事務所之必要！

相信很多inhouse專利工程師都有感覺，公司希望你可以省掉一些「事務所」費用，結果就要你自己寫稿、答辯，甚至是送件與之後的年費、期限管理，結果，可能會惹來一些失誤與麻煩

美國專利程序上教人「自己弄專利」的書Patent It Yourself，是非常棒的書，雖然大本，但是卻簡單易懂。「自己弄專利」，原因是美國專利局要求審查委員在專利審查過程應要協助發明人取得專利，甚至是協助「未委託代理人」的發明人送件、撰寫權利範圍等。即便如此，但是仍在書中建議發明人尋求專業的代理人與事務所協助

美國MPEP 707.07(j)
I. INVENTOR FILED APPLICATIONS When, during the examination of a pro se application it becomes apparent to the examiner that there is patentable subject matter disclosed in the application, the examiner should draft one or more claims for the applicant and indicate in his or her action that such claims would be allowed if incorporated in the application by amendment. This practice will expedite prosecution and offer a service to individual inventors not represented by a registered patent attorney or agent. Although this practice may be desirable and is permissible in any case deemed appropriate by the examiner, it will be expected to be applied in all cases where it is apparent that the applicant is unfamiliar with the proper preparation and prosecution of patent applications.
以上提到，在專利審查過程，若審查員明顯知道有可核准的範圍，應提供一或多個可核准的範圍修正內容，這個動作可以加速審查中的案子，特別是要求提供服務給不熟悉此類程序的獨立發明人（無委託代理人）
II. ALLOWABLE EXCEPT AS TO FORM When an application discloses patentable subject matter and it is apparent from the claims and applicant's arguments that the claims are intended to be directed to such patentable subject matter, but the claims in their present form cannot be allowed because of defects in form or omission of a limitation, the examiner should not stop with a bare objection or rejection of the claims. The examiner's action should be constructive in nature and, when possible, should offer a definite suggestion for correction. Further, an examiner's suggestion of allowable subject matter may justify indicating the possible desirability of an interview to accelerate early agreement on allowable claims. If the examiner is satisfied after the search has been completed that patentable subject matter has been disclosed and the record indicates that the applicant intends to claim such subject matter, the examiner may note in the Office action that certain aspects or features of the patentable invention have not been claimed and that if properly claimed such claims may be given favorable consideration. If a claim is otherwise allowable but is dependent on a canceled claim or on a rejected claim, the Office action should state that the claim would be allowable if rewritten in independent form.
以上提到當專利申請案揭露或是經過答辯、修正而可核准的範圍時，若其中仍有一些缺陷，審查委員不應這樣就提出反駁/異議（objection）或是核駁（rejection），審查意見應該是「具有建設性」，若有可能還要提供確實的建議，甚是提出interview加速核准
III. EARLY ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS Where the examiner is satisfied that the prior art has been fully developed and some of the claims are clearly allowable, the allowance of such claims should not be delayed. Form paragraphs 7.43, 7.43.01, and 7.43.02 may be used to indicate allowable subject matter.
以上提到，若已具有可核准範圍，不應延遲


最近輔導一個大學實驗室撰寫說明書，老師要求研究生要寫專利，甚至是送件......，立意甚是良好，讓學生接觸這方面，包括技術檢索、研究、說明書撰寫與權利範圍規劃，甚至對寫論文有實質的幫助，或是讓學生「看看」這個行業如何（即使不是去事務所工作，也可以在從事R&D的工作有所幫助）。
但這前期規劃不錯，但是後續問題可能就會接踵而來（還好，「新型」比較少初期的問題）。結論：新型撰寫與送件真是不錯的訓練

之後
只是收到一個「中華民國新型修正」，就發現，要先瞭解審查委員的意見與要求（因為剛接觸的人會對一堆法條沒辦法），之後要填「補充修正申請書」、「劃線版」、「無劃線版」、註記修正時間（要與修正送件日一致）、紙本列印的話還要自己跑智慧局送件，但是又可能發生日期、與原送件格式的誤差...

這時，事務所之正當性就是這些「程序」上的協助吧！

Ron