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System Patents
The Last Step
Asking the Right Questions
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Ideas to Assets

To make it easier for our customers to find information on the many websites of the BML family of companies, we have launched a new website Ideas to Assets. 

 

This site is basically  a categorized set of landing pages with links to appropriate contact on our websites.  Please try it out an let us know how you like it

 

 
 Newsletter - February 2012
  This newsletter is for the benefit of: our customers both current and past, our workers , board members and friends including those of you we haven't talked to recently. Please feel free to forward to others who might be interested in our activities.   Please realize that this newsletter contains only our opinions on patent matters.  We are not authorized to give legal advice.  If you are seeking such advice please contact an attorney.
System Patents

Avoiding Obvious Combinations

 

Often a client will tell me that they have invented something new, but because it is made up mostly of known components they feel it is probably not patentable.   That is not true.  Systems made up of known elements are patentable if the combination of those elements can be shown to be not-obvious. 

 

The familiar obviousness criteria used by the patent office, in all patent examinations, takes on a new appearance when the patent is a system.   The criteria for determining whether a system of known components is obvious comes from several  famous patent cases  US Vs Adams is one of them. 

 

In the Adams case, which involved a battery,

The United States challenged the validity of the Adams patent on the ground of lack of novelty as well as obviousness. 

 

"The Government argued that wet batteries comprising a zinc anode and silver chloride cathode were old in the art; and that the prior art showed that magnesium could be substituted for zinc and cuprous chloride for silver chloride."

 

However the Court ruled in Adams favor finding          "that Despite the fact that each of the elements of the Adams battery was well known in the prior art.... [K]known disadvantages in old devices which would naturally discourage the search for new inventions may be taken into account in determining obviousness."    In particular, the Court observed that the record disclosed the skepticism of experts before the invention, the endorsement of experts after disclosure, and unexpected results. In a case that featured a great deal of prior art very close to the invention, these secondary considerations evidently played an important, perhaps even dispositive, role.

 

The key then to defeating an argument of obviousness in a system patent is to be able to show unexpected results.  That is, if the system consisting of A,B and C behaves exactly as the sum of those elements, then a patentable result is not achieved.  However, if there are unexpected results or if problems need to be solved to make A,B, and C work together, then the combination may well be patentable.  I call this the Synergy argument.   If a combination can be shown to have results greater than the sum of its parts it demonstrates unexpected Synergy and can then be patented.

 

Note also the importance the court placed on experts option, both before and after the invention.   Most inventors are unaware that they can call on expert witnesses to support them in patent examination .   BML actually did that with one of our clients, finding an expert on cutlery to support the his arguments in defense of the unobviousness of his specialty knife.

 

 Did you invent a system?  Are you unsure if it is patentable?  Contact us to help you find out.

 Just  check us out at www.alacartepatents.com , write us at rblazey@businessmetamorphosis.com or  give us a call at  (585) 520-3539  

 

 

 

 

 


ITTr Logo

Facilitating Negotiations
The final step 
 
After we have found someone who is sufficiently interested in the invention, the next step is to begin negotiations.   The goal is to find a deal that meets the requirements of all parties.  The deal includes two pieces:  The Package, and the Price.   
 
Defining both of these elements is the goal of the Negotiations step.  The package is what will be sold and contains not just the rights to the patent but may include other things as well such as,  know how,  samples,  demonstrations, consulting time and any number of other things requested or offered  by either party.   In some cases a test is proposed and further phases of the deal are contingent on its successful conclusion.
 
The Price includes not just what would be asked to buy the technology , but also the terms and conditions of the sale.  There are various degrees of exclusivity which can be based on market or geography.  Further  the deal can be structured in any number of ways.   The three structures we find most common are Sale,  License and Option.  
 
Going further into detail,  a License incudes such elements as the downpayment,  royalty rate,  term and annual fee (often based on minimum sales numbers) 
 
The combination of a Package with a Price is defines an Option.  ITTr uses an Offering Sheet on which all of these elements of the option are recorded.  Offerings recorded on this worksheet include the offered price,  the selected option and the duration of the offer.
 
The final version of an agreement to sell or license is usually prepared by attorneys, but the information that they use comes partially from the offering sheet. 
 
The negotiation process itself has several steps,  and usually begins with a conference call involving most if not all of the parties to the proposed deal.  
 
ITTr feels it is important for us to be in attendance at these meetings, which often fall into arguments  on minor points, if not focused.  In the negotiations we define both the package , the terms and conditions and an asking price.   At some point the interested party may make an offer.  That sets off an exchange of offer and counteroffer much like a real estate negotiation.  Not just the price but other items of either the Package or the Price may change in the negotiation process. 
 
Attorneys may become involved at this point to put the agreement into the form of a contract which can be signed at a closing where all parties will be present and where initial payments may be made.
 
To Learn more about this process and how ITTr can help you make the deal at the price you want contact us.

 

Email : rblazey@ittrifecta.com

Phone: (585) 520-3539 

www.ITTrifecta.com

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

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 Tree Structured Scripts

Asking the Right Questions

 

Penguin Logo 

Penguin's Market Sonar product  calls prospects and customers to find out what they are thinking about.  That could be: what they think about you;  What they think about your current product or what they think about that product that you are thinking about bringing out.   But what questions do you ask and how do you ask them? 

 

That is where the skill and art of the Penguin organization can help.   You can hire an array of unskilled people and give them a list of questions to read, but if they don't understand what they are saying you won't get the right answers and you will turn off the very people you want to please.

 

Our scripts are carefully constructed and they are built with your input.  The first goal of the script is to find out if you are talking to the right person and if it's a convenient time for them to talk.

 

First we set the stage.  The recipient of a cold call will often think that you are selling something that they don't want to buy.  They want to end the call as soon as possible.  If the caller is brusque or impolite or sounds like a robo caller  ( or worse is a robocaller) the result will be a quick hang-up.  Our callers first establish , who they are,  that they are calling because they are doing a market survey, not selling something and that they will it will take just a little of their time.  Often we can refer them to an online page where they can answer the survey at their convenience.

 

Example: "This is Mary Jones calling from the Rochester Penguin Group.   We are conducting a Market survey for Acme corporation and they have told us your company is  a customer of theirs.   Acme would like to improve their products to supply you more of what you want.   The survey will be just 5 quick questions and you should be able to answer it in under 5 min.  If you prefer to  fill in the survey online, please give us your email address and we will send you a link to it. First we need to establish if you are the right person to talk to.  Are you the person responsible for buying X at [company's name].   If not can you please tell us who that person might be."

 

This sample script just illustrates the beginning of the voice of the customer interview.  Scripts are all different they are constructed with the customers input and approved by the customer.   If you want to know more,  contact us by email at info@rochesterpenguingroup.com

 

 
We appreciate your responses to our newsletters.  Please send us your comments.  We are always interested in what you want to know.
 
Sincerely,
 

Richard Blazey
Business Metamorphosis LLC

Referrals Welcome 

We are never too busy for your referrals.  If you know someone who could benefit from any of our services, please introduce them to us by phone or by email.  It will be much appreciated.