Peer to Patent

Japan Patent Office Launches Community Patent Review

On July 16th, the Japan Patent Office launched their version of Peer-to-Patent, entitled Community Patent Review, opening the patent process up for public participation.  Although the pilot launched less than 2 weeks ago, the site has already accepted 38 applications from 12 applicants for review.  Thus far, most of the participating applicants are major Japanese electronic companies, many being among the top filers of patent applications in the US. 

There are a total of 13 applications currently on the site.  Nearly 150 visitors to the site have registered to be reviewers.  These participants have already submitted 10 prior art references. 

Visit the CPR website here; English translation here. 

Read the JPO announcement here; English translation here.

CPR in the Media:
ITpro, Nikkei Business Publications; click here for translation.
Intellectus i, FujiSankei Business i; click here for translation.

Japan Patent Office Announces Launch of Peer to Patent. Japanese IT Companies Sign-On

Japan (May 15, 2008) Nikkei -- IBM Japan, Fujitsu, and Others to Utilize Specialists’ Expertise for Patent Registration

IBM Japan, Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., and other major IT companies plan to utilize outside specialists’ expertise for patent registration.  These companies will use a new patent examination system initiated by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in June on a trial basis to have researchers and other experts who are knowledgeable about cutting-edge technology check whether their own inventions are suitable for patent registration.  The aim is to reduce the risk of patents becoming invalid because prior literature or other evidence is discovered after they are registered.
        The new system adopted by the JPO is called “Community Patent Review.”  It covers disclosed patent applications chosen by IBM Japan or other companies after 18 months have passed since they were filed.  The JPO will recruit several hundred participants, including university researchers, to have them express their opinions about the trends for the latest papers presented at overseas academic conferences, the existence or absence of prior literature, and other issues, and it will make use of those opinions for patent examinations.
        Ricoh Co., Ltd. also plans to use the new system.  Users of the new system can reduce the risk of another company claiming that a patent that has been obtained is invalid, and they may also be able to carry out licensing negotiations that are favorable to them.  This year dozens of patent applications centered on IT-related software and network technologies are expected to undergo examinations.
        Currently, JPO examiners use databases to closely investigate prior cases Japan and overseas, such as existing patents and academic papers, and examine the novelty of patent applications.  However, as an official of the JPO’s examination policy planning section noted, the examiners “cannot fully investigate academic papers and manuals that are not included in databases.”  In 2006, there were 194 patents that became invalid because they were found to lack novelty.
        The JPO will compile the results on the new system by the end of this year.  If it considers the new system to be effective, the JPO will call on more businesses to use it in the next fiscal year and thereafter.

New Applications Available for Review

Peer-to-Patent is hosting a number of applications that need your expertise!  There are currently 12 applications covering a wide array of inventions, including one by world-famous cryptographer, Whitfield Diffie. 

Method for configuring a windfarm network
(Submitted by GE, available for review until February 21, 2008)

Technique to modify a timer
(Submitted by Intel, available for review until February 28, 2008)

Cross-cutting detection of event patterns
(Submitted by IBM, available for review until March 6, 2008)

User interface paradigm for manufacturing applications
(Submitted by GE, available for review until March 13, 2008)

Computer compliance system and method
(Submitted by GE, available for review until March 13, 2008)

Vector length tracking mechanism
(Submitted by Intel, available for review until March 27, 2008)

Method and apparatus for determining the switch port to which an end-node device is connected
(Submitted by HP, available for review until March 27, 2008)

System and method for managing virtual collaboration systems
(Submitted by HP, available for review until March 27, 2008)

Automatic tracking of user data and reputation checking
(Submitted by Microsoft, available for review until March 27, 2008)

Relocating page tables
(Submitted by Sun Microsystems, available for review until April 3, 2008)

Method for generating mnemonic random passcodes
(Submitted by Sun Microsystems, available for review until April 17, 2008)

Method for resource sharing in a multiple pipeline environment
(Submitted by IBM, available for review until April 17, 2008)

Descriptions for each of the applications can be found here.

The success of Peer-to-Patent depends upon participation from a knowledgeable, diverse community.  If you know anyone who might be interested in these applications, please forward this on to them or ask them to visit www.peertopatent.org!

Yahoo's claims to originality

Slashdot story on  yahoo's patent application: http://yroslashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/22/1337202

Yahoo's "smart drag-and-drop" patent application at the P2P website describes "A computer-implemented method for manipulating objects in a user interface, comprising: providing the user interface including a first interface object operable ot be selected and moved within the user interface;

and in response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, presenting at least one additional interface object in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object, each additional interface object representing a drop target with which the first object may be associated." 

P2P site participants have identified what appears to be valid prior art for this patent, citing Apple's Finder and Mail programs, along with Microsoft Visio & Excel. Yet again,reasons for the existence of P2P are reinforced: P2P makes it possible for independent observers of technology to contribute to patent evaluation.

Nightly Business Report on PBS

Peer-to-Patent discussed on November 22, 2007 special Night Business Report show on intellectual property.  To watch the streaming video, click on the Interview by Susie Gharib with Prof. Beth Simone Noveck and Martin Schwimmer (of Moses and Singer and the Trademark blog fame) here.  A transcript of the interview is available here.

Sun Microsystems Singles Out Peer to Patent

Today Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and President of Sun Microsystems, announced on his weblog that part of any eventual proceeds from Sun's patent lawsuit filed against Network Appliance would be donated to Peer to Patent.

Schwartz made the commitment in his October 24 posting as follows:

"In addition to seeking the removal of their products from the marketplace, we will be going after sizable monetary damages. And I am committing that Sun will donate half of those proceeds to the leading institutions promoting free software and patent reform (in specific, The Software Freedom Law Center and the Peer to Patent initiative), and to the legal defense of free software innovators. We will continue to fund the aggressive reexamination of spurious patents used against the community (which we've been doing behind the scenes on behalf of several open source innovators). Whatever's left over will fuel a venture fund fostering innovation in the free software community."

Details on the lawsuit by Netapp against Sun - NetApp CEO's blog posting.  Netapp press release.  CNET.
Details on the countersuit by Sun against Netapp - Sun CEO's blog posting.  CNET.  InternetNews.

New Applications Posted to Peer-to-Patent; Old Applications Winding Down

Three new applications have been posted to Peer-to-Patent:

An application from IBM is available for public review here. The application describes a system of security management for software applications associated with multiple user registries that includes an integrated console configured to host one or more applications or resource objects in corresponding realms. This is the fourth patent application from IBM and will be available for review until November 26, 2007.

An application from Softwired AG is available for public review here. It describes a method for operating a gateway for wireless mobile clients in a messaging system, a core messaging system, and at least one gateway process or gateway acting as a proxy on behalf of the clients. This is the first patent application from Softwired AG and will be available for review until December 10, 2007.

An application from Sun Microsystems is available for public review here. The application relates to a system for implementing synchronized objects in software transactional memory comprising one or more processors. It also provides for a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor in order to implement a transactional-memory manager that is configured to coordinate memory access requests directed at the memory from a plurality of transactions. This is the second patent application from Sun Microsystems and will be available for review until December 17, 2007.

Peer-to-Patent will soon be making its first prior art submissions to the USPTO, where examiners will use the submissions to evaluate the patentability of pending software patent applications. The first applications for which the USPTO will receive submissions from Peer-to-Patent are:

An application from HP, available for public review here. The application relates to a computing system that implements user selectable management alert formats in order for a user to configure one or more devices coupled to the computing system. There are 30 members in this community who have submitted 9 instances of prior art.

An application from Intel, available for public review here. It describes an apparatus and method for prefetching based on register tracking, including a register tracker and a pre-computation slice. There are 16 members in this community who have submitted 4 instances of prior art.

An application from Red Hat, available for public review here. The application is for a system, method and computer program product for allocating physical memory to processes. There are 23 members in this community who have submitted 8 instances of prior art.

There is still time to make your voice heard. These three applications will be available until September 12, 2007 for anyone interested in reviewing the patent applications, commenting on any of the claims, submitting relevant prior art, or annotating prior art submitted by other members of the community.

Other Applications for which the USPTO is requesting your help:

IBM: Cipher method and system for verifying a decryption of an encrypted user data key (Publication #20070160202) - 57 days remaining
IBM: System and Method for Migrating Databases (Publication #20070150488) - 27 days remaining
IBM: Database Staging Area Read-Through or Forced Flush With Dirty Notification (Publication #20070124317) - 29 days remaining
General Electric: System and method for retaining information in a data management system (Publication #20070180110) - 77 days remaining
General Electric: Remote console for observing multiple workstations (Publication #20070162860) - 57 days remaining
General Electric: Method, Apparatus and Computer Program Product for Providing Status of a Process (Publication #20070135944) - 27 days remaining
Hewlett Packard: Tuning core voltages of processors (Publication #20070174746) - 70 days remaining
Hewlett Packard: User Selectable Management Alert Format (Publication #20070118658) - 8 days remaining
Intel: Stack Tracker (Publication #20070130448) - 22 days remaining
Intel: Register Tracking for Speculative Prefetching (Publication #20070118696) - 8 days remaining
Red Hat: Cooperative Mechanism for Efficient Application Memory Allocation (Publication #20070118712) - 8 days remaining
Microsoft: Off-line Economies for Digital Media (Publication #20070136608) - 27 days remaining
Sun Microsystems: Method and Apparatus for Delivering Device Drivers (Publication #20070162625) - 57 days remaining
Roland Pulfer: Comparison of models of a complex system (Publication #20070162496) - 57 days remaining

* Please note, these are not issued patents. They are pre-grant applications. Get involved today and help make a difference. Thank you.

Since the launch of Peer-to-Patent on June 15, 2007, www.peertopatent.org has received nearly 130,000 views from 21,307 unique visitors in 109 countries. 1347 visitors have registered to become reviewers and have submitted 66 instances of prior art for 17 patent applications.

Peer-to-Patent Update and New Applications Posted

In the first two months of operation, Peer-to-Patent has received 128,295 views from 21,117 unique visitors in 108 countries. 1407 visitors have registered to become reviewers and have submitted 67 instances of prior art for 14 patent applications.

The most recent additions to Peer-to-Patent are:

A new application from HP, available for public review here. Many computer systems involved in mission critical activities (such as banking, telecom, and stock markets) depend upon a high level of computer reliability. In order to achieve reliable, fault- tolerant computing, many computer systems utilize multiple processors. Processors operate at core voltages set by the manufacturer. When multiple processors are used, the resulting nondeterministic behavior can lead to system failures. This application (Application #11/312201; Publication #20070174746) describes a method, apparatus, and system for tuning core voltages of processors in order to avoid failures. This is the second application from HP and will be available for public review until November 19, 2007.

A new patent application from GE is also available for public review here. When an application server, web server, or the like associated with a centralized application needs to be restarted for some reason, then it is likely that at least some of its users may endure information and data loss or session termination, which are undesirable, inconvenient, and commonly require users to re-log into the application in order to continue use. This application (Application #11/342055; Publication #20070180110) describes a system and method for retaining information in a data management system. Information is still stored on an external database but is retrieved into a memory associated with a server which can be accessed through an interface. Users are able to maintain user sessions and prevent information and data loss or session termination resulting from service interruptions to a data management system. This is the third application from GE and will be available for review until November 26, 2007.

A patent application from independent inventor Roland Pulfer is also available for public review here. Complex systems use a multitude of processes, which are linked to one another, making it very difficult to predict the influence of changes of individual links and parameters on the behavior of the complete system. Since the number of influencing variables increases exponentially with the size of a manufacturing process, company, or project, one may not be able to distinguish relevant from non-relevant variables. Currently, models are directed to a certain, current system condition, which permits an evaluation of current or past characteristic values for assessing the system performance and there exists no possibility of comparing different systems with one another. This application (Application #10/548823; Publication #200070162496) describes a method, a data-processing system and a computer program for the comparison of models of a complex system. It is available for review until November 5, 2007

Other Applications for which the USPTO is requesting your help:

IBM: Cipher method and system for verifying a decryption of an encrypted user data key (Publication #20070160202) - 63 days remaining
GE: Remote console for observing multiple workstations (Publication #20070162860) - 63 days remaining
Sun Microsystems: Method and Apparatus for Delivering Device Drivers (Publication #20070162625) - 63 days remaining
Microsoft: Off-line Economies for Digital Media (Publication #20070136608) - 45 days remaining
Intel: Stack Tracker (Publication #20070130448) - 28 days remaining
Intel: Register Tracking for Speculative Prefetching (Publication #20070118696) - 14 days remaining
IBM: System and Method for Migrating Databases (Publication #20070150488) - 35 days remaining
IBM: Database Staging Area Read-Through or Forced Flush With Dirty Notification (Publication #20070124317) - 21 days remaining
Hewlett Packard: User Selectable Management Alert Format (Publication #20070118658) - 14 days remaining
Red Hat: Cooperative Mechanism for Efficient Application Memory Allocation (Publication #20070118712) - 14 days remaining
General Electric: Method, Apparatus and Computer Program Product for Providing Status of a Process (Publication #20070135944) - 35 days remaining

Commissioner John Doll Interviewed about Peer-to-Patent

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Commissioner John Doll interviewed by Max Cacas and Patrick Spence on the Daily Debrief of Federal News Radio on Friday about the Peer-to-Patent pilot, discussing the USPTO role and the future of public participation in the patent process.  Click here to listen to the interview.

Department of Commerce to Study Peer-to-Patent

John J. Sullivan, General Counsel of the Department of Commerce, has published a letter to the Sub-Committee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, setting forth the views of the Department on the pending patent reform legislation.

The letter supports third-party commentary and prior art submissions and endorses expanded regulatory authority for the USPTO to implement the procedural requirements needed to make those submissions as efficient as possible. It goes on to describe the Peer to Patent pilot (bottom of page 4) and states that "we will also make an evaluation as to whether this process results in measurable examination timesavings and quality improvements."

Download dept. Comm. letter on rule changes.pdf

Patently-O summary