Alchemy and Sorcery in IP: Patent Foundations and Practices

Abstract: The US patent system rests upon a robust and far-reaching premise, which is stated most elegantly in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution: [The Congress shall have Power] "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Within this "Patent Clause" lies a simple economic principle that the public receives a benefit when an individual acts in his or her self-interest. In some aspects, this clause is among the cornerstones in the foundation of the healthiest, wealthiest and most technically advanced society ever known. As a side benefit, the information systems and databases supporting the patent system can be readily utilized free of charge by researchers, even in non-IP contexts. This talk will focus on some patent basics, current topics in IP, practice strategies for getting quicker patents, and chemical search techniques. Hopefully, it will benefit both novice and sophisticated researchers and innovators.

Biography: John K. Pike, Ph.D., is a patent attorney registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He received his J.D. from George Mason University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Florida, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on "Oriented Inorganic Particles Prepared in a Langmuir-Blodgett Film". He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A & I University in Kingsville, Texas. Dr. Pike carried out post-doctoral research under a combined appointment with Virginia Tech at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. His publications include articles in Chemistry of Materials and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He has two grown sons and lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, Sherri (a graduate of The W) and their cat, Trouble. Dr. Pike has a private patent law practice near the the US Patent and Trademark Office representing domestic and international clients in their IP matters in a wide variety of technical areas including chemistry, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer products and designs.