Deutsches Museum, München Patent experiences Driek Rouwenhorst, Jakob Hermann Tango Meeting Deutsches Museum, München May 17th 2016
Overview The “Invention” Motivation for patenting Patent structure Requirements Patenting Process
Acoustic amplitude is a poor precursor Instability requirements Energy input Positive feedback mechanism Common strategies Acoustic amplitude Autocorrelation envelope decay rate Energy Coupling Acoustic Resonator Amplitude
Modal behavior needs to be taken into account in annular setups Annular geometry: Two complex amplitudes Two eigenmodes (per acoustic eigenmode) Monitoring strategy: Observe two modes by measuring at several points around the circumference to come to Modal amplitudes or Modal decay rates
Conflict in interest: to publish or to keep secret Why patenting? PhD Project: Share academic findings Company: Confidentiality obligations Patent live time 20 years. Hard to find infringements!
A patent protects intellectual property Grants the exclusive rights to use an invention In return for detailed disclosure of the invention Patere [Latin], to lay open Protection for 20 years in the country that granted the patent as long as the fees are paid… Prohibits commercial use by others Manufacturing, importing etc. Own responsibility to find infringements and take legal action! Permissions can be granted by the patent holder (usually in the form of license in return of a payment)
Claims form the basis of a patent Title Figure descriptions Body Description Technical background Examples Claims Summary Figures
Claiming requires careful consideration Claims must be supported, i.e. explained in the body Claims do not have to be supported academically Non-sense claims can be included to mislead competitors However, more than 15 claims will yield additional fees Keeping the claims general to avoid workarounds Hierarchy, using dependencies
Not everything can be patented Requirements for a patent: Invention Excludes some products/processes Novelty Not part of the state of the art not disclosed before filing Inventive step to prevent forming barriers to normal and routine development.
Patents only have national protection Patent grants are provided nationally only Virtual application in a group of member countries: Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) European Patent Organization (EPO) European patent convention Munich 1973. 38 member states PCT (Washington 1970) cooperates with 148 countries, single filing for the inventor
The application for several countries over the world is a time consuming process Receiving Office : (sets priority date PD) National/Regional filing of the patent/invention International Searching Authority: (12 months after PD) Researches patentability of the invention International search report and written opinion (16 months after PD) Publication: (18 months after priority date) Of the filed document, including the search report if available. International Bureau: (18 months after PD) Central administration and publisher Possibility for amendment in those 2 months (Supplementary ISR) Designated/Elected Offices: (30 months after PD) National/Regional phase entry
Concluding remarks Expensive and time-consuming process Countries have to be chosen deliberately Exclusivity should be actively utilized
PCT Application Process Receiving Office : (sets priority date PD) National/Regional filing of the patent/invention International Searching Authority: (12 months after PD) Researches patentability of the invention International search report and written opinion (16 months after PD) Publication: (18 months after priority date) Of the filed document, including the search report if available. International Bureau: (18 months after PD) Central administration and publisher Possibility for amendment in those 2 months (Supplementary ISR) Designated/Elected Offices: (30 months after PD) National/Regional phase entry