Hi Dylan You are correct & have raised the issue of patent scope: it is often an objective to enlarge the potential monopoly of the patent to stop competitors from getting around your patent.
The scope of a patent is enlarged by reducing the number of features in your initial patent claims so as to only contain the essential features needed for the preferred embodiment of your invention to work in its simplest form. This stops a competitor from having the opportunity of getting around your patent by putting a product/method/system to market which does not contain one of your claimed essential features. For infringement to take place only one patent claim needs to be infringed, generally by the infringing product, method or system having each and every feature of that claim. Therefore, if a competitor released a product with only, say, 3 out of 4 of your claimed features, then this competitor would not infringe your patent. So the broader the scope of your patent means that it will be more difficult for a competitor to launch a competing product/method/system without infringing your patent claims. This raises the potential worth of your patent, so long as the patent is not too broad so it can be revoked due to prior art destroying your patent's novelty. Remember also that a patent does not necessarily give you "freedom to operate" since you can have a patent, but may still infringe someone else's patent. I hope this helps 1Place www.1p.com.au On Nov 12, 11:51 am, Dylan Jay <d...@pretaweb.com> wrote: > my understanding of the process is that the lawyer will be craftily > turn your specific invention to make it has general and as widely > applicable as possible with infringing other patents (and sometimes > even that general). In this way your patent goes from being something > valuable for protecting your business to something much more valuable > to have in your arsenal to use against any competitor or someone who > has patents you want to cross license. > > That "generalising" of your patent is pretty tricky and lawyer-ish in > my understanding but maybe a lawyer could answer that better. > > --- > Dylan Jay, Plone Solutions Managerwww.pretaweb.com > tel:+61299552830 > mob:+61421477460 > skype:dylan_jay > > On 12/11/2009, at 11:27 AM, Mark Burch wrote: > > > > > > > You said: "the problem with drafting a patent is that you need to > > devote considerable time to it to get a document that is worth > > submitting." I suppose 5 years ago everybody thought that amicable > > divorce settlements needed to be drafted by a high cost lawyer in a > > suit and tie. According to that article it turns out for a lot of > > people, it can be done by the end user using a software wizard. > > So let me humbly challenge your thinking on that. Do you really need > > a high cost lawyer in a suit and tie to draft a patent application? > > Can you systematise the drafting process and put it in a guided > > wizard type thing, that a non lawyer can use to follow the bouncing > > ball? > > > I wonder if I could get a patent on a wizard that helps me submit a > > patent application. > > > Regards, > > Mark Burch > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > > [mailto:silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > > ] On Behalf Of 1_Place > > Sent: Thursday, 12 November 2009 7:29 AM > > To: Silicon Beach Australia > > Subject: [SiliconBeach] Re: New business models to protect > > inventiveness > > > Hi Mark > > > Your Wired reference has been on our minds: the problem with drafting > > a patent is that you need to devote considerable time to it to get a > > document that is worth submitting. This is one of the main reasons > > why the majority of patent firms only concentrate on the big end of > > town, since tying up an attorneys services in drafting a patent will > > often amount to many days work. > > > We have tried to turn things around and concentrate on the startup and > > growth community by offering bundled capped fees etc, or try to save > > our clients money by getting them to draft the first cut - however, > > many clients have problems dealing with the drafting side and we end > > up doing the work. > > > Thats why we are looking for a new business model that will help those > > that need patent services & also help put Australia on the map for > > inventiveness as viewed by the number of patent filings per capita. > > > There is a solution so we can help each other - but what is it? > > Exchange for services maybe? > > > All suggestions appreciated. > > > 1Place > > 1p.com.au > > > On Nov 9, 12:09 pm, Mark Burch <m...@markburch.net> wrote: > >> In a word, low cost elawyering. > > >> The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just > >> Finehttp://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/17-09/ff_goodenou > >> ... > > >> (Theres a bit about elawyering which may interest you). In a > >> nutshell we're moving away from high cost high quality services to > >> a world in which cheap and good enough is the norm. If you get in > >> front of that curve.... > > >> Regards, > >> Mark Burch > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > >> [mailto:silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > >> ] On Behalf Of 1_Place > >> Sent: Monday, 9 November 2009 7:16 AM > >> To: Silicon Beach Australia > >> Subject: [SiliconBeach] New business models to protect inventiveness > > >> Dear Silicon Beach > > >> Reading the LifeGuard paper:http://www.siliconbeachaustralia.org/lifeguard/ > >> & considering what can we do to help, we thought that we would seek > >> suggestions from Silicon Beach for ways to improve start up access to > >> legal and patent attorney services. > > >> Our belief is that there are other obstacles that prevent starts up > >> from having a easy path to success, one of which is the cost of IP > >> protection - and in particular patent protection! > > >> We would really appreciate any thoughts on how we can offer legal and > >> patent attorney services and still survive ourselves. Is there a way > >> that we could help IT start ups to secure patent protection for new > >> inventions and not go under ourselves? > > >> One way is to provide help for startups to put in their own patent > >> applications. We have an initial teaching aid for patents > >> at:http://www.1place.com.au/expert/expert_wizard.php?area_id=12 > > >> Please let us know other ways that we could change the way legal and > >> attorney services are offered to help make Australia more > >> competitive. > >> Any thoughts on this? > > >> We are sure that there are good alternative business models worth > >> trying; therefore, we are looking for your input. > > >> Thanks > > >> Michael > >> 1p.com.au --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://tr.im/ujKF No lurkers! 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