USPTO classes to help with your NY resolutions

Happy New Year! It is that time of year where many of us face up to our holiday excesses and resolve to improve our habits at the outset of the new year.

If you stretch your imagination, you can see that patents and New Year's resolutions have a lot in common -- both represent a step in the direction of progress, a promise of an improved state of being. (Not to mention the not-so-great success rates.)

This year, to improve on that chance of success, I recommend taking inspiration from the designers, scientists, engineers, and home tinkerers whose hard work towards technological innovations has led to improvements in quality of life for many of us.

Like any responsible librarian, I'm a die-hard classification searching advocate, so let's take a look at some classes and subclasses that address common resolutions:

Lose weight/get in shape
Class 482 Exercise Devices

The CDC recommends that adults exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. Dip into 482 to check out what people have done to develop exercise equipment that is safe and effective.

Travel more
Class 206 Special Receptacle or Package

Traveling is a great way to broaden cultural knowledge and a very respectable resolution. Before you pack your bags, have a look through Class 206, particularly under Subclass 278. Maybe there's a suitcase in there that will change the way we pack!

Keep better tabs on finances/pay bills on time/get out of debt
Class 705 Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, or Cost/Price Determination

Though the future of business method patents is a little unclear after the Bilski decision, you'll still find plenty of financial planning methods listed under Subclass 35 of Class 705. It's a brave new world! Of course, if you want to stick to paper and pen, check out fabulous file cabinet designs under Class D06 (Furnishings), particularly under Subclass 432.

Quit smoking
Class 546 Organic Compounds? Class 514 Drug, Bio-Affecting, Body Treating Compounds?

This one's tricky, and not just because there are a bunch of different ways to quit smoking. No, this one's tricky because I've never been too hot at chemistry. However, it's very possible nicotine replacement therapies fall under one of these categories. Just tell yourself that you'll have a cigarette as soon as you find it. By the time you do, you'll have broken the habit. Oh, and maybe chew some gum, which you'll likely find under 426 Food or Edible Material.

Here's wishing you the best of luck on your New Year's resolutions. Whether or not you find inspiration in the patent files, know that I like you just the way you are.

Happy New Year!

French court orders Google to stop Books project

The LA Times reports that Google has lost its first major court case involving its controversial book digitization project.

A Paris court ruled this week that Google's project violated French copyright law and that Google must pay a large fine and take down French works cited in the case. This ruling comes hot on the heels of a large settlement between Google and a number of US publishers and authors.

Right before the the court ruling, Nicolas Sarkozy pledged 750,000 Euros to support an all-French book digitization project.

The French objection to Google seems to have as much to do with wanting to preserve French culture as it does with disapproval of Google's interpretation of copyright law.

US Customs to Santa: "Don't put fakes in the stockings"

Taking a new direction from their traditional holiday warnings (Make sure that turkey is fully cooked! Make the neighborhood kids shovel the walk if you have a heart condition!), the federal government today issued a warning against buying unlicensed knockoff products as gifts this holiday season.

According to this AP report, US Customs and Border Protection wants to remind everyone that, besides being illegal, counterfeit products may not conform to the same safety standards as the genuine article.

It's worth noting here that a significant benefit of registering a trademark with the USPTO is that customs will work to prevent unlicensed fakes from entering the country. Learn more here and here.

Patent exchange to launch next year

CNN Money reports that a Chicago-based patent exchange is set to launch in February. The exchange will function like a stock exchange by selling and promoting shares of patent licenses.

This is a unique approach to selling intellectual property. Traditionally, patent licensing deals happened behind closed doors; this exchange will publish prices on its website.

According to the article, experts seem to predict that the exchange will either represent a breakthrough in valuing intellectual property or it will result in an uncontrollable tidal wave of litigation. Either way, it will be interesting to watch it develop.

Outstanding copyright tool

Have a look at this terrific copyright term slide-rule thingy created by Michael Brewer and the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy.

Part of the reason I love it so much is that I once spent an entire afternoon trying to make a flowchart to convey the same information. (It's impossible.)

This Michael Brewer guy has made some pretty far-out guides to intellectual property, which you can check out via Stanford's Copyright and Fair Use Center blog here.

USPTO announces that it is now slightly easier being green

In a press release in which the word "green" appeared 12 times, the USPTO announced Monday a new incentive to give a leg-up to inventors who have filed patent applications for technologies designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.

Under the initiative, applicants who have a pending application in a qualifying technology can petition to have their applications moved to the front of the queue. The first 3000 proper petitions will be given the accelerated examination.

Inventors Digest breaks it down clearly here.

Let the Green Rush begin!

Hot off the Federal Register, USPTO plan to help small entities move patent applications more quickly

During these tough times, it seems everybody's asking "Where's my stimulus?" For some small-entity patent applicants, the USPTO has come through with a Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan.

The USPTO announced in Friday's Federal Register a program that would allow small entities with multiple pending applications to elect to abandon one application and allow one further down the queue to take its place. That means that, for example, if my application from 2006 is no longer of use to me, but I have one from 2008 that's looking promising, I can request that the USPTO dump the 2006 app and move the 2008 up to the older application's spot in line. It's a win-win: the inventor gets a quicker patent issue and the USPTO gets to drop some dead-weight patent applications from their workload.

Read the full announcement here to get the details.