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Author Archives: mjwhitekingston
Early U.S. Patents Recovered
The USPTO has recently added to its patent database approximately 500 patents issued from 1790-1836 that were lost for 175 years. These documents were among the approximately 10,000 patents destroyed when the Patent Office, which was located in Blodgett’s Hotel … Continue reading
Posted in patent documents, USPTO, X patents
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New Series Codes for Utility/Plant and Provisional Applications
According to the USPTO website, there are new series codes for utility/plant and provisional application serial numbers. The new codes are “12” for utility/plant applications and “61” for provisional applications. The first applications of 2008 were 12/5,841 and 61/9,389, so … Continue reading
Posted in patent numbers, Series codes, USPTO
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Father of Modern Denistry – G. V. Black
Whenever I go to the dentist, I’m amazed at the number of specialty instruments and gadgets used to clean and repair teeth. Many of these are patented. According to the USPTO website, 19,194 patents issued since 1790 are classified in … Continue reading
Posted in dentistry, inventors
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May the IP Force Be With You
According to press reports, George Lucas and his company Lucasfilm are suing Andrew Ainsworth, a London-based prop designer, for copyright infringement for selling replica Star Wars stormtrooper armor. Ainsworth, who produced costumes for the first Star Wars movie in 1976, … Continue reading
Posted in design patents, Star Wars; George Lucas
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Advice for High-Tech Independent Inventors
As a patent librarian, it’s easy to become too comfortable with the stereotype of the independent inventor as someone who tinkers with simple inventions, such as toys and garden tools. After all, many people who seek our help are students … Continue reading
Posted in inventors
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Esp@cenet Improvements in 2008
The latest edition (1/2008) of Patent Information News, the European Patent Office’s quarterly newsletter on patent information, documentation and searching, is now available. Page 10 includes a list of esp@cenet improvements planned for 2008. They are: 1. Increase in the … Continue reading
Posted in EPO, espacenet, Patent Information News
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Edison Wasn’t the First
On the original Star Trek series, one of the running jokes was ensign Chekov’s tendency to claim that this or that technology was “invented in Russia”. Well, he may not have been right but the popular notion that the most … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Guitar Hero Hits Sour Note
Last week Nashville-based Gibson Guitar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against MTV Networks, Harmonix and Electronic Arts, makers of the popular Guitar Hero video games. Gibson claims that Guitar Hero violates a 1999 patent for a similar technology. The patent … Continue reading
Posted in Gibson Guitar, Guitar Hero
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WHAM-O’s 60th Anniversary Kid Inventor Contest
The new issue of WIPO Magazine has several interesting articles, including one on the 60th anniversary of the WHAM-O toy company. Wham-O is best known for introducing the hula hoop to America in 1958, followed by Frisbee flying discs, Slip … Continue reading
Posted in Toys, WHAM-O, WIPO
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Patenting the Atomic Bomb
Many thanks to Danianne Mizzy of the University of Pennsylvania for sharing this NPR story on the role of patents in the development of the atomic bomb in the 1940s. Many of the scientists (and their universities) involved in the … Continue reading
Posted in Atomic bomb, Secrecy orders
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Patent Librarian's Notebook 