Issuance

OG/PLUS USPTO Research PubHcations CD-ROM versioa of the USPTO Official Gazette covers 1990—preseat iacludes searchable subfiles PATENTS ISSUED, images of O.G. pages searchable by bibHographic fields and first page abstract PATENT STATUS Ede, track-iag post-issuance actions, eg, reexaminations, corrections and LITALERT, containing records of patent suits filed by U.S. District Courts with the USPTO updated monthly six disks/year... 

Consensus standards are the key to the voluntary standards system because acceptance and use of such standards foUow direcdy from the need for them and from the involvement in their development of all those who share that need. Consensus standards must be produced by a body selected, organized, and conducted in accordance with due process procedures. AH parties or stakeholders are iavolved in the development of the standard and substantial agreement is reached according to the judgment of a properly constituted review board. Other aspects of due process involve proper issuance of notices, record keeping, baHoting, and attention to minority opinion. 

World Nuclear Industy Handbook 1993 (aimual issuance). Nuclear Engineering International, Sutton, Surrey, U.K. 

Once the patent appHcation is complete and the inventor has made a formal declaration of inventorship, the appHcation is filed with the U.S. PTO. In the U.S. PTO, the appHcation is the subject of a thorough, formal, and substantive examination by a patent examiner. Once the patent examiner is convinced that the patent appHcation satisfies the statutory requirements provided for under the laws of the United States, the patent appHcation will be allowed to issue as a patent. Issuance takes the form of a pubHcation provided by the U.S. Government. The pubHcation of patents occurs only on Tuesdays that ate not federal hoHdays. At the time of issuance, the patent is assigned a number and made pubHc in a form which allows all interested patties to obtain access to it. 

A fundamental statutory prerequisite to patentabiHty is novelty. A lack of novelty occurs when each and every element of the invention, as it is claimed, is found in a single disclosure which occurs before the date of invention. Such a disclosure may occur in any of a number of forms. To be an adequate disclosure, it should be catalogued or inventoried as a book might be in a reference Hbrary and open to pubHc dissernination. The novelty requirement presents the inventor with an extensive Hst of "cans" and "caimots." Unfortunately, the natural course of research and development often leads to activities which are much more readily categorized as "caimots" than "cans." Ultimately these activities may even proscribe the issuance of a patent if an appHcation is not filed in a timely fashion. 

Has the Invention Been the Subject of a Prior Foreign Patent Although one cannot be sure when, or even whether, a patent wiU issue from any appHcation, it is good practice to make sure your U.S. patent appHcation is filed within 12 months of the first foreign filed appHcation. The patenting of an invention in another country by the inventor or another party wiU preclude the issuance of a patent on the same invention in the United States. 

The disclosure requirement provides that the patent be a teaching document, and enhance the breadth of knowledge held by the pubHc. By increasing the breadth of knowledge within the pubHc sector, a given patent faciHtates further technological development and growth, which in turn results in the issuance of additional patents. 

If the patent appHcation is allowed based on an appHcant s response to the second office action, examination is ended. However, if the patent examiner advises the patent appHcant that the rejections will be maintained and the appHcant views these rejections as insurmountable, the patent appHcant may choose to abandon the patent appHcation. If the patent examiner maintains the earHer posed rejections, and the patent appHcant disagrees with the examiner, the patent appHcant may appeal the examiner s decision to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, which is comprised of adininistrative judges. The appeal process involves the noticing and briefing of the appeal, and oral argument before and a subsequent decision from the Board of Appeals and Interferences (step 10). Usually the oral argument is presented to, and subsequent decision is received from, a panel of three administrative judges selected from the full complement of the Board. If the Board panel decides in the appHcant s favor (step 11), the patent appHcation will be passed to issuance (step 12). If the Board decides in the examiner s favor, the patent appHcant will have to consider whether to refile the appHcation and request another round of examination or seek court review. 

Issuance of a United States patent transforms a patent appHcant into a patentee, and new concerns may arise relevant to management. For example, the patent should be reviewed to determine formal and substantive correctness. An audit should be taken regularly to determine whether there is a continuing justification to pay the maintenance fees required to keep the patent in force during its effective period. The patentee or patent assignee may have to address concerns of patent infringement or patent vaHdity. 

Other concerns which may necessitate a review of a patent after issuance include the discovery of prior art which was not uncovered during the examination of the patent appHcation. A deterrnination should be made as to whether or not the claims in the issued patent are too broad when viewed in light of this prior art. It may also be the case that someone who participated in the examination of the patent appHcation discovered prior patents, Hterature, or activities which they knew of but did not cite to the patent examiner. In such an instance, this prior art must also be reviewed in light of the patent claims to determine whether the claims are too broad. 

The Notice of Errors. The first mechanism for correction of errors is called a "Notice of Errors." This document may be filed by the patentee after issuance of the patent with the U.S. PTO and references the patent number, issue date, and the errors contained in the patent. The purpose of a Notice of Errors is to clarify the examination history of the patent and such notice dispositively corrects any misspellings, or typographical errors or omissions. One example of a problem which may be clarified by a Notice of Errors is an omitted chemical bond in a compound used in an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In short, the error is obvious and easily corrected. 

Payment of maintenance fees is required at the fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-year anniversaries of the date of issuance of the patent. The costs of these maintenance fees vary from year to year depending on the regulations of the U.S. PTO. The first maintenance fee tends to be fairly slight, allowing for the further enforcement of the patent with Htde economic burden on the patentee. The second maintenance fee tends to increase the payment from the first maintenance fee by a factor of two. The third maintenance fee tends to be substantial, increasing the payment from the first maintenance fee by a factor of three. 

Patent laws provide for several stages in the life of an application for a patent on an invention. The pattern followed by patent laws in effect in most industrialized countries during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and still in effect in the United States in 1995, calls for the examination of all patent appHcations to certify that the claimed invention meets the national standards for novelty, usehilness, and inventiveness. The owner of the technology to be patented files appHcation papers that include a specification containing a description of the invention to be patented (called the disclosure) and claims defining the limits of the invention to be protected by the patent, a formal request for the issuance of a patent, and fees. Drawings of devices and apparatuses, electrical circuits, flow charts, etc, are an important part of the disclosures of most nonchemical and many chemical patents. 

Under U.S. law, the inventor is defined as the owner of the patent unless the patent rights have been assigned to his or her employer, or some other individual or organization. Designations of assignment are typically filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) prior to the issuance of patents, and the name of the assignee is printed on the patent. In most countries outside of the United States, the patentee is the employer, rather than the employed inventor. 

Printed Patent Office Gazettes. The issuance of patents is announced by patent offices ia pubHcations typically known as ga2ettes and bulletins, which are pubHshed most commonly at the time of the patent s pubHcation, but there are exceptions. Advance information is pubHshed ia a patent ga2ette by some countries prior to the pubHcation of patent documents, typically as a notification of filing details. However, some patent ga2ettes do not appear until weU after the effective pubHcation date of the patents they announce. 

Food apphcations of sorbates expanded rapidly after issuance of the original patents in 1945 (92). The first uses were based on their excellent fungistatic properties and thus involved foods with low pH and/or low water activity in which yeasts and molds are the primary spoilage agents. More recent appHcation research has been directed toward utilizing the bacteriostatic properties of sorbates. 

Should a party fail to file an opposition against a pubHshed appHcation within the time allowed, the objection can be filed after issuance of the registration. This involves a proceeding for canceUation on grounds similar to those available for opposition. Although the procedures are similar, the burden of proof, which faUs on the party seeking canceUation, is more strictly constmed, at least in theory, in a canceUation proceeding. 

Both common and preferred stocks normally have a par, or nominal, value. In the case of common stock, the market value at the time of issue usually differs from the par value. Stock can be issued either at a premium or at a discount, depending on prevailing economic conditions and the strength of the company. The difference between the actual amount paid and the par value is listed in the stockholders -equity section of the balance sheet, as shown in Table 9-23. The issuance of stock at a premium or a discount is done to protect existing stockholders. 

Control of NO under the CAAA of 1990 will be accomphshed through the issuance of a revised NSPS in 1994, with the objective of reducing emissions by 2 miUion tons a year from 1980 emission levels. The teemission standards will not apply to cyclone and wet bottom boilers, unless alternative technologies are found, as these cannot be retrofitted with existing LNB technologies. 

Requirements for the issuance of permits to hazardous waste facihties (Part 270)... 

EPA must issue New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for any solid waste incineration unit not covered by another deadline lor issuance of such standards. 

Re-opener a permit condition that requires the permitting authority, at a specified time after permit issuance, to review and revise, if necessary, the permit based on new information such as the findings from post-construction monitoring, updated emissions inventories, updated modeling, research, or information on air pollution effects to terrestrial, aquatic, and visibility resources. 

Not all existing procedures or program elements of the overall health and safety program need to be incorporated into the HASP. For example, if noise is a hazard, the plan does not have to cite the entire hearing conservation program. Procedures already established elsewhere may be referenced, as applicable. In another example, if a confined-space-entry procedure is required, the HASP could reference the particular procedure which is part of the overall program. The next step would be to identify confined spaces at the worksite where the procedure applies, and then provide appropriate implementation procedures (e.g., conditions to be monitored, evaluation of the space, issuance of an entry permit). If special operational procedures apply to the worksite, they can be attached to the HASP using an appendix. 

Frequency of update The regularity of incorporation of new information into the resource or the rate of issuance of new editions of the resource. 

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