[Clues For Solving The Trellis Code Mystery]
Mark,
<<recommend you call Amati and ask.>>
A reasonable suggestion, but in light of the following portion of the
Code of Federal Regulations governing how patent applications must be made (as of about 6/8/95 - always possible the rules could have been different when any particular patent application was filed), I would prefer to first take a look at the 8 patents we know have been issued to Amati directly and see what, if anything, John Cioffi and/or his friends in the Amati R&D department swore under oath was true, or at least believed to be true, about Trellis Coding.
From the Code of Federal Regulations (emphasis added by Mr. Ed) at:
kuesterlaw.com
<<1.63 Oath or declaration.
(a) An oath or declaration filed under # 1.51(a)(1)(ii) as a part of a
nonprovisional application must:
(1) Be executed in accordance with either # 1.66 or # 1.68;
(2) Identify the specification to which it is directed;
(3) Identify each inventor and the residence and country of citizenship of each inventor; and
(4) State whether the inventor is a sole or joint inventor of the
invention claimed.
(b) In addition to meeting the requirements of paragraph (a), *the oath or declaration must state that the person making the oath or
declaration:
(1) Has reviewed and understands the contents of the specification, including the claims, as amended by any amendment specifically referred to in the oath or declaration;*
(2) Believes the named inventor or inventors to be the original and
first inventor or inventors of the subject matter which is claimed and for which a patent is sought; and
(3) Acknowledges the duty to disclose to the Office all information
known to the person to be material to patentability as defined in w
1.56.
(c) In addition to meeting the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the oath or declaration in any application in which a claim for foreign priority is made pursuant to w 1.55 must identify the foreign application for patent or inventor's certificate on which priority is claimed and any foreign application having a filing date before that of the application on which priority is claimed, by specifying the application number, country, day, month, and year of its filing.
(d) In any continuation-in-part application filed under the conditions
specified in 35 U.S.C. 120 which discloses and claims subject matter in addition to that disclosed in the prior copending application, the oath or declaration must also state that the person making the oath or
declaration acknowledges the duty to disclose to the Office all
information known to the person to be material to patentability as
defined in w 1.56 which became available between the filing date of the prior application and the national or PCT international filing date of the continuation-in-part application.
[48 FR 2711, Jan. 20, 1983, added effective Feb. 27, 1983; 48 FR 4285,
Jan. 31, 1983; paras. (b)(3) and (d), 57 FR 2021, Jan. 17, 1992,
effective Mar. 16, 1992; para. (a) revised, 60 FR 20195, Apr. 25, 1995, effective June 8, 1995]
1.64 Person making oath or declaration.
(a) The oath or declaration must be made by all of the actual inventors except as provided for in ww 1.42, 1.43, or 1.47.
***(snip)***
1.68 Declaration in lieu of oath.
Any document to be filed in the Patent and Trademark Office and which is required by any law, rule, or other regulation to be under oath may be subscribed to by a written declaration. Such declaration may be used in lieu of the oath otherwise required, if, and only if, the declarant is on the same document, warned that willful false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both (18 U.S.C. 1001) and may jeopardize the validity of the application or any patent issuing thereon. *The declarant must set forth in the body of the declaration that all statements made of the declarant's own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.*
[49 FR 48416, Dec. 12, 1984, effective Feb. 11, 1985]>>
As you might have guessed by now, one of the Amati patents discusses
what trellis coding is and why it matters. Although there is a procedure for having someone other than the inventor(s) sign an oath or declaration in connection with a patent application in unusual circumstances, it is infrequently used. To be absolutely certain that
an Amati employee signed the oath or declaration, you would have to obtain a copy of the "prosecution history" of the patent, but that's not worth the trouble.
Good luck to us all,
Bozo T. Clown
P.S. Did not mean to imply that you were among the group that should
call me *MR.* Ed. |
