USPTO Considers 'Secrecy Order' for Significant Patents
4:04 PM - May 3, 2012 - By Douglas Perry - Source : USPTO
The U.S. patent and Trademark Office has issued a public notice in which it initiates the discussion whether certain publications should be treated as a "secret" and not be published.
Following a request from Congress, the agency is now seeking comments that relate to such a "secrecy order", which would affect patents that are "detrimental to the nation's economic security".
According to the notice, patent applications are not published "earlier than 18 months after the filing date", but the patent process takes an average of three years and we have recently reported here on Tom's Hardware about patents that take five years or longer to be approved. Potentially, there is a risk for the filing organization or individual that the patent application is simply replicated, could be stolen and applied for in other countries.
A secrecy order could potentially reduce the risk, and could apply if there is a substantial economic risk for the U.S. at play. While a secrecy order would be "ensuring that the United States receives the first benefits of innovations conceived within this country, so as to promote domestic development, future innovation and continued economic expansion," the USPTO noted that there are problems as well.
For example, "a secrecy order severely restricts the applicant?s ability to obtain patent coverage outside of the United States. A secrecy order prevents U.S. publication and patent issuance," the USPTO notice states. "A secrecy order also prevents any foreign or international filing of the application, with very limited exceptions."
Secrecy orders already exist in the patent system and apply to, for example to national security, classified nuclear technologies covered by the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. In such cases, someone who would violate the secrecy order via "publication, disclosure, or filing of a foreign patent application shall be subject to abandonment of the United States patent application".
Congress has asked the USPTO to update its secrecy order procedures and find criteria how they could apply to patents that touch economical issues. The request appears to be a an exploration to protect U.S. corporations in a time when foreign countries are making inroads in the U.S. and are filing a substantial number of patents and U.S. corporations are also facing a problem of protecting their inventions overseas. In 2010, for example, Samsung has been the company with the second most patent grants in the U.S. - with 4,551 confirmed patent,s the company was just behind IBM with 5,896 - and ahead of Microsoft, which came in third with 3,094. Positions 4, 5, 6 and 7 went to Canon (2,552), Panasonic (2,482), Toshiba (2,246) and Sony (2,150). Intel was 8th with 1,653 granted patents.
My response: /meh How about you update and revise the patent rules so it's more realistic with today's technology. (See previous thread about Motorola) I think the count is now HP vs Apple is around 50 lawsuits worldwide, in America, England, Germany, South Korea, and Australia.
4:04 PM - May 3, 2012 - By Douglas Perry - Source : USPTO
The U.S. patent and Trademark Office has issued a public notice in which it initiates the discussion whether certain publications should be treated as a "secret" and not be published.
Following a request from Congress, the agency is now seeking comments that relate to such a "secrecy order", which would affect patents that are "detrimental to the nation's economic security".
According to the notice, patent applications are not published "earlier than 18 months after the filing date", but the patent process takes an average of three years and we have recently reported here on Tom's Hardware about patents that take five years or longer to be approved. Potentially, there is a risk for the filing organization or individual that the patent application is simply replicated, could be stolen and applied for in other countries.
A secrecy order could potentially reduce the risk, and could apply if there is a substantial economic risk for the U.S. at play. While a secrecy order would be "ensuring that the United States receives the first benefits of innovations conceived within this country, so as to promote domestic development, future innovation and continued economic expansion," the USPTO noted that there are problems as well.
For example, "a secrecy order severely restricts the applicant?s ability to obtain patent coverage outside of the United States. A secrecy order prevents U.S. publication and patent issuance," the USPTO notice states. "A secrecy order also prevents any foreign or international filing of the application, with very limited exceptions."
Secrecy orders already exist in the patent system and apply to, for example to national security, classified nuclear technologies covered by the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. In such cases, someone who would violate the secrecy order via "publication, disclosure, or filing of a foreign patent application shall be subject to abandonment of the United States patent application".
Congress has asked the USPTO to update its secrecy order procedures and find criteria how they could apply to patents that touch economical issues. The request appears to be a an exploration to protect U.S. corporations in a time when foreign countries are making inroads in the U.S. and are filing a substantial number of patents and U.S. corporations are also facing a problem of protecting their inventions overseas. In 2010, for example, Samsung has been the company with the second most patent grants in the U.S. - with 4,551 confirmed patent,s the company was just behind IBM with 5,896 - and ahead of Microsoft, which came in third with 3,094. Positions 4, 5, 6 and 7 went to Canon (2,552), Panasonic (2,482), Toshiba (2,246) and Sony (2,150). Intel was 8th with 1,653 granted patents.
My response: /meh How about you update and revise the patent rules so it's more realistic with today's technology. (See previous thread about Motorola) I think the count is now HP vs Apple is around 50 lawsuits worldwide, in America, England, Germany, South Korea, and Australia.
