What I've Learned from IEOR 190G Pt. 2

Today I read a news article. A rather simple article from the Economist about how a patent troll was challenging Apple, a article I would've simply glossed over or skipped 16 weeks ago. But not today, today I sat down and opened the article and read it. 

I believe the 2nd greatest benefit this class has given is the ability to converse and understand patent litigation on a macro level. I was able to discern why Apple lost the case, despite their army of lawyers, endless funding, and industry respect. I was able to form a opinion on the issue. And I was able to see the flaw in our PTO system. This ability in my opinion is 10 times as valuable as knowing the process of filing a patent. Imagine if you're speaking with the CEO of a startup, or even a established tech firm of which you hope to work for one day. I would guess he would be much more impressed if you could speak about the patent litigation his company is currently involved with, rather than how he should've filed his patents. 

So how can this class help in the future? Short of filing your own patents, I feel the overarching knowledge this class provided is much more useful than it appears at a glance. The collaborative learning, social media, youtube, the list goes on and on. I had never created my own blog, youtube video, or twitter account until this class. Having a class dedicated to learning from my fellow classmates made me realized how much I could really gain from my peers. A lesson I wish I had learned earlier in my college career, but a tip that will be extremely valuable for senior year and beyond. 

What I've Learned from IEOR 190G

Berkeley is the number one public university in the world, a flagship institution empowering students to purse the field of entrepreneurship. With programs such as the Skydeck and CET Program, it is no wonder Berkeley is unmatched in its innovative prowess. If you ask any Berkeley student what their plans are for the future, you have a 50/50 shot of hearing the word startup. Yet, if you ask them how they plan to achieve this goal their plans are often no more hashed out than the word patents.

I was one of those students, hoping to work in a groundbreaking field, with absolutely no plan for protecting my work. As we learned in class, this can be disastrous.  Patenting is a very opaque convoluted field requiring armies of lawyers to battle over litigations and claims. Even in the most prestigious tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Intel, the patent knowledge is reserved from all but a select few. Looking back at myself, I find it hard to imagine I could've plan to file for a patent given my past knowledge. Looking forward, I still find it hard to imagine I could file a patent given the vast amount of complications and requirements. But knowledge is always better than ignorance. 

All and all, I think my greatest takeaway from this class was not the knowledge of how to actually file a patent. But to at least be made aware of the vast amount of knowledge it takes to file a patent, obviously many more years of schooling and experience. My experience with this class has been equivalent to that of Chem 1A or Bio 1A, not enough detail to prepare me to be a chemist, but enough to pique my interest in the field; to help me decide if I want to pursue it further. 

Improvements to Collaborative Learning

In the hopes of improving this awesome and unique class experience for others, I have a few improvements for Professor Lavian's consideration. I'd like to start off with stating each of these are only reflective of my own personal opinions on how I believe the course could be improved. 

More guidance and less quantity on comment criteria

I feel the comments were one of the most useful parts of Social Learning, as they forced us to evaluate each blog for points of recognition and critique. However often times such points cannot be summarized in a 4 sentence long quote, and I would've appreciate a lesser number of quotes in order to spend more time quality on each one. Also it would've been helpful if a good quote or bad quote example was given in the beginning of the course, as the GSI continually stressed the important of quality comments without giving us definition of said comment. 

Variety of Topics across Youtube and Blog

I really enjoyed both speaking and writing my thoughts about different topics during the course. However I feel writing both a blog AND a Youtube video started to become redundant with many videos simply reading off their blogs as a script. I would recommend instead that both the video and blog post be utilized, but allow for some digression in types of topics to address. I found Youtube videos were much more effective in expressing my personal opinion on topics and my reaction to points made in class, while blog posts were more effective in conveying facts and explaining concepts.

Post Weekly Assignments Earlier 

Often times the homework assign would require extensive research, understanding, or internal comprehension which is quite time consuming in its own sense. If the assignments were posted earlier, I feel it would've given the students more time to conduct their research on the topic as well as address the homework while it was still fresh in their heads. Expanding the deadline to Sunday night instead of Friday night would also have the same benefits in my opinion. A regular checkup on students to inform them of any missing assignemtns would have also been most helpful, particulary in my own case. 

Collaborative Learning

How do we learn from others? With the rise of  technology is has become easier and easier for ideas to be shared and spread, from retweeting, to sharing, to forwarding, to even going viral. This newfound power has arrived with an additional side consequences, we now find it easier and easier to learn from our peers, whether it be through copying and plagiarism, to simple observation. Many professors and classes have failed to fully utilize this untapped potential, and I am quite glad I was able to experience a class that has. 

When first instructed to analyze and evaluate my fellow classmates blogs, I initially reacted with apprehension. How was I suppose to gain insight into these blogs and videos when they ha been given the same assignment instructions as me. As the semester progressed I began to realize how much that could be gained from my classmates, noted especially during the to 10 inventions assignment. While the majority of students used the same 20 or so inventions in their top 10 list, I was most intrigued by the students who slipped in advancements that no one else had included. When reading their reasoning and logic behind their decision, I could not help but agree with many of their points and validity, even questioning some of the inventions on my own list. 

Overall I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned from this class was not actual course material, but method of learning. Too often we fall into the cycle of believing the only person to be learning from in the classroom is the professor, and I give major credits to Professor Lavian for challenging this assumption. As a famous person once say, "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."

Amazon and ruling the skyies

FURTHERING ITS DESIRE to dominate the skies—and our shopping—Amazon has applied for a patent on its somewhat starry-eyed drone delivery system. A

The patent application, originally filed in September 2014 but published last week by the US Patent and Trademark Office, details an elaborate system for “aerial delivery of items.”  The drones will talk to each other, receiving information on the delivery environment  from other drones to update their routes in real time, determining if their flight paths and proposed landing areas are safe and free of obstacles.

Package delivery locations will be updated as customers move around, so a package can come to you at work or home, depending on where you are when your shipment is ready—including pulling location data from a smartphone. A mockup shows an Amazon order screen with four options for delivery: “Bring It to Me,” “Home,” “Work,” and “My Boat.” There will also be relay locations, allowing drones to drop off packages for further transport, or to recharge or swap batteries. Amazon also wants its drones to be able to drop packages at a “secure delivery location."

Much of the patent application is legalese minutiae, meant to protect Amazon from competitors copying its delivery mechanisms (which could eventually pose problems for other parcel companies like UPS and FedEx). Still, the sheer breadth of the filing shows how much thought Amazon has put into the project—a bit unrealistic as it may be—and some of that thought may be aimed at persuading the FAA to allow drone research and development in the US.

The Saga of Candy Crush Saga

Game publisher King, designer of the widely popular game Candy Crush Saga, has given up on its pursuit to trademark the word "Candy". The issue began when King acquired Candy Crusher in 2009. and made the big to trademark the word "Candy" to protect its flagship game that has helped King dominate the mobile gaming business in 2013. However King does have the word "Candy" trademarking in the European Union, a trademark it wholeheartedly plans on enforcing.

King drew the ire of consumers recently when it began using its trademarks to prevent other developers from selling their games on the iTunes App Store or to file trademarks of their own. Most notably, King filed an official opposition to developer Stoic Studios’ attempts to trademark its epic Viking role-playing game, The Banner Saga. While that story-based PC title has little in common with any of King’s games, the company still filed against it in an effort to protect its many products that feature the word “Saga.”

King is likely trying to get these trademark issues behind it before it debuts its IPO. The company plans to raise $500 million later this year, which would make it the largest publicly held company in the lucrative social-gaming industry. In 2013, the company generated $1.88 billion in revenue and $568 million in profit.

US Patent Filing Process

During this post I will be explaining the first to file process explained by Efrat Kasznik in class. 

Step 1 Research and Development 

This part is fairly straight forward. The innovating company must invest the resources to create a invention that is non-obvious and novel to qualify for patentable status. This processes often extensive monetary and time costs to the company with little guarantee of success. 

Step 2 Invention Disclosure

Here is where the first to file and first to declare systems differ. Under the the first to file system, the invention must then be publicized and filed for as a patent to be recognized. Under the first to invent system, this qualification was not necessary as merely maintaining proof of the date of invention was enough to warrant protection. 

Step 3 Provisional Application

A provisional application for patent has a pendency lasting 12 months from the date the provisional application is filed. The 12-month pendency period cannot be extended. Therefore, an applicant who files a provisional application must file a corresponding nonprovisional application for patent (nonprovisional application) during the 12-month pendency period of the provisional application in order to benefit from the earlier filing of the provisional application. However, a nonprovisional application that was filed more than 12 months after the filing date of the provisional application, but within 14 months after the filing date of the provisional application, may have the benefit of the provisional application restored by filing a grantable petition (including a statement that the delay in filing the nonprovisional application was unintentional and the required petition fee) to restore the benefit under 37 CFR 1.78.

Step 4 Non-Provisional Application

When filing a nonprovisional utility patent application, it must be submitted in the English language or be accompanied by a translation in the English language, a statement that the translation is accurate, and have payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR § 1.17(i). If an applicant files a nonprovisional utility application in a language other than English without the translation, statement, or fee, the applicant will be given a notice and time period to submit the missing item(s).

A nonprovisional utility patent application must include a specification, including a description and a claim or claims; drawings, when necessary; an oath or declaration; and the prescribed filing, search, and examination fees.

Step 5 Patent Issued 

Patent is issued. Let the royalty collection commence.