Patent Shorts

USPTO Gets Funding Increase - the PTO has received a budget increase of about 9 percent for the government's 2008 fiscal year. The Office received the president's full funding request of $1.9 billion in a budget bill passed by the U.S. Congress in mid-December and signed by president Bush the day after Christmas. If you thought PTO fee diversion is dead, think again - currently there is nothing preventing Congress from diverting fees as 2008 progresses (link).

Summary Judgment Motions Filed in Tafas/Glaxo v. Dudas - in addition to 31 amicus briefs filed in support of Tafas/Galxo, and 16 amicii filed supporting the PTO, all parties have submitted their briefs for summary judgment. View Glaxo's brief (link), Tafas brief (link), and the PTO brief (link). Read more at the PLI blog (link).

A "Long-Felt, Unmet Need" Gem - Johnson v. Forty-Second Street, Manhattanville & St. Nicholas Ave. R. Co., 33 F. 499, 501 (C.C.S.D.N.Y. 1888):

It would be as irrational to charge an author who has produced a sentence of surpassing power and beauty with plagiarism, because the words which he employes have long been found in the lexicon, as to over-throw a patent for a new and useful combination upon the ground that its separate elements are old. By an ingenious assembling of known appliances this inventor solved the problem the solution of which had been sought for in vain through a long series of years. Although the goal was frequently in sight, it had never been reached; always some necessary requisite to success was lacking. The practical disentanglement of the difficulty was left to Newman. He made that a success which before had been tentative and rudimentary.

Courtesy of the Fire of Genius blog (link)

Viewing Patent Searches Visually - Check out PatentScrounger.com (link)

SparkIP Launches Clustered Patent Search Site

SparkIP launched a beta exchange "designed for scientists/inventors, universities, government labs, corporations, patent attorneys, and anyone doing research on patented or emerging technologies." Unlike conventional search sites, SparkIP offers "SparkCluster maps" which are designed to give structure and context to the vast amounts of information available.

The clusters are self-organizing and self-naming, which allows the maps reflect the latest terminologies. The site claims that there are over 49,000 SparkClusters, with more added each month, covering over 3.5 million US patents going back to the late 1960s. Plans are in the works to add patent applications, international patents, and other data.

It's an interesting concept and potentially useful tool for people that engage in "landscaping," and one colleague already commented that the site provided good ideas for capturing alternate or additional technology spaces during the patent drafting process. The site also plans to beef-up a licensing component that would allow potential purchasers to locate suitable technologies.

Check out SparkIP here.

See coverage from the Patent Baristas here.

New Search Tool: Patent Monkey

A new patent search tool was launched this month called Patent Monkey, and it's worth checking out. Started in part by former USPTO examiner Paul Graham, the search engine has a pretty interesting interface that I think works well. Features include:

• Fully searchable US patent text database
• Front page navigation with user-selectable Claims, Abstract or Description section in quick view window
• Patent status is presented on each patent page so you know which ones are abandoned and expired
• Create, save and share lists of patents (folders) with your colleagues via the web as well as on blogs
• Download any single patent PDF for free or bulk download PDFs from a folder as a time saving upgrade

If I have a nit to pick, it would be the purple text, which gets kind of hard to look at after a while. But the interface is pretty intuitive and I like the fact they modeled it partly on the "shoes" that were formerly used at the PTO. They also have a blog that covers various patent-related topics.

Search on Patent Monkey here.