Interesting Patent Case

In an interesting case as reported in the business of my local paper, The Tri-Valley Herald, a federal appeals court in Las Vegas upheld a ruling invalidating several key patents for bar code scanners and industrial robotic vision. I'm not going to go into detail here, you should click on the link and read the article. I will say a portion of the reasoning was due to the time between the patent applications (1954 & 1956) and the issuing if the patents in 1963. While the applicant (while alive) had blamed the delay on the patent office and patent examiners, the court ruled the applicant engaged in "culpable neglect" during the prosecution of his applications.

That is the portion I want to think about. We've all had to deal with a government agency from time to time, and we know how frustrating that can be. We also know that sometimes getting the government to move can be likened to "herding cats". Just ask the folks dealing with FEMA over the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Imagine this scenario: A young inventor comes up with a new chipset that makes current chipsets obsolete. He files for a patent. The big chipmaking companies want that patent, but feel the inventor is asking too much. So they payoff someone in the patent office to sit on the application, drag their feet in getting the patent exams done and generally cause it to take several years for the patent to be issued. During the meantime, they develop their own chipsets with similar technology. When our intrepid inventor sues, the court rules he loses his patent due to "culpable neglect" because of the time between the application and the issuing of the patent. After all, what exactly can you do while you patent application is being examined?

Unlikely? Probably. Impossible? I don't think so.