December 2020

28 Dec

Patents for Humanity

Articles, Case Summary, Team awards, edward kim, harrity & harrity, humanity, ip news, patents

Some time ago, in discussing humanitarian efforts and engineering, a friend of mine told me about a concept project he worked on to create a new iteration of the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC), an all-terrain wheelchair manufactured by Global Research Innovation and Technology (GRIT). The original LFC was created by engineering graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to allow people with disabilities in developing countries to gain mobility and independence. Conventional wheelchairs didn’t function well on the rugged terrain and rough local roads, and most were difficult and expensive to maintain. The three-wheeled LFC uses a push-lever drivetrain to help people navigate over rugged terrain with ease and is built from commonly found bicycle parts to allow easy maintenance and repair. Naturally, being an intellectual property professional, I started looking into patents related to the LFC.

That’s when I first discovered Patents for Humanity, an awards competition hosted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The creators of the LFC secured US Patent No. 8,844,959 in 2014 and was awarded a Patents for Humanity award in the subsequent year. Nearly a decade has passed since the program itself started, but little is known about it. Given the current situation with the global pandemic, and the season of giving around us, I thought it might be timely to share some information about the awards competition with our network of IP professionals.

Patents for Humanity was launched in February 2012 as part of an initiative to promote “game-changing innovations to address long-standing development challenges” and showcase how patent holders are pioneering innovative ways to provide affordable, scalable, and sustainable solutions for the less fortunate. Awards have been given for innovations that range from Golden Rice that’s genetically enhanced to provide a source of vitamin A for people relying mainly on rice to the LFC to compact human wastewater converters called NEWgenerator.

Two types of awards are given – Patents for Humanity awards and Honorable Mentions awards. Patents for Humanity award recipients are given an acceleration certificate, and of course, public recognition of their work at an awards ceremony sponsored by the USPTO. The certificate can be used to accelerate a patent application examination, ex parte reexamination, and ex parte appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.* Honorable Mentions award recipients receive accelerated examination of one patent application but not other types of matters.

The program is open to patent owners, applicants, licensees (including inventors who haven’t assigned their ownership rights to others), assignees, and exclusive and non-exclusive licensees. Applicants must describe how they’ve used their patented technology or products to address a humanitarian issue, which, for the competition purposes, is defined as “one significantly affecting the public health or quality of life of an impoverished population.”

Applicants using a patent application as a basis for entry to the competition must show that a Notice of Allowance for one or more claims from that patent application has been issued before any certificate is awarded. Applicants mainly compete in the following five categories:

Medicine: any medical-related technology such as medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, or medical devices.
Nutrition: technologies which improve nutrition such as higher yield crops, more nutritious food sources, food preservation, storage, or preparation.
Sanitation: improving lives by addressing environmental factors such as clean water, waste treatment, air pollution, and toxic substances.
Household energy: technologies providing power to energy-poor homes and communities for household needs like lighting, cooking, and heating.
Living standards: technologies that raise living standards to empower people to escape poverty, such as literacy, education, communications, information delivery, access to markets, and microfinance.

Applicants may also team together to submit joint applications explaining actions taken by multiple parties. However, only one certificate will be issued to the joint applicants, and the certificate can be redeemed for only one matter.

The applications are then judged under one of two criteria: (1) Humanitarian Use (applying eligible technologies to positively impact a humanitarian issue, focusing on demonstrable real-world improvements) and (2) Humanitarian Research (making available patented technologies to other researchers for conducting research with a humanitarian purpose, particularly areas lacking commercial application).

The applications are reviewed and scored by qualified judges outside of the USPTO, and the USPTO forwards the top-scoring applications to participating federal agencies for award recipient recommendations.

As we prepare to bid farewell to a year that will live in infamy, I think it’s fitting to recognize this year’s award recipients: Global Vision 2020; Sisu Global; Sanaria Inc; Flexcrevator; NEWgenerator; Nonspec; Rubitection; and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Congratulations! Perhaps, now more than ever, we need and should honor more innovation that makes progress in human lives. Keep an eye out for the next awards competition application period.

More information about the Patents for Humanity awards competition can be found at:

https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/patent-policy/patents-humanity

For those interested in the details of the Terms and Conditions:

https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTO-P4H-2020Terms.pdf

*Inter partes matters and other post-grant proceedings may not be accelerated with the certificate at this time.

28 Dec

Law360: Harrity & Harrity Launches Academy To Diversify Patent Law

Harrity & Harrity

Articles, Diversity, Firm News, Minority Firm Incubator, Team diversity, harrity & harrity, harrity academy, John Harrity, law 360, minorities in law, STEM, women in ip, women in law

By Sameer Rao

Law360 (December 23, 2020, 4:20 PM EST) — To address some of the issues underlying a lack of diversity in patent law, Harrity & Harrity LLP has announced a new set of free classes the firm hopes will inspire more patent lawyers from underrepresented populations.

The Harrity Academy, which the midsize firm launched this fall, consists of three Zoom classes that will convene throughout 2021. Ranging from four to eight weeks in length, the three classes address different aspects of patent law and range in scope depending on the participants’ experience. Each course will be led by a Harrity & Harrity attorney and has 20 spots available, the press release says. The program also includes mentorship and breakout sessions for more individualized attention…

Read the full article on Law 360 here.

22 Dec

John Harrity Interviewed for Law360: How 7 IP Firms Weathered The COVID-19 Pandemic

Harrity & Harrity

Articles, Firm News, Team COVID-19, harrity & harrity, John Harrity, law 360, remote work

By Dani Kass

Law360 (December 21, 2020, 4:47 PM EST) — Intellectual property firms ranging from just a handful of lawyers to several hundred attorneys said the COVID-19 pandemic was a logistical curveball, but their industry has largely been insulated from the worst of the pandemic’s financial woes.

Law360 spoke with seven IP firms that span in size and location to get a snapshot of how the novel coronavirus pandemic impacted the industry, including Harrity’s John Harrity.

“Harrity & Harrity’s staff was already three-quarters remote before the pandemic hit, said John Harrity.

‘We were ready for it,’ he said. ‘We were already paperless — we had done that several years ago. It was probably as seamless a transition for us as possible.’

He said the firm has been continuously growing, and with a dozen new attorneys added in 2020, it marked its biggest year for hiring.

While Harrity said the firm had always allowed for flexibility with attorneys, such as letting them choose their own hours, it extended that same freedom to support staff during the pandemic.

‘[We’re letting them start] as late as 3 p.m. so that they could do their homeschooling if they have young kids and then start their day after that’s over,’ he said. ‘We’re put in this really awkward position with this, especially with virtual learning. If you have small kids, what are you supposed to do? We didn’t want our parents to have to choose between teaching their kids or working. We gave them an opportunity to be able to keep doing both.’

The patent preparation and prosecution specialists say they’ve seen particular growth in the telecom sector, which has blown up in the remote work environment.

Internally, the firm has used that remote technology to try and keep its employees connected to each other, including with virtual happy hours and live meditation sessions.

‘It’s necessary during a situation [like] we’re in — the inherent stress that’s involved with the pandemic and the uncertainty that’s around it,’ Harrity said.”

Read the full article here.

14 Dec

Harrity 4 Charity on Erie News Now

Harrity & Harrity

Firm News, General, Harrity 4 Charity, Team charity, give back, harrity, harrity 4 charity, Julie Swartz, philanthropy

(Erie News Now) JJ’s Retro Eatery, a family-owned-and-operated diner in Union City, PA, has faced some challenges during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. When Harrity Docketing Specialist Julie Swartz heard about their struggles, she knew that she needed to get Harrity 4 Charity involved.

“We have put everything we have into this business and have been blessed with many successful years,” said Debbi James. “But the past year has been an extreme struggle with the times we are face with during this pandemic. We are struggling to survive day-to-day and we owe so much to Harrity for offering their help, along with a thank you to Julie, who has the most caring heart ever.”

Erie News Now featured JJ’s story:

JJ’s will host a Holiday Baked Goods Drive By through Christmas. 10 of JJ’s most popular pies will be sold during the event, along with six flavors of cheesecake, four types of turnovers, jumbo cinnamon or maple rolls and an assorted Christmas cookie tray.

JJ’s Retro Eatery is located at 16411 Route 8 in Union City. Business hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The restaurant will also be open on Dec. 23 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for customers to pick up pre-ordered baked goods only.

To view a menu and place an order, click here.

Orders must be placed by Dec. 20 and can be picked up curbside. Free delivery is available within a 10-mile radius of the restaurant.

For more information on JJ’s Retro Eatery and to see a full menu, visit them on Facebook.

14 Dec

Harrity & Harrity LLP to match up to $100,000 for the American Heart Association

Harrity & Harrity

Firm News, General, Harrity 4 Charity, Team American Heart Association, charity, give back, harrity, harrity 4 charity, John Harrity

(NOVA Chamber Newsletter) The American Heart Association (AHA), the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives is excited to announce that through December 31 all donations and registration fees up to $100,000 will be doubled for its Lawyers Have Heart 10K Race, 5K Run and Walk. Made possible through the generosity of race sponsor Harrity & Harrity LLP to promote increased around Giving Tuesday, a global movement to support charities. Donations to Lawyers Have Heart benefit the Association to further its work for a world of longer, healthier lives and can help fast track research and train front-line workers.

“As a person who had his life saved by the AHA’s science, this cause is beyond important to me and my family,” said John Harrity, Harrity & Harrity LLP’s Managing Partner. “Our firm wanted to give in a big way and we hope this inspires others to do the same. Millions of people are counting on the American Heart Association for science-based information, health resources, community programs and patient support. They need us to be generous now more than ever.”

There are many ways to take part in the matching opportunity:

Visit LawyersHaveHeartDC.org and make a donation in support of a world of longer, healthier lives.
Consider an opportunity for your company to sponsor the event by contacting maher@heart.org.
Register for the 2021 race through December 31 and the fee will count as a donation that will be matched by Harrity & Harrity LLP.
Give through your mobile phone. Text RUNLHH to 41444.

“Planning is moving forward for a huge 2021 event and we hope to once again attract participants from around the world,” said Harrity. “There was an incredible response when we took the 2020 event to a digital experience where 3,000 participants ran and walked their courses all over the United States, England, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, Japan and more. We will definitely plan to keep a virtual component moving forward so anyone can take part from anywhere in the world.”

Harrity serves as a co-chair for the 2021 event along with his firm’s Controller Sandra Maxey and American University Washington College of Law’s Associate Dean of Student Affairs, David Jaffe. Since 1991, the event has raised over $15.6 million, in support of vital research and programming to improve health and well-being across the Greater Washington Region.

“We are so thankful to Harrity & Harrity for their tremendous support that will build excitement,” said Soula Antoniou, Executive Director, American Heart Association. “This gift helps ensure the Association’s continued work with researchers, medical experts, hospitals, community leaders, businesses, families and more to improve health and well-being for all and to reduce the impact of the coronavirus.”

9 Dec

Joe Lentivech – An Ex-PTAB Judge on Ex-Parte Appeals: Clause 8, Episode 23

Harrity & Harrity

Articles, Clause 8, Team Clause 8, clause 8 podcast, Eli Mazour, ex parte, intellectual property, IP, ipwatchdog, joseph lentivech, PTAB

How does the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) actually operate? What does it take to win an ex parte appeal? When should you request an oral hearing? What are the chances of the PTAB reversing a Section 101 rejection? How do you become an Administrative Patent Judge?

In this latest episode of Clause 8, I speak with former Administrative Patent Judge Joe Lentivech to get answers to these questions. He’s not only an expert in how the PTAB operates, but also a master storyteller.

Listen and subscribe on IPwatchdog.com or your favorite podcasting app!

9 Dec

Random Act of Kindness Leads to Holiday Pie Drive-By Sale at Union City Restaurant

Harrity & Harrity

Firm News, General, Harrity 4 Charity, Team charity, give back, harrity, harrity 4 charity, Julie Swartz, philanthropy

(Eerie News Now) A Union City restaurant is receiving some much needed help through a random act of kindness.

In July, Debbi and Greg James, owners of JJ’s Retro Eatery, posted on Facebook about the dire challenges the restaurant has faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also posted a thank you to an unknown person who mowed the lawn of the restaurant.

After seeing the Facebook post, a former customer of the restaurant who now lives in Virginia took action.

Julie Swartz, a docketing specialist for Fairfax, Va.-based law firm Harrity, LLP, saw the post on Facebook. Swartz grew up in Erie and had eaten at the restaurant years ago. Seeing the post and learning about the situation the restaurant was in, as well as the random act of kindness of someone mowing the lawn of the restaurant, Swartz knew she had to somehow pay it forward.

Swartz, who now lives in Evans City, Pa., with the help of a COVID-19 relief fund established by Harrity 4 Charity – the giving-back initiative of Harrity LLP -, got in the car and drove to JJ’s.

There, she presented the restaurant with a relief check, new banners for the restaurant’s front, flowers for curb appeal and cleaning supplies. Swartz then spent the day with the Debbi and Greg James and their family to prepare for reopening after Pennsylvania’s spring shutdown.

Since then, Harrity has provided a financial helping hand to the struggling eatery.

This holiday season, Swartz is now helping the James family organize a Holiday Pie Drive By for JJ’s, which is known for its baked goods. Swartz has volunteered to help pass out flyers and make deliveries.

JJ’s will host the Holiday Baked Goods Drive By through Christmas. 10 of JJ’s most popular pies will be sold during the event, along with six flavors of cheesecake, four types of turnovers, jumbo cinnamon or maple rolls and an assorted Christmas cookie tray.

JJ’s Retro Eatery is located at 16411 Route 8 in Union City. Business hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The restaurant will also be open on Dec. 23 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for customers to pick up pre-ordered baked goods only.

To view a menu and place an order, click here.

Orders must be placed by Dec. 20 and can be picked up curbside. Free delivery is available within a 10-mile radius of the restaurant.

For more information on JJ’s Retro Eatery and to see a full menu, visit them on Facebook.

9 Dec

7-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Raises Thousands for Gifts to Give Hospitalized Kids, Matched by Harrity 4 Charity

Harrity & Harrity

Firm News, General, Harrity 4 Charity, Team charity, give back, giving tuesday, harrity, harrity 4 charity, inova, philanthropy

7-Year-Old Cancer Survivor HELPS Raise Thousands for Gifts to Give Hospitalized Kids

BY Julie Carey

(NBC4 Washington) Small but mighty: That’s a good way to describe a Fairfax County second grader who is helping Inova raise thousands of dollars to buy toys for kids who are in the hospital this holiday season.

Poppy Sellier, 7, has a special appreciation for what those toys mean, because it wasn’t long ago that she was in the hospital herself.

Playing with her LEGOs today, Poppy is the picture of health. But when we first met her in summer 2019, she was just wrapping up treatment for leukemia at Inova Children’s Hospital.

Poppy and her family always carried the other children at the hospital in their hearts, even while Poppy was still a patient there. Her mom, Charlotte, brought in donated toys, with Poppy making deliveries in a red wagon.

“They would be very happy and they would like all the toys that I brought them,” Poppy recalled with a smile.

Last year during the holidays, with a bow in her newly regrown hair, Poppy and her siblings returned to the hospital, reuniting with staff and helping to deliver hundreds of LEGO sets donated by the community to Inova.

Poppy on Dec. 24, 2019

But coronavirus means some adjustments this year.

“Because this year it’s the coronavirus, we can’t go into the hospital and give it,” Poppy said.

And Inova can’t ask the community to donate toys. So instead, they’ve made Poppy an ambassador of sorts for what they’re calling Poppy’s Toy Express, asking the community to give money instead of toys this year.

“Usually we love accepting the gifts from the community, and people are so generous during this time,” Inova Health Foundation President Sage Bolte said. “But because we can’t, Poppy actually offered up her own allowance to start this campaign.”

And Poppy’s story has been inspiring lots of giving.

“We got a lot of generous donations, and we got right now over like 55,000 kind of money,” Poppy said.

That $55,000 means they’re already very close to making their $60,000 goal to supply toys not only at the holidays but throughout the year. And once that $60,000 is raised, it will be matched by a group called Harrity 4 Charity.

As for Poppy, she’s enjoying feeling well and being back in school in 2nd grade.

“It feels so much better. I like my teacher and she’s really, really nice,” Poppy said.

But Poppy and her family are hoping that by next year, the red wagon full of toys will roll again.

Harrity 4 Charity is doubling up to $60,000 of donations made to INOVA for Giving Tuesday. All donations will go directly towards purchasing toys and books for children undergoing treatment and surgery at INOVA Children’s Hospital during the holidays for Poppy’s Toy Express — an initiative started by a seven-year old cancer survivor, Poppy, who spent 160 days at Inova in 2018. Click here to donate to Poppy’s Toy Express.

3 Dec

Maximize Your Patent Portfolio Using Helferich-Style Claims

Harrity & Harrity

Articles, Case Summary, Firm News, Team federal circuit, harrity & harrity, helferich, ip news, ipwatchdog, michael woodward, patent portfolio

By Michael Woodward, Harrity Associate

Patent owners often obtain patents to protect products, as well as complementary products or use cases associated with those products. However, when selling or licensing the patented products, a patent owner may inadvertently extinguish potential revenue streams associated with the complementary use cases due to the doctrine of patent exhaustion.

Patent exhaustion follows the basic idea that if a company sells or licenses a patented product to a buyer, the company cannot sue the buyer (or a third party that the buyer provides the patented product to under the license) for patent infringement for using the product. Patent owners should take care when preparing and licensing patents to ensure that infringement claims for complementary products or use cases associated with patented products are not exhausted by the sale or licensing of the patented products, as shown by the Federal Circuit case of Helferich Patent Licensing v. New York Times, 778 F.3D 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2015)…

Keep reading on IPwatchdog.com.