Intellectual Property

The woman dubbed “Lady Edison” in the 1930s received 49 U.S. patents and was responsible for at least 100 inventions.

Molly Kocialski, director of the USPTO’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office, reached behind a screen during an interview with Gitanjali on the first day of the USPTO’s recent Invention-Con 2021. She presented her with a beautifully framed display that people three, four, and five times her age would love to have.

Intellectual property (IP) is essential in protecting that identity, but there is much the general public does not realize about its importance. IP violations can jeopardize USOPC’s essential sponsorships and licensing relationships.

The ebullient Dr. Free, who died May 1 at age 98, ultimately co-developed the revolutionary at-home dip-and-read glucose test to diagnose diabetes and monitor blood sugar that has been used by millions of people worldwide.

Its Patents Ombudsman Program provides assistance to applicants and attorneys throughout the application process, including during initial filing, patent examination, and post-examination. Applicants receive help when the normal processing has stalled.

Now you can file patent application-related documents in this word-processing file format through EFS-Web, Private PAIR, and Patent Center. To improve application quality and efficiency, the USPTO will transition to DOCX for all filers on Jan. 1, 2022. PDFs will continue to be an option; however, a non-DOCX surcharge fee will be effective on that date.

As the pandemic persisted through early 2021, April was another healthy month—which required the Office to continue its aggressive campaign to address filing backlogs that started in late 2020. “At first, filings were declining, but since last summer the growth in filings has been unprecedented,” said Gooder.  

John B. Goodenough’s battery is still going strong—in more ways than one. The co-developer of the lithium-ion battery will turn 99 on July 25.

The patent, issued on May 11 to co-inventors Jason Diedering and Saravana Kumar at 4C Medical Technologies in Maple Grove, Minnesota, is for a medical device that positions (or repositions) an expandable prosthetic valve in a patient’s heart and can prolong lives.

Discover the remarkable legacy of Forrest Bird, the inventor of the life-saving Bird Mark 7 Respirator. On June 9, 2021, we commemorate what would have been his 100th birthday, honoring his groundbreaking contributions to respiratory care. From his innovative respirators to his lifelong passion for aviation, learn about Bird’s impact on medicine and his humble journey from a homemade device to a global lifesaver.

USPTO’s Pro Bono Program helps solve inventor’s quest for a patent that ‘was going to be impossible.’ When Michael Lopez noticed that the delivery ramps on trucks he drove failed to fit delivery locations and led to serious injury for delivery people, he set out to solve the problem. But he had a problem of his own.

The USPTO will conduct the National Summer Teacher Institute (NSTI) on Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and Intellectual Property during the week of July 19-23, 2021. The program is virtual this year. Teachers can apply to participate online through June 7.