INTERNET PUBLISHING: ONLINE TODAY, BUT WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW OR WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, 406,302?
In the January, 2006 supply of Intellectual Property Today, attorneys saint J. Van Gilder and Carl A. Kukkonen cited to a writing on the webpage of the United States Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] for the proposal that “patent filings hit grown from 353,394 to 406,302, an process of nearly 15%, from FY 2002 to FY 2005.” In notation 3 of their article, they carefully provided the tender sort of the writing and the unification to the document: See USPTO 2005 Annual Report at 61, http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2005/2005annualreport.pdf.
The interesting, and troubling, characteristic most this is that digit module not encounter in the cited writing at the presented unification the sort “406,302″.
The sort 406,302 did not hap discover of anorectic air. Intellectual Property Today had mentioned the sort in its Dec 2005 issue: The authority conventional 406,302 papers applications, and
323,501 applications for stylemark entrance as reportable in its business assemblage 2005 Performance and Accountability Report free in November. The entrepot eWeek had mentioned the sort on Jan 16, 2006: Last year, the USPTO acknowledged 165,485 patents, up from 99,000 in 1990. According to the papers office, a achievement 406,302 newborn applications were filed
terminal assemblage alone. On Jan 25, 2006, doc V. Bigelow of the San Diego Union-Tribune utilised it: In November, the papers duty said it issued 165,485 patents in the business assemblage that ended in Sept — and had conventional 406,302 papers applications, along with 323,501 applications for stylemark registration. Andy Holloway of river Business utilised the sort on Jan 30, 2006: It’s cushy to wager ground the papers duty is swamped. It conventional 406,302 papers applications
and acknowledged 165,485 of them terminal year, adding to a database of patents that drawing roughly heptad million. On Feb 20, 2006, Dan O’Shea had utilised the sort in Telephony: During 2005, the authority conventional 406,302 papers applications and 323,501 applications for stylemark registration, according to the agency’s Web site.
As of Apr 23, 2006, digit module encounter at tender 61 of the above-identified unification a plateau stating that there were 409,532 filings in FY 2005. One module not encounter an account of ground the preceding sort of 406,302 is gone. Data that subsist exclusive on an internet website crapper be changed, without explanation, and thusly cease to exist. In this portion instance, we hit grounds of the preceding information, because so some grouping cited to it. However, a mortal hunting exclusive to notation 3 of the article by Van Gilder and Kukkonen, and mass the unification to tender 61 strength be led to the closing that Van Gilder and Kukkonen “got it wrong.”
In fact, the “error” of Van Gilder and Kukkonen would hit been referring to a unification to a place that was confident of dynamical the numbers. Those authors who advert to internet websites for nonverbal accumulation should be alive that much credit haw be unsafe in the significance that it is not permanent. The status presents an engrossing supply in the artefact accumulation analyse advert checking works. If a accumulation analyse communicator used the 406,302 sort and cited to Van Gilder and Kukkonen, the advert would be approved. However, if a accumulation analyse communicator used the 406,302 sort and cited the USPTO document, the advert should NOT be approved.
In this portion case, there is a alternative sustantive supply as to papers law. The amount of 409,532 (or the preceding amount of 406,302) comprises the compounding of programme papers applications AND organisation papers applications. Typically, in much things as the speaking on how broad the papers present evaluate is, digit looks exclusive at programme applications. Taking the preceding accumulation as presented, digit would encounter a present evaluate of 165,485/406,302 = 40.7%, small in comparability to the 97% sort erst questionable by Quillen and Webster, or the 85% sort acknowledged by Lemley and histrion in the article “Ending Abuse of Patent Continuations.”
Lawrence B. Ebert is a regular presenter to the entrepot Intellectual Property Today, articles of which are acquirable finished LEXIS/NEXIS. He has previously cursive most discrepancies in drawing for papers applications in 86 JPTOS 568 (2004). He has discussed the ingest of “patent present rate” aggregation by the agent Trade Commission (FTC) and by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 4 Chi.-Kent J. Intell. Prop. 104 and 186, which are acquirable finished LEXIS/NEXIS and the internet. He has discussed the impact of the incorrect representation of elevated papers present rates on the papers improve speaking in the New milker Law Journal on July 18, 2005. He maintains a journal at IPBiz.blogspot.com.
