to be available for additional processing, for example, the user can submit another request with additional funding. The funding can come in the form of donations from any user, or in the form of investments where the investor expects some return on the investment in the form of revenue, visibility, or other such compensation. One or more management components can track funding for various resources, can accept and select bids for period of sponsorship, and can manage various donation models.

Full news at:

http://cryptocrimson.com/2014/05/new-patent-reveals-amazon-may-soon-accept-bitcoin/

Lawmakers Push To Fight Patent, Copyright Trolls

Lawmakers are considering proposals to stop so-called "patent trolls." They say people who fraudulently collect fines under the guise of protecting intellectual property are hurting small businesses.

"Patent trolls" and their lesser-known cousins, "copyright trolls," basically search for opportunities to make money by claiming someone has used a protected idea without permission.

Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) says many businesses would rather pay the "fine" a patent troll asks for, rather than fight back in court alone.

"The patent trolls have really taken advantage of small businesses that don't have the financial resources to hire a legal team to fight off these patent challenges," she said.

Read more at http://peoriapublicradio.org/post/lawmakers-push-fight-patent-copyright-trolls

A New Tool in the Battle Against Patent Trolls: Shame

With a federal crackdown on “patent trolls” stalled, startups and small companies are turning to a low-cost tactic to combat frivolous patent claims: shame.

Some entrepreneurs and business owners who receive letters from patent-holding entities that demand costly licensing fees, or threatening legal action, are posting the letters online.

They say the move is meant to embarrass the patent holders, whose claims can be vaguely worded and often far-fetched – such as claims over the use of technology in a standard office fax machine or the transfer of data by emails.

From http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-538741/

British executive accused in China drug bribery

To stifle competition ahead of the 2012 expiry of the patent for one of its drugs, GSK used bribes to ensure hospitals were using the drug exclusively, Gao said.

GSK also set up a special unit to fend off bribery investigations, he said. Employees had obstructed previous inquiries into possible misconduct by bribing investigators and other government officials.

In a separate statement, police in the central city of Changsha, where the investigation began, said Reilly and two Chinese executives also are accused of bribing government officials in Beijing and Shanghai.

Police in Changsha said last July that employees appeared to be trying to evade GSK’s internal anti-bribery controls by making payments totaling as much as 3 billion yuan ($490 million) to a travel agency that gave back at least part of that money.

One of the detained Chinese employees was shown on state television at that time describing how he paid bribes to government officials to win support for use of the company’s medications.

Swatch mulls suing Apple over iWatch

Swatch Group, the world’s biggest watchmaker, says it’s taking action against Apple Inc over the most valuable technology company’s use of the iWatch brand, which it says is too similar to its own iSwatch label.
Swatch’s measures may include pointing out Apple’s branding to authorities in all the countries where it has been registered as a trademark, Swatch chief executive officer Nick Hayek said in a telephone interview. “This is the normal procedure to protect your own brand name,” Hayek said. “We react like this for all other brand names that we have protected.” Cupertino, California-based

Apple hasn’t yet disclosed any specifics for an Internet-connected wristwatch. Swatch Group, with headquarters in Biel, Switzerland, sells a digital-display model called iSwatch. Apple may be looking to make inroads on that brand name because the two are too similar, Hayek said.

The company is seeking to block Apple trademarks for the name “iWatch” because of its own line of watches called “ISwatch.”
A representative for Swatch told Watson: We assess the likelihood of confusion as given, the marks are confusingly similar. In all countries where the mark is registered, we go against it before. While Swatch says it will fight the trademarks, the watch maker will not give specifics as to how it plans to do so.
According to U.S. government filings, Swatch has moved in the past to block companies from registering the iWatch trademark.

Related post(s):
http://patentssupportonline.blogspot.in/2014/05/apple-expands-trademark-for-watches.html

APPLE EXPANDS TRADEMARK FOR WATCHES, JEWELLERY

Apple has reportedly moved to protect its brand in the jewellery and watch market, fuelling speculation that the rumoured iWatch will be released later this year.

According to MacRumours, Apple is “broadening and cleaning up” its application in trademark Class 14, which, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, covers “mainly precious metals, goods in precious metals not included in other classes and, in general, jewellery, clocks and watches”.

This is one of 45 trademark classes relating to different product categories that are adhered to worldwide.

In late December 2013, Apple reportedly filed a new “Apple” trademark application in Ecuador to add protection in Class 14 for a number of product types including jewellery and watches. Numerous other applications followed, including a Class 14-focused application filed in Mexico in early January this year, and a larger application filed in Norway in mid-February 2014 to increase protection over seven different classes, including Class 14.

Then in March, Apple also filed an application in the United Kingdom for Class 14 for the first time as part of a wider application to increase protection across a total of 12 classes.

Despite this, the company has yet to protect itself within its home country, the United States, and is still not covered under Class 14 in many of the other countries in which it operates.

Read full story here.

United Confectioners loses Icebreaker trademark in Hershey dispute

The court yesterday upheld an earlier decision to rescind United Confectioners’ IceBReAKeR trademark, which belonged to the company’s Red October subsidiary.
Hershey successfully argued that Red October (Krasny Oktyabar) had infringed Hershey’s Russian trademark for ICE BREAKERS. The US firm said that it was preparing to supply its Ice Breakers gum and mint brand on Russian territory.
Hershey welcomes the decision
Jeff Beckman, director of corporate communications at Hershey, told ConfectioneryNews:“Hershey is pleased with the Russian court’s decision upholding the cancellation of the Krasny Oktyabar registration. This decision is important because Ice Breakers is an iconic brand and one of the key global brands in our product portfolio.”

More at Confectionarynews.

Sony Trademarks Bloodborne and Microsoft Registers XboxAb

As we venture close to E3 2014, both Sony and Microsoft have started locking down trademarks and domains.

Earlier today, Microsoft was spotted to have had registered two mysterious domains – XboxAb.com and XboxAb.net. Both were filed simultaneously and there’s no information on what they could be. Microsoft has kept quite upon questioning and the ‘ab’ part just makes us assume it has something to do with a new fitness Kinect game which may be getting ready to be revealed at E3.

A couple of hours ago Sony came into the spotlight as well. The company recently filed for the registration of a trademark for something called Bloodborne with the US Patents and Trademark Office.

More assumptions lead us to Bloodborne perhaps having something to do with a vampire or undead related game. Others on the web are linking it with Resistance 3; where Bloodborne was the name of a challenging trophy that asked you to kill three enemies simultaneously using a single mutated body.

E3 2014 begins in June and this time around Microsoft is looking to make amends. The company has already outed its plans to keep the presentation short and restricted to just games alone. Sony on the other hand will be hoping to capitalize on its so far victorious march and to increase its lead with the announcements of some new games.

Patents and Prior Art explained

Some frequently asked questions about Prior Art.

What exactly is the process to obtain a patent?

The patent process differs from land to land, but usually consists of a patent application, an overview of the application by that nation’s patent office and granting or refusal of the patent. While this basic procedure might sound like a piece of cake, it is in essence, often complicated and very expensive. It could take, say, between a couple of months to a year to draft a complex patent application and, in the United States, it can take 2-5 years for the patent office to grant or deny a patent.

What is Prior Art?

Prior art is one of the key concepts in patent applications and litigation. Prior art encompasses all information that has been disclosed to the publicly, in any form, anywhere in the world, about an invention before a given date, usually the filing date of the particular patent. Prior art includes not only previous patents, but also any other published materials, including scientific papers (in patent lingo, any publications/journals unearthed in a prior art search that aren’t patents are called non-patent literature or NPL).

If an invention was described in prior art, a patent on that invention is not valid. Therefore, patent applications must include relevant prior art and prove that the prior art does not apply directly to the pending invention. Likewise, someone trying to prove that a specific patent is invalid can do so by finding prior art -- a mention of the invention in any publication -- from before the patent was filed/submitted.

What are the types of Prior Art Searches?

Prior art searches are undertaken for a variety of reasons. Here are the main types of prior art searches:

Patentability/Novelty: A search conducted to determine whether an invention is novel i.e. new and therefore, patentable. These types of searches aim to determine if important elements of a new technology have previously been disclosed in any publication. They are generally performed when an inventor or company is deciding to submit an application for a patent and by patent office personnel while reviewing patent applications.

Validity/Invalidity Searches: A search conducted after a patent has been issued, to ascertain whether or not the patent office overlooked existing prior art, which could invalidate the said patent. These searches are conducted by businesses accused of infringing on a patent. If they can prove the patent invalid, there is nothing to infringe on. They are also undertaken by businesses with a financial risk in a patent (contemplating buying or licensing it).

Clearance or Freedom to Operate Search: A search of issued patents to see whether an idea infringes on any existing patents. If it does, the inventor may make an effort to invalidate those patents, design a work-around or even abandon the idea altogether. Also, a clearance/freedom to operate search may reveal that an idea is covered by patents in certain nations around the world, but not others, and enable} an inventor to act accordingly.

State of the Art: A search that aims to establish the overall “state of the art” for a particular invention or field, such as patent and non-patent literature. Generally, organizations perform these sorts of searches to understand the present situation in a given field and their place within it. They are able to identify the latest technology, see what competitors are upto and create their plan for moving forward.

Patent Landscape: These searches are comprehensive analysis of all the patents related to a certain technology/technological innovation. They generally start with a state of the art search to find the relevant patents and then include further evaluation of the patents involved. Patent landscape searches generally include graphical representation of information regarding the patents.

TT Consultants offer the most exhaustive prior art searches in India. In our 7 years of being in the IP field, we have helped several US and Asian companies save huge litigation costs by uncovering highly useful prior arts. We have Mandarin, Japanese and Korea native searching capability. We are a preferred choice for companies involved in complex patent litigation and have represented many Joint Defense Groups (JDGs) in such cases to identify relevant prior art for invalidating potentially dangerous patents.

Venus Remedies a High rated firm in Chandigarh Got a new patent.

New Japanese Patent For antibiotic Drug Elore is what Venus Bags for.

Venus Remedies has surged nearly 7% to Rs 277, bouncing back 9.5% from intra-day’s low.

Antibiotic drug manufacturer Venus has Informed the BSE regarding the Japanese patent, an antibiotic for super-bugs, Elore. JPO has respectively granted patent for this drug.

The expectation of launching this product is by 2015 end. This unique antibiotic adjuvent creates a great effect to Highly resistive gram -ve bacteria ESBL/MBL. Venus has already filed EU CTD in Europe and is at the verge of getting MA grant for the product. Since EU and Japan has understanding on regulatory front within no time the product can be made available in Japanese market receiving EU MA grant. Japanese patent has given it now exclusivity for the product in one of the world's most important and lucrative healthcare markets upto 2015.

Other Articles :