2009年8月5日 星期三

美國法定發明登記(SIR)

美國法定發明登記(Statutory Invention Registration, SIR)

如果有發明產生,但是又不想申請專利(可能是因為費用、市場考量、產品策略),又擔心有人會去申請類似發明而阻礙自己的產品研發與銷售,就會考慮公開,但不申請專利
想要公開自己的發明,應該有不少方式,包括申請著作權、公開於刊物、網站上,或是有人曾經就寫在某件相關專利之後,但並不提出保護範圍,或是可利用美國法定發明登記的制度,也就是SIR,申請公開但不實際審查

要符合SIR還是有些基本與專利申請案相同的規定,規範於美國專利法第157條
(a)SIR仍要包括有說明書、圖示,但因為沒有審查,所以不需提出專利範圍
(1)SIR的揭露內容仍要符合美國專利法第112條的規定(若不符合,則仍會收到核駁)
(2)符合公開、列印等的規定
(3)放棄獲得專利的權利
(4)繳付公開的費用
如果牴觸上述要求,SIR不會被公開
(b)上述(a)(3)所拋棄的權利是自SIR公開後生效
(c)與(d)條就是一般行政上的規定

[原文]
§157. Statutory invention registration
(a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the Director is authorized to publish a statutory invention registration containing the specification and drawings of a regularly filed application for a patent without examination if the applicant--

(1)
meets the requirements of section 112 of this title;
(2)
has complied with the requirements for printing, as set forth in regulations of the Director;
(3)
waives the right to receive a patent on the invention within such period as may be prescribed by the Director; and
(4)
pays application, publication, and other processing fees established by the Director.

If an interference is declared with respect to such an application, a statutory invention registration may not be published unless the issue of priority of invention is finally determined in favor of the applicant.

(b)
The waiver under subsection (a)(3) of this section by an applicant shall take effect upon publication of the statutory invention registration.

CFR1.297則規定SIR公開的事宜
(a)USPTO同意SIR請求後,經確認一些請求人的資料後,將會以專利公報的形式公開
類別碼是H,並以「H1」開頭,表示經過專利局註冊公開的案子(SIR),沒有經過實質審查的
(b)每一件SIR案,文中應有以下陳述內容:
A statutory invention registration is not a patent. It has the defensive attributes of a patent but does not have the enforceable attributes of a patent. No article or advertisement or the like may use the term patent, or any term suggestive of a patent, when referring to a statutory invention registration. For more specific information on the rights associated with a statutory invention registration see 35 U.S.C. 157.
說明SIR並非一件專利案,沒有主張的權利,不能在任何文宣上顯示有「patent」的字眼

[原文]
§1.297 Publication of statutory invention registration.
(a)
If the request for a statutory invention registration is approved the statutory invention registration will be published. The statutory invention registration will be mailed to the requester at the correspondence address as provided for in § 1.33(a). A notice of the publication of each statutory invention registration will be published in the Official Gazette.
(b)
Each statutory invention registration published will include a statement relating to the attributes of a statutory invention registration. The statement will read as follows:

A statutory invention registration is not a patent. It has the defensive attributes of a patent but does not have the enforceable attributes of a patent. No article or advertisement or the like may use the term patent, or any term suggestive of a patent, when referring to a statutory invention registration. For more specific information on the rights associated with a statutory invention registration see 35 U.S.C. 157.


但為何發明人要付錢申請SIR呢?應該是要做為USPTO檢索時的資料庫內容,容易作為之後他人的申請案的前案,SIR同樣會被歸類(classified),最為後續案的相關前案(cross-referenced),並因為有法律的規範,有法定公開日期與公報公開,對發明人想要公開的意圖較為有效

另外,MPEP1111有規定,SIR所拋棄的權利及於該案相關後續沒有請求SIR的申請案,包括分割案與其他接續案。如果「相同發明人」提出一個相關後續專利申請案,其中若包括了已經揭露於公開的SIR的「總的(generic)」請求範圍,審查委員可以「double patenting」相同發明為理由提出核駁,且不能以期末拋棄(terminal disclaimer)克服double patenting的核駁理由
SIR申請人不能提出再領證(reissue)來恢復權利。

[原文]
The waiver of patent rights to the subject matter claimed in a statutory invention registration takes effect on publication ( 37 CFR 1.293(c)) and may affect the patentability of claims in related applications without SIR requests, such as divisional or other continuing appli­cations, since the waiver of patent rights is effective for all inventions claimed in the SIR and would effectively waive the right of the inventor to obtain a patent on the invention claimed in the same application or on the same invention claimed in any other application not issued before the publication date of the SIR. If an application containing generic claims is published as a SIR, the waiver in that application applies to any other related applications to the extent that the same invention claimed in the SIR is claimed in the other application. Examiners should apply standards similar to those applied in making "same invention" double patenting determinations to determine whether a waiver by an inventor to claims in a SIR precludes patenting by the same inventor to subject matter in any related application. If the same subject matter is claimed in an application and in a published statutory invention registration naming a common inventor, the claims in the application should be rejected as being precluded by the waiver in the statutory invention registration. See 37 CFR 1.104(c)(5). A rejection as being precluded by a waiver in a SIR cannot be overcome by a terminal disclaimer.

The holder of a SIR will not be able to file a reissue application to recapture the rights, including the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing the invention, that were waived by the initial publication of the SIR.


CFR 1.296則規定可以撤回SIR的公開請求
只要在USPTO發出SIR公開通之前,可撤回此請求,同時可包括請求退費(退回合理價格),如果是在發出公開通知之後提出撤回,可以請願(petition)的形式提出

[原文]
§1.296 Withdrawal of request for publication of statutory invention registration.

A request for a statutory invention registration, which has been filed, may be withdrawn prior to the date on which the notice of the intent to publish a statutory invention registration issued pursuant to § 1.294(c) by filing a request to withdraw the request for publication of a statutory invention registration. The request to withdraw may also include a request for a refund of any amount paid in excess of the application filing fee and a handling fee of $ 130.00 which will be retained. Any request to withdraw the request for publication of a statutory invention registration filed on or after the date on which the notice of intent to publish issued pursuant to § 1.294(c) must be in the form of a petition accompanied by the fee set forth in § 1.17(g).

舉例(H2037):
此案為遭遇核駁後,決定以SIR公開




Ron

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