Provide full and well-argued arguments. Anchor your answers in documented inform
ID: 1208195 • Letter: P
Question
Provide full and well-argued arguments.
Anchor your answers in documented information from references
Explain the issues, describe your reasoning in detail, and do not forget to provide the assumptions you made (if any). Outline the principles and quote the relevant statements from references if these are relevant.
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Case 1: The elusive face recognition algorithm
I have signed a contract with Professor Brillante who has made great progress in the study of face recognition systems. My firm paid him $600,000 against the promise that in two months he would complete a new face recognition architecture that his lab has just finished testing. He would then get a patent on the new architecture and my company would have the exclusive rights to use his patented invention for the life of the patent.
Six months later we received word from the Patent Office that Professor Brillante's patent filing was rejected. The Patent Office claims that Professor Brillante's invention does not pass the non-obviousness test and in addition it may have been inadvertently revealed, fourteen months before the filing, in a conversation between Dr. Brilliante's graduate student and several graduate students from another university. This has happened during a poster session at the IEEE ICASSP conference.
My lawyer suggests that I sue Professor Brillante for the $600,000 and for additional $1.8M in other damages since he did not fulfill his commitment to me, namely the promise to hand me a valid patent that I would be able to use with no fear of competing products. Professor Brillante refuses to pay me anything and does not answer my letters and calls.
(1) Explain the reasoning of the patent office in rejecting Professor Brillante's patent.
(2) Should I sue Professor Brillante for the $600,000 I handed him? Should I sue him for the additional $1.8M in damages? Or perhaps I should forget about the whole thing? Please help me make a decision. Explain in detail.
Case 2: The New Helmet
My company is one of several organizations that try to develop a new helmet for military personnel to meet the new stringent standards of the US Department of Defense. If we are able to develop a unique new process for manufacturing this helmet, we are likely to reap a significant economic benefit.
Three other companies work on the same problem and they employ some of the best scientists and engineers in the field (as do we). There is a high likelihood that the company that gets the solution first would have its solution reverse-engineered by the other two corporations.
On 1 September 2015 my chief engineer announced that the latest round of testing has demonstrated that our new process works; in several additional months we would have a complete new process ready for manufacturing of helmets that would meet the new DoD standard and make us millions of dollars.
A big debate started among my managers.
Manager Tom wants to rush to the patent office and file for a patent on the new process right away, even before we have completed all the testing and before all the preparations of the new process for manufacturing. He believes we have enough evidence to convince the patent office in the validity of our invention right now. He does not want to wait.
Manager Harriett believes we should not rush. "We were the first to invent the new manufacturing process and we can prove that we were the first," she says. Hence we will be granted the patent eventually even if others try to claim that they should be granted the patent because they filed before us. "It is better," says Harriett, "to make sure we completed all the work and provided the patent office with complete and unassailable patent application when we finally file."
Manager Alexandra thinks that we should not file for a patent at all but start manufacturing the helmets based on our new invention as soon as possible. Our new process should be considered a TRADE SECRET.
Explain the PROs and CONs of each one of the three approaches, and provide your substantiated advice on what needs to be done based on the facts of the case. Whose advice should my company follow and why?
Case 3: The Mango Dessert
The three family restaurants that my mother manages and owns are known for a special dessert, The Newark Mango Cream Tart With Mango Whipped Cream. People come from all over the country to enjoy this dessert in our restaurants. My family has been serving this dessert for 70 years, since my great-great grandmother Bertha introduced it in 1945 when she opened her first bakery kitchen in Newark.
Last month we found to our horror that someone received a patent on a dessert that is exactly like The Newark Mango Cream Tart With Mango Whipped Cream. The successful inventor even sent us a Cease and Desist letter – claiming we can no longer sell this dessert in our three restaurants in Newark because he and not us now holds the patent for this delicacy.
The reaction of my uncle Joseph was – "I TOLD you that we should have patented The Newark Mango Cream Tart With Mango Whipped Cream long time ago. In fact Bertha should have done it herself, and if she did we would not have this problem today because we would still have patent protection. Now we cannot sell the dessert anymore and our businesses would collapse."
The reaction of my mother to Joseph's statements was that she plans to continue to bake and sell The Newark Mango Cream Tart With Mango Whipped Cream as she has done for years. She is not really bothered by the whole situation. "Nothing will happen to us" she promises.
Who (if anyone) has the right attitude in this case? Why? Analyze the two conflicting reactions in detail.
Explanation / Answer
Q1 is answered below.
a) Since the patent has failed the non-obviousness test, the plea to file for a patent was rejected. Nonobviosuenss means that if someone who is skilled in the particular field of the invention would view it as an unexpected or surprising development. Since the invention by the professor did not seem to be unexpected or surprising development, the patent was rejected.
b) The professor should be sued for $600,000 plus $1.8 M in additional damages, because $600,000 would be the advance amount paid to the professor (which needs to be recorved) and $1.8M refers to the damages due to not being able to strike a deal with the professor's competitors for their products and waiting unnecessarily for him.
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