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> examiners for the most part seem to only look at existing patents [...] So if your work isn’t in one of these patent databases—examiners usually use the USPTO

> examiners for the most part seem to only look at existing patents [...] So if your work isn’t in one of these patent databases—examiners usually use the USPTO patent archive or google patents—it’s very possible your work won’t be discovered by the examiner. Would it be feasible to build an "unpatented" database where people could submit the inventions they don't want patented and have the USPTO look at it in their research? Maybe a patent version of what copyleft is to copyright?

antidesitter 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patentleft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patentleft
esalman 8y ago
I don't understand why the patent examiner wouldn't look into something like Google Scholar for prior art. This is the "unpatented database" where people submit inventions all the time- journal articles, preprints etc.
- epmaybe 8y ago
  If I understand correctly, the us patent system is "first to file" rather than "first to invent". There's a 1yr grace period from when an inventor publicly discloses an invention (say, in an academic journal) to when they must file a patent application. See this link for more details: https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/16/first-to-file-a-primer/ https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/16/first-to-file-a-primer/
- patentatt 8y ago
  Examiners do absolutely use NPL (non-patent literature) sources such as an including Google Scholar. Just because this one examiner in this case didn't include any record in the file wrapper also doesn't mean that they didn't conduct a search there themselves. But the evidence we're talking about here may not have even come up in a Google Scholar search as it appears it is only on a crowd funding page.
patentatt 8y ago
There used to be a thing called a Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) which was pretty much what you're describing. It was repealed in 2013, however. I believe the thinking was that simply publishing on the internet was sufficient enough to achieve the same purpose. If you want to make something available as prior art, make sure it is widely available, indexable, and accessible. You could also file a patent and let it lapse after the PgPub publishes, so for the cost of the basic filing fee you can put whatever you want into the official US Patent database. For a micro entity, that's only $75.
JackC 8y ago
The patent office is trying to build that, along with MIT: http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-prior-art-archive-aims-improve-patent-process-1010 http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-prior-art-archive-aims-improve-...

antidesitter 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patentleft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patentleft

esalman 8y ago

I don't understand why the patent examiner wouldn't look into something like Google Scholar for prior art. This is the "unpatented database" where people submit inventions all the time- journal articles, preprints etc.

epmaybe 8y ago
If I understand correctly, the us patent system is "first to file" rather than "first to invent". There's a 1yr grace period from when an inventor publicly discloses an invention (say, in an academic journal) to when they must file a patent application. See this link for more details: https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/16/first-to-file-a-primer/ https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/16/first-to-file-a-primer/
patentatt 8y ago
Examiners do absolutely use NPL (non-patent literature) sources such as an including Google Scholar. Just because this one examiner in this case didn't include any record in the file wrapper also doesn't mean that they didn't conduct a search there themselves. But the evidence we're talking about here may not have even come up in a Google Scholar search as it appears it is only on a crowd funding page.

patentatt 8y ago

There used to be a thing called a Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) which was pretty much what you're describing. It was repealed in 2013, however. I believe the thinking was that simply publishing on the internet was sufficient enough to achieve the same purpose. If you want to make something available as prior art, make sure it is widely available, indexable, and accessible. You could also file a patent and let it lapse after the PgPub publishes, so for the cost of the basic filing fee you can put whatever you want into the official US Patent database. For a micro entity, that's only $75.

JackC 8y ago

The patent office is trying to build that, along with MIT: http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-prior-art-archive-aims-improve-patent-process-1010 http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-prior-art-archive-aims-improve-...