On Tue, 1 Sep 2009 17:40:09 -0700 (PDT), Art Unwin
wrote:

The patent examiner is committed to help me so such things do not
happen.

On what planet did you find this patent examiner? When I was trying
to help scribble some patent applications (in about 2000), I never was
able to communicate with any patent examiner. They're totally
isolated from the applicant to protect against intimidation and
bribery. I received a check sheet and a letter of explanation of what
needed correcting. Attached was a list of recommendations and a
schedule for resubmission. The first one required 5 resubmissions,
over a period of about 2 years to get through. The next two were
somewhat easier and only took about a year. I was about to give up on
the last two, when the company hired a patent attorney, who got things
rolling again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_examiner

Sigh:
http://usptoexaminers.com
You might want to see how your examiner rates.

If you do not have an attorney they will step in and render
assistance.,

Who will? Certainly not the examiner.

The USPTO has the "Inventors Assistance Center" to help individuals
with their documentation:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/pacmain.html
The problem is that they can only help with the process, not with the
merits of the individual patent. You can talk with someone in
customer service, but that's the same story. If you want help with
your claims, you'll get directed to a patent attorney.

Remember that It is really a question of presentation to
those skilled in the art of which the examiner is one
and not to the World at large. There is a former examiner in this
group so you really should address such questions to him for
verification that you can trust.

Agreed. Experience is good substitute for guesswork and Googleing.
Incidentally, I did a Google Groups search for "former patent
examiner" in this newsgroup and found nothing.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:19:05 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

The first one required 5 resubmissions,
over a period of about 2 years to get through. The next two were
somewhat easier and only took about a year. I was about to give up on
the last two, when the company hired a patent attorney, who got things
rolling again.

Argh. I just checked my billing log (Quickbooks). The first one took
over 3 years. The other two about 2 years. My problem was that I
didn't get paid until AFTER the patent was accepted. Remind me to
never accept a contract like that again.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS