1. Wireless Mobile Devices Patents Dr. Tal Lavian http://cs.berkeley.edu/~tlavian tlavian@cs.berkeley.edu UC Berkeley Engineering, CET Week 3

2. Wireless Mobile Device Patent Areas 2 Operating System and Software Semiconductor and Electronics Display (Touchscreen) Qwerty keyboard Materials science

3. Wireless Mobile Device Patent Areas (contd.) 3 Source: ieeexplore.ieee.orgieeexplore.ieee.org MTSO HLRHLR VL R HLRHLR To other MTSOs PSTN Transmission Algorithms Data and Speech Coding Wireless Infrastructure

4. What is a Patent? 4 A form of intellectual property A grant of an exclusionary property right to an inventor by the government Prevents the use of an invention by others for the duration of the patent In return, the inventor must fully disclose the details of the invention to the public (the quid pro quo)

5. What is a Patent? (Contd.) 5 Protects an idea, not an implementation Patent owner can keep others from using the invention (they would be infringing) or license it Patent ownership (assignment) can be bought and sold or traded

6. What is a Patent (Contd.) 6 Right to exclude the making, using, selling, offering for sale or importation of an invention (may not “infringe”) Limited time (typically 20 years from the date of filing with USPTO) ‏ Limited geographic territory (issuing country) ‏ Monopoly awarded by the government for sharing the invention with the public

7. About USPTO 7 Go to: www.uspto.gov For example, you can search patents on this website #5, 778, 372 – “Remote retrieval and display management of electronic document with incorporated images.” #6, 339, 780 – “Loading status in a hypermedia browser having a limited available display area.” #5, 889, 522 – “System provided child window controls.”

8. Innovation: Long-term Health 8 Ideas Concepts Knowledge Secret sauce Skills Patents Creativity Inventions Software Trade Secrets Work Processes You need a healthy root system for the tree to flourish! Innovation

9. What Can Be Patented for Wireless Mobile Devices? 9 “Everything under the sun made by man.”  Products: things  Processes: ways to make things  Methods: ways to do things Improvements: better things  Software and operating system Both the above applies to wireless mobile devices!

10. What Can Be Patented for Wireless Mobile Devices? 10 Defined Classes  Article of Manufacture  Machine  Composition  Process Some more:  Business Methods  Services MTSO HLRHLR VLRVLR HLRHLR VLRVLR To other MTSOs PSTN Both the above applies to wireless mobile devices!

11. Important parts of a Patent Application 11 Title of the invention Cross Reference to related applications Stetement regarding federally sponsored research or development Names of the parties Background of the invention Brief summary of the invention Brief description of the several views of the description Detailed Description A claim or claims, abstract of the disclosure http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2005/12/what_are_the_pa.html

12. Patent Documentation 12

13. Important parts of a Patent –for a Startup 13 ClaimsInventors Filing Date http://mashable.com/2012/08/29/3-parts-of-a-patent-every-startup-should-know-about/

14. What is Not Patentable 14 o Laws of nature (wind, gravity) ‏ o Physical phenomena (sand, water) ‏ o Abstract ideas (mathematics, a philosophy) o Algorithms (e.g., abstract math) o Anything not useful, novel and non-obvious (perpetual motion machine) ‏ o Inventions which are offensive to public morality or designed for an illegal activity o Inventions that cannot be implemented using current technology (enablement) ‏

15. Types of Patents 15 o Design o The distinctive look o Plant o New or discovered asexually reproduced plant o Utility Patent o Process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, improvements

16. Types of Patents 16 TypeIs forTerm#s UtilityFunction, use20 years6,214,874 DesignAppearance14 yearsD202,331 PlantAsexually reproduced 20 yearsPP10123

17. Types of Patents (Contd.) 17 o Design o The distinctive look o Plant o New or discovered asexually reproduced plant o Utility Patent o Process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, improvements

18. Design Patent Example (What are the differences from a Utility Patent?) 18 http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/19/3659382/apple-design-patent-on-virtual-page-turn

19. Design Patent Example 19 http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/19/3659382/apple-design-patent-on-virtual-page-turn

20. Utility Patents 20 o Most applicable to electronics and software engineers o Usually the most valuable, complex and difficult to obtain o Must satisfy key criteria: o Invention must be  Useful  Novel  Non-obvious

21. Patents Must Be Useful 21 o Useful – process, method o Meets a need or solves a problem o Fills current or anticipated need o Can be “reduced to practice”, operated or enabled( e.g., can be built and function) ‏ o Can be an improvement (better mousetrap) ‏

22. Utility Patents Must Be Novel 22 o Must be new o Not done before in substantially the same way o No “Prior Art” o Not known to the public before it was invented  Not described in a publication (*) ‏  Not used or offered for sale publicly (*) ‏ o Includes your own work  * more than one year before filing patent application

23. Novelty Considerations 23 o How “broad” is the invention o What problem it solves o How it solves the problem o If the structure is known, are elements used in a new way? o If the function is known, is a new problem solved?

24. Utility Patents Must Be Non-Obvious 24 o Would not have been obvious to one “skilled in the art” to do this o Includes combining different prior art o Must not be trivial or insignificant o Examples  Substituting one material for another  Changing the size (miniaturization) ‏  Changing implementation (software or hardware, custom ASIC) ‏

25. How Much Prior Art 25 o For Anticipation o A single piece of prior art practices all the elements of a (single) claim (e.g., the claim “reads on” this single reference) o For Obviousness o Usually more than one reference used to practice the claim o Could be one reference PLUS the knowledge of the “Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art”, aka PHOSITA

26. Secondary Considerations In Addition to Prior Art 26 o The invention's commercial success o Long-felt but unresolved needs o Previous failure of others o Skepticism by experts o Praise by others o Teaching away by others o Solves an unrecognized problem o Solves an insoluble problem o Copying of the invention by competitors o Omission of an element o Crowded art o Not suggested modification o Unappreciated advantage