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On April 17, 2013 at 2:29 PM Matt Maier <blueback09@gmail.com> wrote:
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Just to be clear, a patent literally means ownership of an idea.
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<a href="http://www.uspto.gov/inventors/patents.jsp">http://www.uspto.gov/inventors/patents.jsp</a>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;">What can be patented – utility patents are provided for a new, nonobvious and useful:</p>
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<li>Process</li>
<li>Machine</li>
<li>Article of manufacture</li>
<li>Composition of matter</li>
<li>Improvement of any of the above</li>
</ul> </li>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;">What cannot be patented:</p>
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<li>Laws of nature</li>
<li>Physical phenomena</li>
<li>Abstract ideas</li>
<li>Literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works (these can be Copyright protected). Go to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.uspto.gov/cgi-bin/exitconf/internet_exitconf.pl?target=lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/">Copyright Office</a> .</li>
<li>Inventions which are:
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<li>Not useful (such as perpetual motion machines); or</li>
<li>Offensive to public morality</li>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;">Invention must also be:</p>
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<li>Novel</li>
<li>Nonobvious</li>
<li>Adequately described or enabled (for one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention)</li>
<li>Claimed by the inventor in clear and definite terms</li>
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Mere ideas aren't patentable.
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<br/>Processes, machines, articles of manufacture, composition of matter, and improvements to these are patentable.
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<br/>In fact ideas by themselves would seem to get no protection under any law or IP system anywhere in the world.
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But as to my point about the opportunity for open technology, everything that could patented according to the first part of the list can be made open or public domain if the open inventions meet the criteria in the last part of the list (novel, nonobvious details, adequately described or prototyped, described clearly and definitely).
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This is achievable by an open technology version of Quirky, if such a venture would publish each invention and improvement of the community with sufficient information and samples (video, diagrams, prototypes, etc) for anyone to recreate it.
<br/>
<br/>Marino Hernandez
<br/>just a founder of Marketply
<br/>203-429-4205
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