Author: Ernest Beffel, Jr.

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Client News: Clean Tech Company Climeon Endorsed by Sir Richard Branson

By Ernest Beffel, Jr. of Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld LLP posted in patent law on Tuesday, May 23, 2017.

HBW clean tech client Climeon was recently featured in a YouTube video that discusses how Climeon and Sir Richard Branson aim to change the way electricity is produced on cruise ships.

Climeon makes 100% clean electricity from waste heat, and recently announced its partnership with Richard Branson’s new cruise line, Virgin Voyages. Virgin Voyages will have six Climeon Ocean machines on each vessel (3 ships in total). The resulting environmental impact will be an estimated 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide savings annually per ship – an amount that would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb.

Climeon Founder & CEO Thomas Ostrom states: “I love working towards goals others believe are impossible. I know that this is only achievable by working together with extraordinary talents that share my vision of a better future for our planet. We at Climeon are extremely proud of enabling green business.”

HBW Managing Partner Ernie Beffel has represented Swedish company, Climeon, since its inception. He notes, “… it is exciting to represent cutting-edge alternative energy companies and their owners and inventors.” He continued, “… we at HBW appreciate the support of inventors who strike out on their own and change the way we think about and use energy on a global scale.”

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No Need to Have an Office within Walking Distance of the PTO to Fully Engage with Examiners

By Ernest Beffel, Jr. of Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld LLP posted in patent law on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

Believe in interviews, early interviews and desktop sharing interviews? The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) does not care whether you believe, as long as you use interviews, because interviews get us to “yes” in less time… and more productively. The PTO has proven that it’s worth your while to interview.

Patent examiners do not sit behind desks in Alexandria as they once did. Many of them “hotel” (that is, work from home). Even Supervising Patent Examiners (SPEs) are free to work from home at least one day a week. Beginning in Detroit and spreading, many examiners are home-based in satellite offices. It may soon be difficult to line up a series of interview trips to Alexandria, because that may not be where the examiners are.

A while back and during Under Secretary Kappos’ term, the PTO upgraded its infrastructure to accommodate hoteling. All of the examiners received standard laptops that enable them to work as easily from home as in the office. Rules on hoteling changed to reduce the need for examiners to schedule regular face time in Alexandria. VPNs were set up and phones made to ring at home offices. Patent attorneys can now benefit from this improved technology.

The PTO built a WebEx portal for examiners and patent attorneys to use that integrates voice, video and desktop sharing. A demonstration of this capability is posted on YouTube, on the HBWIP channel. With video and desktop sharing, you can be more effective in a WebEx interview than a face-to-face interview. You don’t need to have an office within walking distance of the PTO to fully engage with examiners.

Source: Paperless Workflow, Office Action Analysis and Patent Examiner Interviews in the Era of Hoteling, WebEx and Videoconferencing.