We talk about patents with a worldwide prolific inventor Bengt Lindoff. He is the inventor behind many of the patents we use every day.
We talk about patents with a worldwide prolific inventor Bengt Lindoff. He is the inventor behind many of the patents we use every day.
Hello! From Washington, DC. This is Episode 1. Today we are going to learn about patents and talk with a worldwide prolific inventor. He is the person behind many of the patents we use every day.
Before we talk with our guest, an inventor of about 400 patents in the United States and almost 2,000 patents worldwide, let's look first at what is intellectual property, for short IP. IP is the area of law specifically dedicated to the protection of the fruits of the human intellect. IP is not exclusively fixed in a material object. It lives in the intangible objects that make possible the materialization of millions of inventions and creations. IP is the reason why Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Facebook are constantly in the top rankings of companies in the world. Their key value is in their intangible assets, meaning trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and of course, the trade of those assets in licenses, royalties, and so on. For this episode, let's dive into the patent universe.
Here are some things you need to know about patents:
1. Patents are valid in the country where they have been granted. For now, there are no international patents. But there are international agreements that ease the patenting process in multiple places, like the Patent Cooperation Treaty
2. Not all inventions are patentable. A patent is granted to an invention that is new, non-obvious and has industrial application.
· New means that the invention is not in the prior art. Prior art is just a fancy word to say, all the information available to the public.
· Non-obvious means something not apparent to a skilled person in the field of the invention
· Industrial application is when an invention is useful. It can be used in an industry or business
· Patentability also depends on the field of the invention, which is known as subject matter. For example, some countries do not allow a patent for scientific theories.
3. Patents provide the exclusive right to use the invention, which covers everything from manufacturing the invention up until its commercialization.
4. Patents are granted for a period of time, usually 20 years.
5. There are two main actors in a patent. One is the inventor that creates the invention; the other one is the owner, that well owns the invention. Sometimes they are the same person, and other times the inventor works for the company, university, or entity that owns or holds the patent. So now you know, patents are exclusive rights given to a new, non-obvious, and industrial applicable invention in a specific country. The extent of these conditions will vary according to the field of the patent. And we will learn more about it with our guest.
| You are listening to Intangiblia, the podcast of Intangible Law – plain talk about Intellectual Property
Today we have the great honor of talking with one of the world's most productive inventors. His inventions are in the area of wireless communications, currently working in 5G-NR. And before that, he was innovating in WiFi, Bluetooth, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) a third-generation (3G) standard, High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and Long-Term Evolution (LTE). So basically, every network you have seen and probably will see on your mobile phone. Guest background music
[interview]
There you have it. Thank you so much, Bengt, for taking the time to answer our questions. And giving us your 4 basic rules to innovate: Be open-minded for yourself, be open-minded for others, work hard, don't take NO for an answer (even from the patent office). And 5th optional one, have a sweet treat.
And, so we come to the end of our episode. See you next Tuesday, with a new guest and a new IP topic.