2002 - Volume 1 - JEFF. Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics

PATENT
REVIEW
Deceptive Advertising Aimed
At Inventors
Earlier this year, the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
unveiled a television and radio campaign
in five large media markets to
counter the flood of deceptive advertising
aimed at America’s independent
inventors. The take from such deceptive
advertising is not pocket change; rather
such exploitation costs small business
people over $200 million annually.
The USPTO’s media spots, which
will run through March 31, 2002, in San
Top Ten Patent Recipients
Francisco/San Jose, Tampa, Pittsburgh
and New York, and in Spanish in
Southern Florida, warn small inventors
about organizations who offer, but do
not deliver on, costly schemes to patent
and market inventions. The agency also
will be placing print ads in Popular
Science, Popular Mechanics, The
Family Handyman and Inventors Digest
magazines during the first quarter of the
year.
“USPTO’s ads caution inventors that
‘if it sounds too good to be true, it is,’”
said James E. Rogan, Under Secretary
Of Commerce for Intellectual Property.
“Our ads offer practical information,
guiding inventors to USPTO’s Office of
Independent Inventor Programs, where
they can get real help with patenting
and marketing their inventions.”
The spots feature an actual situation
and an actual inventor, Edward Lewis,
who lost several thousand dollars in utilizing
outside firms who promised to
INJ DEPARTMENTS
get patents and assist in the marketing
of his concepts. Such ads are often flagrant
in the promises made, but very
minimal in any useful results.
The USPTO’s Office of Independent
Inventor Programs has set up a special
toll-free telephone number (866/767-
3848) which offers to provide detailed
information to inventors about invention
promotion firms and also realistic
options available through the USPTO
Independent Inventor Program.
Patent Model Exhibit Showcases
American Ingenuity.
In early February, The United States
Patent and Trademark Office unveiled
its newest periodic exhibit. The opening
of this exhibit, entitled “Patent Models:
Icons of Innovation,” coincided with the
celebration of the 155th anniversary of
Thomas Edison’s birthday.
In the 19th Century, the United States
was the only industrialized nation that
The USPTO recently announced the top 10 private sector patent recipients for the 2001 calendar year. Listed below are the
10 corporations receiving the most patents for inventions in 2001, along with their ranking for last year.
Preliminary Preliminary (Final Ranking (Final Number
Rank in 2001* Patents in 2001* Organization* 2000) of Patents in 2000)
1 3,411 IBM (1) (2,886)
2 1,953 NEC Corporation (2) (2,021)
3 1,877 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (3) (1,890)
4 1,643 Micron Technology, Inc. (7) (1,304)
5 1,450 Samsung Electronics Co. (4) (1,441)
6 1,440 Matsushita Electrical (11) (1,137)
7 1,363 Sony Corporation (6) (1,385)
8 1,271 Hitachi, Ltd. (13) (1,036)
9 1,184 Mitsbushi. Denki Kabushiki (14) (1,010)
10 1,166 Fujitsu Limited (10) (1,147)
* Patent information reflects patent ownership at patent grant and does not include ownership changes that occur after
the patent is granted. Where more than one assignee (owner) exists, patents are attributed to the first-named assignee.
For the ninth consecutive year, IBM received more patents than any other private sector organization. Eight of the top 10
companies are Japanese firms, which is about the same proportion as last year. All 10 companies are engaged in electronics,
computer technology, telecommunications or related activities.
INJ Spring 2002 49