A company applies for a patent on a drone with automatic obstacle radar. The examiner refers to a research paper published in 2019 that describes drones with a comparable system. Claim 1 is thus completely covered. However, claim 2 additionally claims an automatic emergency landing function.
Question: What can the applicant do to obtain a patent?
An inventor applies for a new food packaging made of folded cardboard that can be stored in a particularly space-saving manner. During the examination procedure, however, the examiner finds an old patent that already describes the same folding technique. The inventor then realizes that his actual improvement lies in a special plastic coating that makes the cardboard moisture-resistant. However, this coating was not mentioned in the original application. The special plastic coating is not shown in the most recently sold series.
Question: What should the inventor do to obtain the greatest possible protection?
A patent relates to a new chemical compound. During the examination process, the patent office determines that the compound itself is already known from the prior art. The applicant then adds a special manufacturing process that was not described in the original application. Despite this change, the patent is granted. A few years later, a competitor reproduces the compound and is warned by the patent holder.
Question: What can the competitor do? Will he be successful?
Household Mixer
A company files a patent application for a novel household mixer. Claim 1 defines the mixer in general terms, but it is already known from the prior art. Claims 2 and 3 relate to minor modifications (e.g., a specific housing design and a special handle design). A special blade mounting that significantly reduces vibrations has proven to be particularly advantageous. Although this is mentioned in the description, it is not included in the patent claims. The feature has already been adopted by many competitors.
Question: Can the company prevent this?
A special power outlet is submitted for registration. The claim relates only to the outlet. However, the description also discloses a slightly modified design of the plug, which is specifically tailored to this outlet. During the examination procedure, it becomes apparent that the claimed socket is already known. The combination of plug and socket, on the other hand, is new and is now used by many manufacturers in practice.
Question: What options are available to the applicant to include the combination of plug and socket in the scope of protection of the patent, even though only the socket was originally claimed?
Printer System
A manufacturer has invented a printer system. Such a system is already known per se. The actual improvement lies in a special print head. However, print heads are not sold together with the printer on the market, but in the form of ink cartridges in which the print head is integrated. Printers themselves are sold without print heads.
Question: How should the applicant formulate the patent claims in order to take appropriate account of the actual market structure – separate marketing of printers and print head cartridges – and achieve effective protection for his invention?