Customer collected fees have been the sole source of funding for the USPTO for the past 20 years and cover the cost of examination. The backlog was created by a multi-year spike in application filing numbers and the slow response by the administration to increase the examiner numbers and address the backlog. The…

The gap between the obligations and the collected fees is being made up by the operating reserve as noted in the article you linked. The operating reserve was funded by customer collected fees from prior years (where there was a surplus!). The budget will be adjusted based on the estimated collections of fees and…

IBM abandons more of their patents than any other major patent holder. About 30% are abandoned before the 4th year maintenance fee is due. This is evidence that those fees are not a pittance. The fees add up and maintaining a large portfolio is expensive. The fees are smaller for small and micro entities as I…

Some countries have a “working” requirement where if you don’t commercialize the invention after a period of time, it expires. The existing maintenance fees in the U.S. try to encourage this by increasing each time from the 4, 8, and 12 year maintenance fees.

They don’t face the same fees as IBM. They would qualify for small entity fees, which are 50% the regular fees. Regardless, the government filing, examination, and other fees can be < 1K. The professional fees (lawyer fees) are the significant cost, not the USPTO fees. There are three filing fee entity statuses:…

Sure you can. File a design patent.

How does the fee schedule stifle innovation from solitary inventors? They can file as a micro entity now. The companies filing thousands of applications subsidize that program. I believe the escalating maintenance fees are there to incentive patent holders, particularly large ones, to let patents expire. Increasing…

I’m confused by your point. You seem to be arguing that Apple should pay more to cover the expenses for prosecuting their application, but you seem to understand that the USPTO often has a surplus. The USPTO is funded through the collection of fees, not taxpayer money. The budget you referenced allows (through Dept.…

Having your invention work is a requirement to receive a patent. It’s called enablement. It doesn’t have to be the best way to do something, but your disclosure has to enable someone to be able to make and practice the invention.

As noted by others, the U.S. has the same requirements. The Canadian Patent Office (and many other patent offices) typically rubber stamps what the USPTO, EPO, and JPO do anyways. If it was allowed in the U.S., the Canadian examiner will likely allow the same claims in Canada. Examination in Canada is typically not…

Rail joint bars are still used a lot, particularly for intersections, crossings, etc. The rail sections need to be electrically isolated so that when the train is on both rail sections the train provides electrical continuity to trip the signal. The rail joint bars and end posts between the butt ends have electrically…

They are more commonly used in Europe. The are also called sleepers, which is a good name.

I think he played baseball in college (school in Texas, maybe?). I thought he fit the part well. Pitchers were some of the least athletic-looking dudes in the 80s and 90s. Bartolo Colon, Greg Maddux, David Wells, etc.

This world cup thing seems like a private tournament between private parties, but I don’t know the details. Could there possibly be state action (with coach as state actor) for a traditional U.S. national team?

Perhaps the police though there wasn’t probable cause to make the arrest at the time. I think the conflicting witness/victim reports led to the police being concerned whether there was probable cause. Police made a judgment call on whether to arrest and referred her to the DA, who will make a determination on whether…

You really don’t need that steady of a hand. More patience than a steady hand, I would say. An good angled sash brush will push the paint to the surface interface with the bristles/paint wanting to follow the interface, i.e., ceiling/wall interface, wall/trim interface, etc. In other words, the joint between the…

I never been a big fan of using painter’s tape. I’ll use it between the baseboard and carpeted floors and on certain hardware if I can’t easily remove or clean spatters from it. Getting the tape to line up with everything in old houses is a pain. Paint can bleed under the tape and the problem mentioned above can be an…

Yup. I’ve had the clinch knot in the video slip on me while fishing. A better version of the clinch is the trilene knot, which I’ve had good luck with.

Yeah, that’s the problem. In Pennsylvania, the counties are responsible for conducting assessments, but they don’t do them regularly at all (20 years+ sometimes, usually forced by the courts). The taxing bodies (city, school district, and county) can appeal the assessed value any year they want to. Many school…

These are good points. Regarding the property tax issue, also ask if the city or school district appeal assessments when houses are sold. It’s common in certain areas for the city to compare the assessed value to the sales price and file an appeal if the difference is high. Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood…