Term
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Definition
A patent is a contract between the patent owner and a government. In exchange for the patent owner’s full disclosure of the invention, the government grants the patent owner a set of exclusive rights, akin to a monopoly, that are valid for a period of time specified by law. |
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Are patents enforceable outside of the country where they are filed? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the meat and potatoes section of any patent? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the "claims" section of a patent and what does it accomplish? |
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Definition
| This section, near the end of the document, consists of one or more numbered paragraphs—each a single sentence, sometimes long, sometimes short. The claims describe what the invention is and define what its “metes and bounds” are. The claims are the part of the patent that is construed by the court when a patent is asserted or defended in an infringement action. |
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| Name some examples of unpatentable items. |
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Definition
| mere ideas, suggestions, mental concepts and processes, mathematical formulas, business strategies, promotional advertising schemes, or printed matter, naturally occurring items such as sap from an ordinary maple tree, the laws of nature, old products discovered to have new uses; (however, a patent may be issued on the new use) |
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Term
| What are the three types of patents? Define each. List period of years for which each is effective. |
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Definition
Utility patents:Protect processes, machines, articles of manufacture, compositions,and improvements to these items. compositions= mixtures or combinations having properties different from those of their individual components. Articles of manufacture= any man-made item that does not
fall under any of the other categories. Processes= new uses of known processes, machines, manufactures,compositions of matter, or materials. Utility patents generally have a term of 20 years from the filing date of the application;
Design patents: protect the ornamental features, but not the function, of an object. An example is the configuration
or shape of a package, the surface ornamentation on the package, or both. Design patents require the design to be
new, original, and ornamental. Effective period= 20 years from filing date.
Plant patents: are granted to those who identify or discover and asexually reproduce a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber-propagated plant or plant found in an uncultivated state. Plants propagated with seed may be protected by the Plant Variety Protection Act, which affords protection comparable to that of a patent. This protection falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plant patents have a term of 14 years from the date of issuance. |
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Term
What are the three criteria that an item must meet in order to be patentable? What do these criteria mean?
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Definition
utility: The invention must be “new
and useful,” opposed to a mere theoretical
or mental concept.
novelty:The invention must be new
and not previously invented. For example,
in the U.S., novelty will be quashed
when an invention for which a patent is
sought was previously patented or published
anywhere in the world or disclosed
outside of a confidentiality agreement
more than one year before the filing
date of the patent application.
nonobviousness: The invention
must not have been obvious to one of
“ordinary skill in the art” at the time the
invention was made, in light of the art
known at the time. Most rejections
made by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office (PTO) are for “obviousness.” |
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Term
What are the three steps in filing a patent application? |
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Definition
1)Formulate a record of the invention (what is it?how does it work?) and key dates concerning when the invention was made. The pages should be signed and dated, on a routine basis, by the inventor and a noninventor(witness) who has read the pages and understands the contents.
2)Conduct a patentability search. Although not required by the PTO, a patentability search is generally invaluable because it identifies patents
and publications in the area of the innovation, thus helping the attorney determine how different the invention is from the present art and what limitations he need and need not include in the claims.
3) The final draft, reviewed by the inventor, is
then filed with the PTO. When the application
has been filed, the company may use the informal designation “Patent pending” or “Patent applied for” on the items and processes covered by the patent application, or in related advertising |
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Term
| What is the time limitation on filing a patent? |
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Definition
| In the U.S.,the inventor is allowed one year to file a patent application after the invention is either first publicly disclosed or placed on sale, whichever occurs first. This is in contrast to most foreign countries, where patent protection is not available for inventions that are disclosed before a patent application is filed. |
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Term
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Definition
virtually any type of confidential information that offers a competitive advantage in the marketplace
because it is secret. Includes a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process as defined by the Uniform Trade Secret
Act (accepted in 42 states) |
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Term
| What are the two stipulations on a trade secret? |
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Definition
1)offers a competitive advantage, actual
or potential, because it is not generally
known and is not readily ascertainable by proper means
2)is reasonably guarded by its owner to protect its
secrecy. |
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Term
| What is broader in definition, trade secret or patentable item? |
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Definition
Trade secret. All patentable inventions are protectable as
trade secrets; however, not all trade secrets are patentable. |
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Term
| Name 5 ways of protecting a trade secret. |
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Definition
1)Nondisclosure agreements
2)Restricted access to areas, information
3)Destruction of samples post-test
4)Marking documents "Confidential/Secret" |
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Term
| What is the purpose of the UTA? |
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Definition
Uniform Trade Secret Act protects against using improper means such as espionage, theft, bribery, misrepresentation,
and breach to obtain a trade secret, and disclosing or using the trade secret of another, without the owner’s authorization, when the trade secret was acquired
by improper means. |
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Term
Other than the UTSA, what law protects trade secrets? |
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Definition
Economic Espionage Act of 1996-criminalizes the theft of trade secrets. Penalties can include
imprisonment of up to 15 years and/or fines of up to $10 million for economic espionage for a foreign entity, and imprisonment of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $5 million for private
trade secret theft. |
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Term
| What are the determinants of finished product quality? |
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Definition
raw materials(ingredients and packaging
material), equipment design, and process conditions (including
packaging). |
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Term
If the issue of quality is raised, what questions should PD be asking? |
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Definition
• Do either sensory tests or instrumental measurements suggest that the observed quality
difference vs design is significant?
• Can it be demonstrated in a controlled experiment that the suspected determining factor (e.g., raw material, equipment design,
process conditions) is, in fact, the cause of out-of-specification quality?
• How feasible is it to bring this determining factor back to the state needed to reproduce design quality and what are the economic implications of making these revisions?
• If the feasability of matching original quality looks difficult and/or economic consequences
look significant, would there be a significant loss of consumer acceptance if quality is allowed to
stay as it is? |
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Term
List some reasons for negative change in quality of raw ingredients. |
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Definition
seasonality (agricultural ingredients), scarcity of supply (forcing use of a substitute), and
changes in the vendor’s practices (including how the supplier is sourcing his raw materials). |
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Term
List the most common causes of loss of quality related to equipment. |
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Definition
Differences that occur due to scale-up from pilot plant. Second facility comes on-line. |
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Term
Explain what could cause consumer complaints when product QC at the plant shows everything is fine. |
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Definition
1)product leaving the plant may be within quality specifications, but what is reaching consumers is
not.
2) consumers are notpreparing the product correctly.
3) there is a sub-segment of consumers, who were not detected in the original consumer tests
conducted during development, who simply do not like the product. |
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Term
List three possible economic deathknells to a good product. |
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Definition
• A sudden increase in product cost because of an unforeseen increase in the price of an important ingredient or because of lower than-
planned in-package yield.
• An increase in labor cost because some new supposedly automatic operation (usually at
the packaging end of the process) is not functioning and additional manual labor is needed.
• Throughput rate is not matching the assumptions made in the original cost and return on-investment calculations. |
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Term
How will R&D try to reduce costs if a product is too expensive? |
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Definition
Use cheaper ingredients/ less of expensive ingredients, speed up process, etc. |
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