Re: NEC-LIST: Patents

> Secret applications are also handy as a "club" in intellectual
> property/trade secret disputes, because the other side is never
> quite sure what's in that application that might come back to bite
> them. Now, though, when apps are published after a year, it's less
> useful.

Actually, they publish after 18 months. And if you don't want your patent
application to be published its not mandatory, under certain circumstances.
For example, if you're a single inventor and you're not applying for patent
rights in a foreign country, then there is a way to request that your
application *not* be published and the USPTO will keep it confidential.

>> Just remember: Most patent attorneys finished in the bottom 10% of
>> their engineering class, and patent examiners are patent attorneys who
>> couldn't make it in the profession. Do the math.

> Not entirely true.. I do know some fairly bright folks who did quite
> well in school and decided they liked working at the PTO. There is
> a certain appeal to civil service - job security, you can go home
> every night at a regular time, do interesting stuff, and not have
> to worry if your firm is going to sell out to someone else who will
> have a different idea of the technological direction to go. And, every
> regulatory/permitting organization has their share of bozos..USPTO is
> actually pretty good compared to, say, some municipal building permit
> folks. At least USPTO is used to seeing unusual and novel stuff
> (almost by definition).

One of the nicest things about working at the PTO as an examiner is that you
get exposure to different technologies as often as you want. At one time I
started on a Ph.D. program and found that I was learning the same material
from different viewpoints again and again, and it was becoming too abstract
to see how to apply it to anything practical. In contrast, working at a
place like the PTO, you get to see new stuff all the time. It can be
intellectually rewarding for people who don't enjoy doing the exact same
thing every day.

- Mike

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