Anything Under the Sun Made by Man

I have often wondered the role of business method patents. Today, I was able to attend a very interesting talk by John Doll, the Commissioner for Patents. One thing that the Commissioner pointed out was that there is a 111 month backlog for business method patents. That is almost 10 years worth of backlog. Is this a problem or an opportunity?

Next week, I am on my way to the Hardware Show in Las Vegas. I love going to tradeshows because it is a great way to do two things I truly enjoy: seeing new technology and talking to inventors and entrepreneurs.

Which is the biggest lie? When I was working in the corporate world, with the specter of layoffs in the air and whispered sightings of tall men in hooded capes carrying scythes wondering the halls, our human resources representative sent out a widely broadcasted voicemail about the perilous situations of our jobs while she was “working from home”. The funny thing was that in the background of the voicemail, you could hear the frolic of young children and the splash of water.

Before becoming a patent agent, I was a design engineer in several different companies, each having some sort of patent incentive program to compensate inventors.

Maybe things are changing at the US Patent Office.

I filed an original design patent on February 6 of this year and received a notice of allowance dated April 18. That is a mere pendency of 71 days. It will likely take the PTO longer to get the application through the publication process than the entire examination process. I thought that it took longer than that just to get through the Office of Initial Patent Examination.