Patent No. 9,174,162 has been issued by the USPTO for "MACHINE TOOL MOUNTED MIST COLLECTOR WITH FILTER CLAMP".

Patent No. 9,175,639 has been issued by the USPTO for "PLUNGER VALVE FOR A PROPANE CARBURETOR".

Patent No. 9,174,504 has been issued by the USPTO for "LOCK N LOAD CONTROL ARM".

Patent No. 9,138,640 has been issued by the USPTO for "ELECTRONIC DEVICE GAMING SYSTEM".

Patent No. D,738,765 has been issued by the USPTO for "VISUAL INSPECTION DEVICE".

Patent No. 9,124,784 has been issued by the USPTO for "DECREASING POWER REQUIREMENTS FOR AN OUTPUT SIGNAL BASED ON PERSISTENCE OF PERCEPTION CHARACTERISTICS".

Patent No. 9,103,543 has been issued by the USPTO for "LAMP TABLET DOCKING STATION".

Patent No. 9,066,576 has been issued by the USPTO for "TRUCK HAMMOCK".

Patent No. 9,036,088 has been issued by the USPTO for "INCREASING PERCEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH".

Patent No. 8,977,538 has been issued by the USPTO for "WORD GRAPH".

Patent No. 8,974,141 has been issued by the USPTO for "PADDLE CONVERTER".

Patent No. 8,914,429 has been issued by the USPTO for "METHOD FOR CREATING GLOBAL DISTRIBUTED NAMESPACE".

Patent No. D,719,608 has been issued by the USPTO for "AUTOFIT NOSE BRIDGE".

Patent No. D,719,614 has been issued by the USPTO for "GAMEPAD".

Patent No. 8,887,756 has been issued by the USPTO for "SHUTOFF VALVE IN BACKFLOW PREVENTION DEVICE".

Patent No. 8,875,733 has been issued by the USPTO for "CHECK VALVE IN BACKFLOW PREVENTION DEVICE".

Patent No. 8,879,804 has been issued by the USPTO for "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND RECOGNITION OF FACIAL FEATURE".

Patent No. 8,870,723 has been issued by the USPTO for "VARIABLE RESISTANCE PULLEY FOR BODY-WEIGHT ROTATION EXERCISE".

Patent No. D,714,054 has been issued by the USPTO for "PHONE CASE".

Patent No. 8,844,562 has been issued by the USPTO for "ACCESS COVER IN BACKFLOW PREVENTION DEVICE".

Patent No. D,710,929 has been issued by the USPTO for "SLAM GOGGLE".

Patent No. 8,800,342 has been issued by the USPTO for "METHOD OF PREPARING A METALLIC TAPE FOR USE ON A JOINT".

Patent No. 8,777,188 has been issued by the USPTO for "PLUNGER VALVE FOR A PROPANE CARBURETOR".

Patent No. 8,758,487 has been issued by the USPTO for "MACHINE TOOL MOUNTED MIST COLLECTOR".

Patent No. 8,733,761 has been issued by the USPTO for "GENETIC DECK BASED GAME METHOD OF PLAY".

Patent No. 8,737,645 has been issued by the USPTO for "INCREASING PERCEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH USING PERSISTENCE OF HEARING CHARACTERISTICS".

Patent No. 8,718,729 has been issued by the USPTO for "ELECTRONIC DEVICE PROTECTION SYSTEM".

Patent No. 8,717,751 has been issued by the USPTO for "PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURE".

Patent No. 8,714,321 has been issued by the USPTO for "LONG TRAVEL SHOCK ABSORBER".

Patent No. D,704,248 has been issued by the USPTO for "SUNGLASSES".

Patent No. D703,786 has been issued by the USPTO for "FISHING APPARATUS".

Patent No. D703,727 has been issued by the USPTO for "SUNGLASSES".

Patent No. 8,680,257 has been issued by the USPTO for "KITS FOR COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPT ANALYSIS AND MUTANT SEQUENCE ENRICHMENT".

Patent No. 8,687,787 has been issued by the USPTO for "COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPT ANALYSIS".

Patent No. 8,636,630 has been issued by the USPTO for "BALL NEST WITH VARIABLE RESISTANCE FOR FITNESS AND WELLNESS MOVEMENT".

Patent No. D697,140 has been issued by the USPTO for "GAMEPAD".

Patent No. 8,602,951 has been issued by the USPTO for "VARIABLE RESISTANCE FITNESS CHAMBER FOR ROTATIONAL TORQUE".

Patent No. 8,584,283 has been issued by the USPTO for "PORTABLE SLEEPING DEVICE".

Patent No. D692,341 has been issued by the USPTO for "WRISTBAND".

Patent No. D691,404 has been issued by the USPTO for "SHELF".

Via USPTO News "A centralized listing of major Patent Application Initiatives is now available via the USPTO website that provides applicants with access to information on several patent initiatives designed to advance and support the examination process. Applicants now have a single website location to compare the various patent application initiatives that are available prior to examination, during examination, or after close of prosecution. Applicants can easily evaluate and contrast the benefits of participating in patent initiatives using a comprehensive matrix of initiatives and convenient links to detailed information pages. The website also provides direct access to applicant assistance for addressing questions about these initiatives."

Via USPTO News "The USPTO has upgraded the USPTO Full Text and Image Database. It now uses PDF images instead of TIFF images which provides several new benefits including the ability to print full documents. Patent images may be viewed, printed and saved using a standard PDF-equipped browser... In addition to the standard page-by-page viewing, users may now also click on a “Full Document” button to retrieve all the patent images at once."

Patent No. 8,504,597 has been issued by the USPTO for "DISTRIBUTED FILE SYSTEM CONSISTENCY MECHANISM EXTENSION FOR ENABLING INTERNET VIDEO BROADCASTING".

Patent No. 8,504,565 has been issued by the USPTO for "FULL TEXT SEARCH CAPABILITIES INTEGRATED INTO DISTRIBUTED FILE SYSTEMS-- INCREMENTALLY INDEXING FILES".

Patent No. 8,496,517 has been issued by the USPTO for "NUMBER GUESSING GAME".

Patent No. 8,478,187 has been issued by the USPTO for "COMPUTER GENERATED ENVIRONMENT FOR USER ASSESSMENT".

The Copyright Office has announced a new "single work" registration option. "This application is being introduced in order to provide an additional option for individual authors/claimants registering a single (one) work that is not a work made for hire via the Copyright Office’s electronic registration system (‘‘eCO’’)." The application is designed to be more attractive for administratively simple registrations.

Patent No. D,684,879 has been issued by the USPTO for "WRISTBAND".

President Obama has announced a series of actions to discourage Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). The actions include five executive orders and seven recommended legislative actions.

The USPTO has announced After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0. The pilot program runs from May 19, 2013 through September 30, 2013. The pilot program allows Examiners more time after a response after final to consider the response. There are a few changes from the original pilot program, namely: 1) the applicant must submit a request to participate; 2) at least one independent claim must be amended; and 3) if all claims are not in condition for allowance, the examiner must request an interview .

Patent No. D,681,949 has been issued by the USPTO for "PHONE CASE".

Patent No. 8,389,093 has been issued by the USPTO for "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING A TILEWAVE FABRIC".

The USPTO has finalized fee changes that will occur on March 16, 2013. These include fee increases for large and small entities and the fees for microentities.

The USPTO has released information on implementation of the first-to-file rules which become effective March 16, 2013 (assuming that a court challenge to the first-to-file requirement does not delay implementation).

The USPTO is seeking feedback regarding the filing of RCEs.  My first response is “because Examiners don’t understand when to make Office Actions final.”  I will be preparing a blog post on why RCEs become necessary and why I think the process is abused by the USPTO shortly.

I am proud to announce the opening of Superior IP. I offer competitive rates and prove that by showing my clients exactly what they will pay me and what my competitors would charge for the same services. However, I have the necessary experience to help my clients protect the Intellectual Property. I have a passion for the work my clients do and love helping them. Many attorneys will charge for items that should be included in the original cost. For example, they may charge to look at revisions that inventors send to patent applications, as if they know the invention better than the inventors do. Or they may charge for time answering questions or otherwise putting clients at ease. I am determined to do things differently and look forward to the chance to prove that to my clients.