On the eve of Thanksgiving, two Fairfield County inventors won a patent on a technique to fight the classic telltale of aging ”“ varicose veins.
Their “Eureka!” moments have successfully navigated an increasingly disputatious patent system, but may be unable to mitigate the veins bulging out in boardrooms, as corporate America takes opposing sides in the battle for patent reform.
Congress is now examining whether to abandon the United States”™ practice of awarding patent rights on a “first to invent” basis, and instead adopt a “first to file” system that would give intellectual property rights to whomever gets an application on file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The bill would also limit damages for patent violations, an attempt to dissuade so-called patent trolls from acquiring patents thought worthless, then suing companies for millions of dollars who are using the technology on a legitimate basis.
This past summer, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of the Patent Reform Act of 2007. The House is now working to mesh the legislation with Senate version of the bill.
Under the current “prior art” system used in the United States, small businesses and entrepreneurs are thought to benefit by being able to move ahead with product development, without having to spend time submitting an ironclad patent first.
By contrast, the first-to-file system is thought to benefit large companies with pockets deep enough to employ the posse of intellectual property lawyers needed to move paperwork rapidly through the process.
Companies are lobbying heavily on both fronts. Members of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, which is fighting the bill, include Fairfield-based General Electric Co., Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. and PepsiCo Inc. of Purchase, N.Y.
Purchase-based MasterCard Worldwide has joined with a broad array of high-tech companies to support the Coalition for Patent Fairness, which supports the bill.
Nearly one year after filing a record number of patent applications, Fairfield County inventors are on pace to record 15 percent fewer applications in 2007, and could see a reduction in their share of Connecticut”™s total innovation activity.
Through November 26, USPTO had published just over 1,500 patent applications from Fairfield County residents, down from nearly 1,800 for the same period in 2006.
Connecticut as a whole likewise saw a decline to 3,250 applications.
The declines come even as USPTO processed a record number of patent applications for its fiscal year ending in June, which the agency credits in part to procedural improvements.
Because it can take years for the USPTO to award a patent, published applications have been a better gauge for innovation activity in a given year.
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The latest data may be skewed, however, by increased USPTO scrutiny over patent “quality,” which might cut down on future awards for inventions that do not represent true breakthroughs ”“ such as the first patent awarded this year in Fairfield County, to a group of local Eveready Battery Co. designers who won a patent for an ornamental razor handle.
Founded by Thomas Kottler and Peter Fratarcangelo, a Fairfield startup called VeinAid has received three patents this decade covering various iterations of its technology.
The company”™s device would apply pressure to a vein through the skin, opening the body”™s intravenous valves that allow blood to flow toward the heart, reducing pressure that causes veins to bulge.
Getting a patent like those that can reduce varicose veins, or make that shaver handle sleeker, is not a given. USPTO indicated it has shaved patent approvals to 51 percent of all applications this year, down from a record 72 percent in 2000.
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