Launch of Manufacturing.Data.Gov

According to an April 30, 2012 news release, Manufacturing.Data.Gov is now available as a "one-stop Web portal" for anyone interested in sharing ideas and "transforming emerging technologies into commercial success stories." The site will serve "as a public resource of high-value datasets, tools, and applications that can help entrepreneurs steer the entire product development chain for a project, from invention, engineering design and prototyping, to validation and testing, manufacturing, and sales."

Slate on Google Patent Search

To those that missed it, a few weeks ago Slate ran a fun and interesting article on the newly released Google patents search. While noting his amazement at the sheer amount of information contained in online patents databases (both through google and the USPTO), the author questions both the efficacy of google's search system and the usefulness of the patent system in general.

Supreme Court rules in patent case

On January 9, 2007, the Supreme Court announced their decision in the Medimmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. case. This case involved the issue of whether or not those who enter into licensing agreements with patent holders can challenge the validity of the patent in court. In the 8-1 decision, the Court decided that they could, maintaining that by entering into licensing agreements or paying royalties to a patent holder one did not thereby forfeit the right to challenge that patent in court.

Google Patent Search

Google has just added a new patent search feature to their expanding list of research tools. The site allows for simple fulltext searches as well as more advanced searches. This article has more details.

New Service - USPTO and EPO

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have announced plans to launch a new free service in January 2007 that will allow electronic exchange of patent application priority documents. This service will help applicants who file in more than one country by allowing them to claim "an earlier application filing date in one patent office based on a prior filing in another."

Patent Disclosure Document Program Eliminated

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will eliminate the Disclosure Document Program pursuant to the final rule published today. The effective date for this change is February 1, 2007.

Patents, Patents Everywhere!

According to Canadian Patent Librarian Michael White, everyone is jumping on the patent reality tv bandwagon. Ever since American Inventor debuted in the Spring of 2006 on ABC, other networks are following suit. PBS will be airing Everyday Edisons in May 2007 and are interviewing Oct. 28 in Chicago for the next season. Nov. 30 is the deadline for patent hopefuls to enter the History Channel’s Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge with a May 2007 airtime. Even Canadians are joining the race with two shows, Discovery Canada’s Patent Bending which tries to figure out why wacky inventions never became popular and CBC’s Dragons’ Den in which inventors compete for the backing of “business moguls” (the dragons).

When do you really need a patent?

For those who might have missed it, here is a terrific article that Business Week ran on the pros and cons of obtaining a patent.

Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge

Win a $25,000 grant if your "breakthrough" invention is selected by The History Channel for its Wednesday night (8pm/7c) television series Modern Marvels. Co-sponsered by the USPTO, the contest ends Nov. 11, 2006.