June 2008

* Many natural catastrophes are entirely due to man's behaviour. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wars, floods and famines and other calamities are the result of grave disorders in Nature. These disorders are traceable to man's conduct. Man has not recognized the integral relationship between humanity and the world of Nature.

* Scientists today are exploring the powers of nature with a view to enjoying them without limit. They want to bring all those powers under human control for their unrestricted enjoyment. This is responsible for so many of the natural disasters which we witness today.

* Today in many parts of the world Nature is causing various disasters such as earthquakes, famines, floods and volcanic erruptions. What is the reason? The spiritual lapses of man account for these calamities. Disturbances in the heart (human heart) are reflected in earthquakes.

* What is the cause of droughts and floods which occur in the world? Man seeks to enjoy the benefits of Nature which has grave consequences. Here you have a globe. If you hit it one way, its balance is disturbed. We should always see to it that the utilizsation of natural resources a proper balance is kept. Execessive use in one direction will result in harm in another direction.

* The Lord does not test a man just for fun: He does not pile calamity on calamity because He enjoy it. Examinations are held, to measure achievement and award marks and honours. You must ask to be examined, so that your progress may be recorded.

* Let me tell you one more thing: Nothing can impede or halt the work of this Avathaara... Formerly when the Govardhanagiri (mountain) was raised aloft by a little boy, the gopis and gopalas realised that Krishna was the Lord. Now, it is not one Govardhanagiri, a whole range will be lifted, you will see! --- Sathya Sai Speaks Vol.3 new ed. p. 92

* I will have to forego the car and even the aeroplane when I move from place to place, for the crowds pressing around them will be too huge; I will have to move across the sky; yes, that too will happen, believe Me." --- Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. II, p. 92

* Everything that happens in the world happens according to the laws of Nature. Nature is the creation of God. It operates by its own discipline and it will never cross its limitations. And, I will not interfere because it is My creation. Therefore I don’t allow any transgression of the laws of Nature. So earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. all happen as per the laws of Nature. But, to go to the help of the poor and needy is Love for man. So, what happens in the world is the law of Nature. What a man should do is to have this idea of ‘Love of man’ towards those that suffer -- the poor and the needy.

* Today, man has limitless desires. He has become very greedy and he is exploiting Nature. He keeps extracting metals from the fathomless depths of the earth. He digs deeper and deeper, thousands and thousands of feet, to extract ores and metals out of Mother Earth. Then, he also goes deep into the ocean to extract kerosene and petrol. As a result, the balance of earth is gone. When earth’s balance is gone, then there are floods. When there is shallowness and hollowness in different parts of earth, it leads to earthquakes. So, the earthquakes and floods are of man’s making. God has not done anything. All of these things are a sort of reaction to man’s atrocities -- his exploitation of Nature, his greediness and miserliness, which are due to limitless desires.

* A student asked, “So, Swami, is it bad to have desires?“. Swami smiled compassionately and said, “You can have desires, but only a limited number of desires -- not too many. When you need some water to drink, a tumbler of water should be enough; you don’t have to bring the whole river here. So also, if a man has limited desires, then he will not exploit Nature, which causes the natural calamities. After all, if you work with both of your hands, if you work hard, can’t you feed a single stomach? Can’t you feed your single belly? But man does not work, and he has become highly selfish and full of limitless desires. And today, as science improves day-by-day, control over the senses is lost day-by-day. That is a cause for all these tragedies."

Patenting an invention in the USA carries a lot of risks. This topic is not for faint heart. Before going ahead, make sure you understand all the pitfalls revealed in Nesta's website. According to this website, US patent law differs significantly from the rest of the world. Key differences include:

• A US patent application is not published until grant. A published US patent application is always a granted US patent application. As a result, no information at all is available about it before then. This creates a problem when you’re searching for prior art; the prior art may already exist, but it may not be undetectable.

• An inventor can file a patent application up to one year after disclosing the invention. In this respect US patent law is much more helpful to inventors, giving them extra time and freedom to explore commercial possibilities before the patent is validly granted.

• The inventor can discountinue a US application and file a ‘continuation’ application with the filing date of your first application. Or if you want to add more technical detail, you can file a ‘continuation in part’ application, containing both the original and the additional information. Unlike the UK or the European Patent Laws, the US patent laws allow inventors to add technical details in the newly filed applications.

• An US court can invalidate if the count believe that the applicant behaves ‘improperly’ - for example by not naming the correct inventor(s), not revealing all the relevant prior art he or she knows of, or not describing the ‘best mode’ of operating the invention. This gives competitors or predators considerable scope to challenge your US patent. Since legal disputes usually end up to a financial fight, the US patent system tends to favor the rich.

• In disputes about origin, the UK or Europen Patent Laws dictate that the inventor is whoesver files the priority application first. But in the USA it’s whoever invents first. The standard of proof involves a lot of laboratory paper work counter-signed by witnesses and, as such, non-US inventors rarely meet it. For example, you must record what you do in bound notebooks with no missing pages and no alterations, and entries must be corroborated and signed within a few days by someone who is not directly connected with the idea but can understand how it works. (This is ridiculus. If a holder of an US patent used to work alone without anyone around, does it mean he/she can never win any patent litigation. )

Non-US citizens should never embark on a US patent application without specialist advice. In the UK this normally involves your UK patent agent liaising with a US patent attorney. Patenting and selling in the USA carries a lot of risk because the USA is a highly litigious society in which many lawyers operate on ‘no win, no fee’ terms. Someone may therefore challenge your patent or product on the flimsiest grounds if they have nothing to lose and much to gain.

If you seriously want to get a US patent without patent agent help, follow the following link:

http://www.tutorial-reports.com/innovation/patent/howtogetus.php 

To get a patent protection in Hongkong, you need to register your patent applications from the UK or Europe with the Registrar of Patents. The Registrar of Patents will then examine your patent application to ensure that it meets the formal requirements for filing. Unlike other countries, Hongkong does not have a patent office that conduct substantive search and examination of the novelty or inventiveness of your invention. There are two types of patent in the HKSAR

* standard and

* short-term

Protection under standard patents is renewable annually for a maximum term of 20 years. Protection under short-term patents is renewable after four years from filing, for a maximum term of eight years.

back to top

You need to file an application with the Patents Registry of the Intellectual Property Department. Applying for a patent elsewhere in the world or in other regions of China does not automatically give you protection in Hong Kong, China.

The Registrar of Patents examines your patent application to ensure that it meets the formal requirements for filing. We do not conduct substantive search and examination of the novelty or inventiveness of your invention.

The Patents Registry accepts fax-filed application given that the applicant separately submits the hardcopy of the application together with the application number by post. This gives a means of establishing the earliest filing date.

Application Procedures for both types of patent protection can be viewed online in:

http://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/intellectual_property/patents/how_to_apply.htm 

It is not difficult to obtain a valid UK Patent. You can get an UK patent wiithout a patent agent. Under the current UK Patent Laws, inventors of a green technology are eligible for requesting an accelerated prosecution for his/her patent application. If you have an invention related to a green technology, you may be able to get an UK patent within one and half years. If you have a invention related to a green technology, but your patent agent cannot take advantage of the latest patent laws, then you should fire your patent agent. The official website of the UK patent office is here.

The basic procedure for getting a patent in the UK is as follows:

1) In order to establish the first priority claim, the applicant should first file an application containing at least a specification and a dully signed Form I/77.

In the first filing, the specification should contain at least a full description of the invention. However, the specification does not necessarily contain an abstract or a set of claims. The claims and the abstract can be added later.

2) In the next step, the applicant can use Form I/77 to refile the patent application with a more detailed description, an abstract and/or a set of claims defining the scope of protection. In the second or later filing, the application will claim priority from the previous application. It should be noted that no new information can be added during this step in order for the previously filed priority to be validly claimed.

3) Within one year after the first priority date, Step 2 can be repeatedly undertaken until the applicant feels ready for prosecution of the patent application. The specification for the patent application to be prosecuted MUST contain an abstract, a full description of the invention and a full set of claims.

4) Having filed the final specification as referred in Step 3, the applicant can proceed with patent prosecution either through the standard prosecution route or the accelerated prosecution route.

a) Standard Prosecution Route

To prosecute the patent application through the standard prosecution route, the applicant should file a Form 9A/77 to request for a Patent Search from the Patent Office.

The Patent Search enables the Patent Office to determine if any previously disclosed documents would affect the novelty or inventive step of the invention as claimed.

After the Patent Search, the Patent Office will issue a Search Report detailing all the previous disclosures relevant to the invention. In the Search Report, the Patent Office will also identify if any claim in the patent application may be relevant to patent infringement.

About 18 months after the first priority application is filed, the Patent Office will publish the application together with the Search Report. This step enables external parties to raise objections against the potential award of the patent if they find any evidence of patent infringement.

If the applicant feels confident about the patent application, he or she should request for Substantiative Examination by filing Form 10/77.

During the Substantiative Examination, the Patent Office carries out a detailed examination of the claims and the application as a whole, raising objections if appropriate and giving the applicant an opportunity to amend the application to overcome the objections, if this can be done.

The patent will be granted if all objections have been overcome.

b) Accelerated Prosecution Route

The standard prosecution route normally takes up to four and a half years, but you can accelerate the prosecution process by asking for a "Combined Search and Examination" that might get you a patent in as little as a year. It doesn’t cost any extra and can help a lot if there is serious commercial interest in your idea. BUT: it may miss rival applications in the system at the same time. This can cause serious problems if you get to an advanced stage of development and a strong competing application suddenly leaps out at you.

To be eligible for this request, the applicant has to file Form 9A/77 and Form 10/77 together with a letter explaining why he/she needs accelerated prosecution.

During the Combined Search and Examination, the examinator will first carry out a Patent Search. Following the Patent Search, the examinator will then switch to a Substantiative Examination of the claims and the application as a whole, raising objections if appropriate and giving the applicant an opportunity to amend the application to overcome the objections, if this can be done.

After the Combined Search and Examination, the Patent Office will issue an Examination Report together with a Search Report. The Search report will detail a list of Examinar's comments and identifiy if any claim may be relevant to patent infringement. The Examination Report will detail the Examinar's comments and a list of suggested amendments to be made by the applicant.

The patent will be provisionally granted if all objections by the patent examinar have been overcome.

After the Combined Search and Examination, the Patent Office will publish the patent application together with the search report. This step enables the external parties to raise objection if they find any evidence of patent infringement.

The patent will be formally granted if all objections by the external parties have been overcome.

Note that this is just an overview of a typical procedure. There will be formal requirements to be met at different stages of the procedure as well, such as filing powers of attorney, making sure that the drawings meet specific requirements, and so on. The time taken to complete the procedure typically takes at least 18 months.

The official website of the Indian patent office is here: http://patentoffice.nic.in/ipr/patent/patents.htm . Here are the important points (taken from this URL ) which a patent applicant should follow in order to apply for an Indian Patent:

1. Carry out a patent search on your invention that you believe is patentable;

2. Before you proceed with the filing process, make sure that you file your application for innovative R&D work only;

3. Before you proceed with the filing process, do not publish or display the invention anywhere in the world.

4. File the provisional application with specifications as early as possible. In your provisional application, the nature of the invention should be conceived and partially demonstrated to the extent that you can obtain a record of the authorship/ownership of the invention with the Patent Office.

5. File the complete specification as soon as the invention, as a whole, has been successfully and reproducibly replicated or demonstrated in the laboratory.

6. Inform the patent office about any case of potential infringement of patent rights. Yiour communication with the Patent Office should be substantiated with all available documentary evidence for filing legal notice or initiating legal action.

7. Do not refer any technology to industry until you file a specification-complete application for patent at the Patent Office. Such reference, if necessary, must be made on the basis of an agreement for secrecy (similar to NDA) to be executed by the parties in compliance with the extant guidelines on the subject.

8. Do not let your patent-pendiing invention be used in the industry until you obtain the patent application number / patent number for your provisional application from the Indian Patent Office.

9. Do not enter into joint research and/or development work agreements involving your invention without checking with the patent office.

<

Welcome to this blog. I decided to launch this blog, because I believe the majority of earth changes have already started occurring. During these fearsome times, events can happen instantly and unexpectedly, leaving us with virtually no time to respond. As a supplementary (and non-commercial) page, the blog will add a variety of topics that have not been covered in the website.

If you have any comments, please email your comments to me at b l o g @ p o l y m e r f a b . c o . u k

Disclaimer: The third party articles cited in this blog do not in any way, shape or form, necessarily express or suggest the author's endorsement or support of any of such articles.