HRFM Today

Industry Spotlight: Cleantech: Are Fuel cells Set to Explode on the Scene? . . . No, Really This Time . . .

Whispers about fuel cells are generating increasing buzz which appears about to roar.  A short cut to producing Hydrogen using a natural process when water reacts with temperature, pressure and an olivine, a common type of rock, has been reported by a researcher at a French University.  The addition of aluminum oxide has been found to greatly accelerate this process.  What if this found to be scalable and commerciable?

Blocking Issuance of Competitors’ Patent Applications via Third Party Preissuance Submissions

The America Invents Act (AIA) introduced procedures that allow parties to submit prior art (e.g., other patents or patent applications) to challenge competitors' U.S. patent applications.  Our clients have already begun to advantageously incorporate these procedures into their intellectual property strategies.

Pre-AIA, prior art submission timing was considerably limiting, and parties were not permitted to include any explanation of art being submitted, which severely limited the potential benefit of pre-AIA third party submissions.  Under the AIA, however, expanded timeframes for submitting art are provided for, and in addition to submitting important art, parties also submit descriptions that inform examiners how submitted art is relevant to the claims of patent application. 

The Unitary Patent: Coming Soon to a European Country Near You

In 2012, the European Parliament drafted regulations to create a system for a European patent with unitary effect, also known as a unitary patent.  The unitary patent is a European patent granted by the European Patent Organisation (EPO) which will be effective in the 25 participating EU member states (excluding Croatia, Italy and Spain).  This patent will co-exist with national patents and the classical European bundle patents to enable an application to choose various combinations of the unitary patent system and the existing European bundle patent system.  The regulations regarding the unitary patent entered into force in January 2013 and will apply beginning on January 1, 2014 or from the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC), whichever is later (as of now it is not likely until 2015).  These regulations will thus bring changes and opportunities to the European patent system.