Source: http://allthingspros.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html
Timestamp: 2014-03-07 07:18:28
Document Index: 511435486

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1', '§1', '§1', '§1', '§1', '§1']

13/031,293 - Color Drawings Petition DENIED: In Feb. 2011, the Applicant for 13/031,293 ("Method and System for Detecting Light") filed the application and a Color Drawings Petition.The petition included the following explanation: Applicant asserts that the color found in the attached Figures is significant to the understanding of the invention. The necessity for the Color Drawings is to distinguish the different lines.
13/200,784 - Color Drawings Petition GRANTED: In Aug. 2007, the Applicant filed application 13/200,784 ("Method And System For Dynamic, Three-dimensional Geological Interpretation And Modeling"). The specification described one of the drawings, FIG. 16, as "exhibit[ing] integrating stratigraphic erosional
rules into the present geological interpretation system."
color drawings are believed to be the most practical method (and may be
the only practical method) of accurately illustrating the different subpixel colors, groupings of subpixel colors, etc. Some of these drawings (Figs. 11A through 11C) not only depict different subpixel colors and groupings of subpixel layers, but also depict different groupings of subpixel colors underneath an "M1" layer.
Feb. 2012, after being assigned to an Art Unit (2873) but before being docketed to an Examiner, a Senior Petitions Attorney in the Office of Petitions granted the petition. The Decision did not comment on the Applicant's explanation, but noted that the petition was accompanied "by all of the required fees and drawings" and that the specification included "the appropriate language." My two cents: I'm not surprised to see Applicants filing Color Petitions for graphs and charts. The use of color can certainly make complicated graphs and charts easier to understand. However, color isn't the only way to convey that information. For example, I've seen black and white charts that use different types of dashed lines for different data series, or Xs and Os for the data points, etc.
The patent rules in 37 CFR §1.84 provide for color drawings "on rare occasions" when "necessary as the only practical medium by which to disclose the subject matter sought to be patented." I've always wondered how the PTO interprets this requirement. The answer isn't readily available, since color drawings require a petition, and there is no database of petition decisions equivalent to the database of Board of Appeals decisions. But I do run across Color Drawing Petitions from time to time, so in today's post I'll discuss an admittedly very small and random subset of decisions on Color Drawings Petitions. Later I'll follow up with another post discussing a few more of these decisions. 11/925,065 - Color Drawings Petition GRANTED Jun. 2010: The Applicant for 11/925,065 filed an application with a petition to accept 3 of the 6 drawings in color. The application was titled "Transmitting Information Effectively in Server/Client Network". The black & white version of one of the color drawings, from from the patent publication, is shown below:
As an explanation for why color was necessary, the Applicant stated: ...the use of color drawings is necessary to differentiate the information and the direction of travel of the information in the server/client network. The use of color drawings for these features of the present invention is considered essential.
The petition did not include any explanation for why color was necessary. A few months after the Petition was filed, a Quality Assurance Specialist in TC 2100 denied the petition for this reason. The Applicant filed another Petition, and this time explained that "the color drawings are necessary to particularly point out and support Applicants' claimed invention." The same Q.A. Specialist granted the second petition,
noting only the petition did contain the explanation required by §1.84. 11/495,229 - Color Drawings Petition Granted Jun. 2007: The Applicant for 11/495,229 filed an application ("Interactive Computer Simulation Enhanced Exercise Machine") with a petition to accept color photographs. The black & white version of one of these photographs, from the patent publication, is shown below:
As an explanation for why color was necessary, the Petition stated: Color
drawings are the only practical medium by which to disclose the simulated environment developed and generated by the disclosed subject matter of to the patent... Such details and contrast between the environment objects are only provided in color and would be lacking in a black & white photograph. Six months after filing, the Petition was granted by a Supervisory Patent Examiner in T.C. 3700. The SPE treated the Petition as one to accept Color Photographs, since it referred to both §1.84(a) and §1.84(b) and included copies of the photographs in both black & white and color. The Decision did not comment on the sufficient of the Applicant's reason for color. Instead, the SPE simply noted that the Applicant had complied with the color photograph requirements of §1.84(b) by submitting the appropriate fee, a statement in the spec referring to color drawings, three sets of color drawings, and "a black and white photocopy accurately depicting, to the extent possible, the subject matter shown in the color drawing." 13/033,384 - Color Drawings Petition GRANTED Mar. 2011: The Applicant for 13/033,384 filed an application ("Method for Embedding Secret Message into PNG Image") with a petition to accept several drawings in color. The specification described two of the color drawings as showing "an image before a secret message is embedded" and "the same image ... after the secret
message is embedded." The black & white version of these drawings, from the patent publication, is shown below:
What's the thinking here? Do patent practitioners submit color drawings simply because the drawings provided by the client are in color? Or is the rationale to save money? Note that the petition fee is only $130, and it wouldn't surprise me that a complicated user interface or screen shot would cost more than $130 to prepare as a line drawing. I think the PTO should provide some guidance on what is an acceptable reason for color drawings. Is the bar for the "necessary as the only practical medium" requirement of §1.84 really this low? 6 comments: