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The article provides an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of a patenting policy and discusses the three tools that offer unique type of coverage or protection against treat of other patents. It explains the importance of keeping a laboratory notebook to protecting intellectual property, as well as the advantages of preparing a provisional patent application. It discusses the role of an issued patent in covering activities that constitute infringement and geographical reach.

Patents in almost any field of technology will be more and more basic (and therefore broad) as one reaches back in time. But when the development curve is steep, as it is in carbon nanotubes, many of those early patents will still be in force. Which of the early carbon nanotube patents are blocking patents, who owns them, how long are they in effect, and what is their sweep in a field that encompasses such a diverse array of materials, devices, and utility? The patents explored herein are divided into generations that are defined by the scopes of their claims. The first generation con-tains the patents that are broadest and thereby have the greatest potential blocking effect, since they claim the carbon nanotubes themselves as compositions of matter. The second generation is defined as consisting of patents claiming compositions or components that expressly reflect partic-ular nanotube properties. The third generation includes patents in which the properties reflected in the second generation are claimed in advanced contexts. The blocking effect of the first and se-cond generations is thus illustrated in the third. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have exploded on the technology scene since their discovery in the late 1980s, and their emergence in almost every field of technology from electronics to materials of construction to DNA is readily seen in the patent literature. The number of new U.S. patent filings reciting CNTs in their claims has soared year after year, and their success rate in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office far exceeds that of U.S. patent applications in general. In addition to the growth in CNT-claiming patent filings, the proportion of those applications in which CNTs appear in the first claim, the growth in the range of subject matters addressed by the patents, and the expansion in the organizations, both industrial and academic, to which the patents have been granted all testify to the growing importance of CNTs and the opportunities that CNTs offer for new proprietary positions through intellectual property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the consequences of not paying maintenance fees for patents, with reference to the case of "Rembrandt Technologies LP Patent Litigation." The patents, which concern cable modem technology and over-the-air signals, were originally owned by Paradyne Networks, Inc., and later acquired by Rembrandt Technologies, LLC, and Rembrandt Technologies, LP. The defendants reportedly asked the trial court to require Rembrandt to reimburse them for their attorney fees.

The article offers information on patent infringement and situations when actions of one entity be attributed to another entity. The topics discussed include the different attribution forms recognized by patent courts and court cases related to patent issues such as the Akamai Technologies Inc. v. Limelight Networks Inc. and the Eli Lilly & Co. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines, et al.

The article provides information on aspects related to essentialities of law of nature and eligibility for patenting and inventions. Topics discussed include considerations for patent courts to inbuilt fundamental to life, arising techniques for data processing and patent system obtained in electric power grid, and multiple arrangement.

The article discusses the issuance of patents in the U.S. It provides information on the misconceptions on patents which include the period of a utility patent remain in force and the occurrence of patent infringement during the term of the patent. It cites the case involving Patent Number 8,578,280 which covers methods and software for collaborative viewing.

The article presents an overview of the patent claims filed at the government agency the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The topics discussed include the patent infringement cases filed by chemical companies like the Nova Chemicals Corp. and Dow Chemicals Co., the estimated number of patients filed at the USPTO, and ways on how the USPTO invalidate patents.

The article discusses if a company can be held liable for patent infringement if it does not practice the patented invention. Topics include how direct infringement of a product patent occurs, two forms of indirect infringement including inducement to infringement and contributory infringement, and the why the patent would not purse the actual infringer even based on the case of Commil USA vs. Cisco System which was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The article discusses a case involving Corning Inc. and DSM Desotech which focused on how an obligation to sign over patent rights can have an effect on patent validity. Topics covered include Corning's filing of petitions with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which challenged the validity of several patents owned by DSM related to optical-fiber coatings and the PTAB's ruling that the reference was not prior art.

The article discusses patenting of computer-implemented inventions, focusing on the distinction between patentable processes and unpatentable abstract ideas. It explores the case involving the invention in Patent No. 7,346,545 by Ultramercial Inc., which shows arguments and resolution in the field of digitized music and downloading of MP3 music from the Internet. The court held that a method claim to an abstract idea is not a patent-eligible by referencing to a general-purpose computer.

The article discusses the importance of a patent portfolio and the preservation of trade secrets for a sound intellectual property policy in most corporations in the U.S. It notes the conflict between the patent policies and the trade secret policies due to the ranges of permissible subject matter for the two types of protection overlap. It mentions the risks provided by the omission of the inclusion of the commercialized embodiment of an invention to the invalidation of a patent's claims.

Explains the concept of patent tying, an arrangement where a patent is involved rather than a product. Condition prompting tying arrangements to become a violation of the antitrust laws; Citation of the patent infringement suit brought against printheads and ink manufacturer, Trident Inc.; Influence of market power on the price of the tying product.

Focuses on patent trends in nanotechnology in the U.S. Increased number of issued patents involving nanotechnology; Division of nanotechnology-related patent applications between process and product inventions; Identification of chemical engineering applications that uses nanotechnology.

Focuses on the filing of provisional applications, the first step in applying for a patent in the U.S. Cost of filing; Filing requirements; Relationship between what the provisional application describes and what the patent ultimately claims.