Feature Article:
Which Came First: The Chicken or the Patent?
by Frank Cuypers, IP Head, Group Intellectual Property, Swiss Re, Zurich

Patent Watch:
Don't Count on Copying Your Competitor's Great New Product Ideas
The use of patents to protect intellectual property in the insurance industry is growing.

Patent Tech:
Sources of Information
Where to find information on patents and patent applications.

Patents in Action:
Story of a Reversionary Annuity
The story of patent #5,754,980.

Finding Innovation:
How Do You Know You've Invented Something?
Invention is a solution to a problem.

Second Issue: August 15, 2004 - VOL:2004.2

Feature Article:
Ignorance Will Be No Excuse
by Phil Hargrove, VP, Intellectual Asset Management, GE Employers Reinsurance Co., Kansas City, MO

Patent Watch:
AIG Joins the Patent Club
AIG gets their first internally generated patent issued.

Patent Tech:
Broad Thinking - Yes, But Will it Fly?
The Wright Bros. example.

Finding Innovation:
Can You Patent an Insurance Product?
Right now, you can't. Find out why.

Feature Article:
The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Insurance Product Innovation
by Francois Gadenne, President and CEO, Retirement Engineering, Inc., Boston, MA and
Ben Williams, VP and Chief Technical Officer, Retirement Engineering, Inc. Boston, MA.

Patent Tech:
Why Does the Patent System Exist?
A comment from Charles Call, a patent agent from Yarmouth, MA.

Patent Watch:
Progressive Builds a Fortress of Patent Protection
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company's use of patents to protect its intellectual property.  

Patents in Action:
Why Isn't the World Beating a Path to My Door?
Guidelines on how individual inventors can market their inventive new insurance ideas. 

Feature Article:
Barbarians at the Gate
by Tom Bakos, FSA, MAAA - President, Tom Bakos Consulting, Inc.
and
Mark Nowatarski, Patent Agent, - President, MPA LLC

Patent Tech:
USPTO Examination Process for Business Method Patent Applications
A briefing on how the patent office handles patent applications.

Patent Watch:
Stable Value Protected Life Insurance - Update of Bancorp Patent
How Bancorp has kept its patent application involving stable value funds alive.  

Feature Article:
Direct Insurance Patents Could Trigger a Boom
by Mark Clare - President, Knowledge Dynamics and Director, Parkview Health

Patent Futures:
Alternate Risk Transfer - Finite Risk Hits the Boundaries of Insurance
Finite insurance has brought attention to the insurance industry

Patent (Pending) In Action:
No Charge Auto Insurance
A patent application for free car insurance.

Feature Article:
Lessons from a First Time Patent Applicant
by Matt Schoen- President, MB Schoen & Associates, Inc.

Patent Tech:
What Do Computers Do?
The Specification of a patent requires a written description of the patent to be clear, concise, and exact.  

Patent Value:
What's a Patent Worth?
A patent's value is derived from the fact that a patent gives the inventorthe right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention.

Feature Article:
Will it Fly?
by Tom Bakos & Mark Nowotarski

Addresses the question of what it means for an insurance product to work. 

In Re Lundgren:

A major barrier to the possibility of directly patenting new insurance products in the U.S. has just been removed.  

Patent Q&A:
Who Gets the Patent?
Question: If I make an invention as part of my job, who owns the patent, me or my employer?

Feature Article:
A Better MouseTRAP 
by Tom Bakos

Have you invented a new insurance product - or, have you invented something else.  Innovating around insurancelaw and regulation. 

Patent Q&A:
'Swearing back' at the patent office

Question: If I write down my idea and have it notarized, does that protect me until I can get a patent application filed?

Feature Article:
The Future of Patents 
by Mark Nowotarski, Patent Agent

A discussion of the ongoing judicial interpretation of patent laws in the U.S. 

Patent Regulation:
Proposed rule changes at the USPTO

Free Patent Help
Inventors Assistance Center
How the USPTO can help with your difficult patent questions.