Tuesday 31 January 2012

SilverCrest Mines Santa Elena Expansion Plan Animation

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SilverCrest Expansion Plan to up production by 52 – 100% at Santa Elena

SilverCrest Mines’ Santa Elena silver and gold mine is located in Sonora, Mexico, 150 kilometres from the state capital, Hermosillo, and just 7 kilometres from the community of Banamichi.

The property consists of six contiguous concessions with a total area of 3,159 hectares registered to the company’s wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, Nusantara de Mexico.

On September 9, 2010, SilverCrest poured its first bar of dore. Ramp-up production took place over the following nine months.

To convert the rock in the ground to mineable ore, SilverCrest drilled a total of 23,000 metres in 136 holes.

After 2010 mining operations, the open pit portion of the Santa Elena deposit has 11.7MM oz Ag and 279K oz Au contained in 4.8 million tonnes of ore. Santa Elena’s ore grades are considered high at 75.9 g/t Ag and 1.81 g/t Au in an epithermal deposit.

During Phase I of the mine life, operations at Santa Elena are expected to process 2,500 tpd with an average annual output of 800,000 ounces of silver and 30,000 ounces of gold.At recent metal prices that’s an undiscounted revenue stream of $76 million annually.

Bolstered by it’s successes to date, SilverCrest Mines is now advancing the Santa Elena Expansion Plan which will increase profit to the company through 2019.

The Expansion Plan will commence during Phase I and includes: Phase II: The underground resource at Santa Elena, Phase III: Ore from the Cruz de Mayo satellite deposit; and Phase IV: Substantial resources from retreated leached heaps.

Phase II would begin with the construction of a Conventional CCD Mill with a capacity of 3,500 tpd.

At the same time, the company would begin construction of a 1,216 metre decline ramp in late 2011.

Presently, the underground mine development will add an additional 2.8 million tonnes of ore with a grade of 88.6 g/t silver and 1.51 g/t gold. This would net the company an additional 8 million ounces of silver, plus 136,000 ounces of gold over a 6-year mine life.

The decline ramp would allow for further exploration of the underground portion of the Santa Elena deposit in 2012. Significant potential exists here to increase resources with further drilling.

Phase III mining at Santa Elena calls for the addition of ore from the Cruz de Mayo silver and gold satellite deposit. The property is approximately 35 km from the Santa Elena property, 180 km by paved road.

Conceptually, mining at Cruz would consist of a heap leach operation on site, and/or shipping of high grade ore to the Santa Elena mill.

The property consists of two contiguous concessions with a total area of 452 ha.

The silver and gold resource at Cruz de Mayo is based on 66 drill holes completed between 2008 and 2009. Drilling is ongoing in 2011.

Present resources on the project are as follows: 6,065,000 tonnes inferred grading 66.5 g/t plus 1,141,000 tonnes grading 64.15 g/t.

At a very conservative $14.75 per ounce silver, the conceptual Cruz de Mayo open pit mine will be a traditional load and haul operation, mining 795 kt of ore at grade of 93.5 g/t silver and 0.10 g/t gold. A total of 2.2 million tonnes will be mined over a three year mine life starting in 2013 and finishing in 2016.

SilverCrest would conceptually begin open pit mining at Cruz de Mayo in 2014.

Phase IV of the Santa Elena Expansion Plan will see the company return to the Leached Heaps at the open pit by 2019.

Metallurgical work completed to date shows excellent recovery rates for both gold and silver in this process, with re-processing returning 75.7% of the total silver and 93.5% of the gold. By re-processing the heaps at the mill, SilverCrest anticipates adding further low cost metal to its coffers.

As a final part of the ongoing exploration program, SilverCrest also envisions adding potential resources from Santa Elena North. This target is located just 1 km north of the existing Santa Elena open pit.

The initial drill plan for SEN consisted of approximately 22 drill holes testing to a depth of 100 metres.

With an initial footprint measuring at least 500 metres long by 20 metres wide, Santa Elena North remains open in all directions. Results from this drill program will be released in 2011.

SilverCrest Mine’s Santa Elena Expansion Plan is a plan for growth.

Once executed, the expansion plan will increase average annual production by a minimum of 52% at a mine throughput of 2,500 tpd. This would produce an average of 1.6 million ounces of silver, and 39,000 ounces of gold annually. The company is considering a throughput of 3,500 tpd for a 100% increase from current production values.

The economic value of the Santa Elena Expansion Plan will contribute tremendously to the company’s success. The company’s April 2011 Preliminary Economic Assessment, or PEA established a significantly increased net present value for the project at $491 million (at a 5% discount rate), up from $78MM for the Santa Elena open pit alone.

With the expansion plan, the company’s initial 6.5 year mine life increases to more than 10 years. Initial sales of our silver and gold have already begun to offset our operating costs, and will set the stage for early, free cash flow that will be utilized to implement SilverCrest Mines’ strategy for corporate growth.

Investors can evaluate SilverCrest Mines’ Santa Elena Gold and Silver Mine and other projects using the calculators available free at RI Analytics… HERE.

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The Day After Tomorrow – Entertaining Adventure

I’m writing this in February 2011 near St Louis, where we’ve gotten an unusually large amount of snow. And we’ve gotten off lightly. Other parts of the United States have received an overwhelming amount, even in the South. In Boston, where lots of snow is normal, my sister reports it’s worse than usual. They have up to four feet in their front yard. New York City has had a record amount of snow.It’s times like this that make people make fun of Al Gore and the contention of many others that the Earth is warming up. It is apparently why many “global warming” prophets have changed the phrase to “climate change.” After all, a “change” can be up or down. Maybe the Earth is really cooling. No matter, they still want us to give up carbon fuels.So it’s interesting that this science fiction movie, which is intended to warn us of the perils of global warming, should use a massive freeze to make its point.And “massive” is an understatement. By the end of the movie, almost the entire Northern Hemisphere is under ice – thick ice.In the early scenes of the movie, Dennis Quaid as Jack Hall gives as speech outlining the possibility of global warming sending polar ice into the North Atlantic current, triggering a spiral of events resulting in large blizzard super-storms. Since I’m not familiar with the arguments of the global warming prophets, and not a paleoclimatatologist, I can’t evaluate its credibility.At least it doesn’t account for this current winter, which is no doubt simply a statistical fluctuation, and not proof for either global warming or cooling, and not proof against either one either.As part of the government’s weather team, Jack Hall is safe, but his son went on a trip to New York City for a school contest. So Jack and a buddy borrow some equipment and head for the Big Apple which is now under many feet of snow and ice, with temperatures around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s cold enough to kill fast. That’s cold enough to make the water around the Titanic feel like hot springs.The boy, his friends and a girl he likes have meanwhile been fighting for their survival, taking shelter in the New York City Public Library and burning books for heat.The rest of the movie is basically a fairly well done adventure movie with good special effects.Of course it has a happy ending, at least for the main characters, with Jack finally finding his son and friends not yet frozen to death in the library.The southern half of the United States is allowed to go to Mexico to escape the ice. (Get the irony and propaganda? The Mexicans let us go to their country when we need to, so they should be able to come here now.)So it’s a fairly entertaining piece of propaganda. I don’t take it as seriously as it wants me to, but I could be wrong.

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The Biology of Hydroponics

For some, the phrases ‘plant biology’ or ‘plant physiology’ or even the word botany brings to mind scary images. Certainly these sciences can be very complex and studying them is reserved for the truly motivated or professional. Despite this, having a little basic knowledge of some plant biology can benefit the average gardener, and grasping the basic concepts is actually quite easy.

With that said, we look at a branch of horticulture called ‘Hydroponics‘. But before one can cultivate well it’s essential to have some knowledge of the needs of plants. That’s where botany proves its worth.

Plants are living things, however they have some obvious and improtant differences from animals.Chief among those is the ability to absorb nutrients and generate what they need. Many plants, for example, absorb sunlight and turn it into energy through photosynthesis. As for nutrients, plants can extract chemical elements from their environment and turn it into food for themselves.

Animals, by contrast have to get their food from other sources, either other animals or plants. Sunlight provides them with warmth but not energy to power their functions. There are exceptions, as there are throughout biology. Some extremely small organisms that are sometimes thought of as animals can perform plant-like activities. These hybritd creatures are usually extreme exceptions though.

The primary mechanism that most plants use to perform those needed activities is photosynthesis. It can be represented by a simple chemical equation:

6CO2 + 12H2O + light = C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

By using light, the plant is able to combine twelve molecules of water (12H2O) with 6 molecules of carbon dioxide (6CO2). The chemical reaction produces glucose (C6H12O6), a type of sugar. Like animals, plants then break down the glucose to provide them withthe energy they need to sustain them. A by-product of this chemical reaction also creates 6 oxygen molecules (6O2) and 6 water molecules (6H2O).

This basic chemical process gives plants what they need to be self-sufficient.They take in available energy, pull nutrients from the surrounding and produce their own energy and food. It would be great if humans could do the same!

But there’s much more to the plant’s life than just energy production and food consumption. In order to perform those functions plants have to be sturdy and to breathe.

In order to carry out essential processes, the plant has to have a stable structure. With hydroponics, there is no soil so this physical support needs to be considered. Externally it’s supplied by the medium by either supporting trays, strings, rockwool, etc. Internally, the plant’s own cells provide that support, using available elements.

For example, the same calcium that supports our bones aids in building a plants cell walls. These cells allow the plant to withstand forces like wind and gravity by building up tissues that resist.

Like us, plants also need to breathe in order to live. Many of us are taught in elementary school that plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. That’s true. What isn’t so commonly known is that plants also breathe in oxygen – they just exhale more oxygen than they breathe in.

While plants don’t use lungs to breathe, they do however have pores, called stoma, which they use to breathe in oxygen and carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. This process called cellular respiration is critical for the plants to grow their roots.

These are only a few of the many fascinating features of plants that give them the ability to provide food, beauty and delightful smells to their fortunate caretakers: hydroponics gardeners.

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Tinnitus Ringing Inside the Hearing – The Ears ringing Problem.

Stress is a necessary factor to ears ringing. As far once we know, it may not be a direct reason behind ringing hearing, but the idea unquestionably plays an element in exactly how bad your current ears band at any supplied occasion. Let’s talk about how. Long-term stress contributes to your calling ears via its influence on your wellness. Constant anxiety can destroy your disease fighting capability.This foliage you more at risk of infections. In addition to infections, particularly with your ears, are recognized to cause ringing in ears.Long-term stress also can cause lack of sleep ., poor feeding on, and depression, all which also help with tinnitus. I’ve lived in both equally high-stress and low-stress environments and will vouch because of this effect.Short-term stress plays its part way too. Have you noticed how when you are really anxious, everything seems to bother anyone more?You bite at your household, little factors suddenly provok you, you then become much a lot more sensitive for you to everything. You feel much a lot more sensitive in your tinnitus far too. Although it may not be clear of which short-term strain actually boosts the volume of one’s tinnitus, it undoubtedly increases your perception of computer and the way loud or even annoying it seems like.So how might you deal with stress and its effects on the tinnitus? There are lots of actions you can take to lessen your stress degrees. I don’t have room to pay for them many here, but given the way in which stress may make your ringing in the ears worse, various stress-reduction methods must join in on any cutting edge of using system to manage and cure tinnitus. Affected by Ringing Ear and Buzzing in the ears? A Get your life back again forever by looking at Tinnitus Calling Ears currently.Do you understand how ringing in the ears is? Do a person recognize the way to quickly inhibit ringing in the ears? Have anyone frequently was near noisy speakers for a concert?If yes, what can you feel immediately after standing right now there for awhile? I was ensured in your own life a ringing with your ears for a while. Tinnitus can be somewhat like that. Tinnitus or ringing in ears is the noise that is certainly very annoying in your thoughts that only you hear without one else can.This ringing in the ears is brought on by inflammation on the inner ear canal, the heart of hearing and sense of balance. Besides, many research show that tinnitus attributable to high level of insulin within blood that causes inner-ear malfunction.The ringing might be constant as well as only intermittent which range from the smooth sound on the loud one which is genuinely disturbing your own activity. There are several treatments to stop ringing in ears but only few technique works.On the list of common remedies is counseling to know and recognize tinnitus. It generally includes habits modification treatments that explains how to get relax to eliminate fear, scare, horror, fright and also anxiety that some individuals feel. The best why’s to consult the expert who have proven to possess positive cause curing ringing in ears.One program that you need to try is usually online guideline Cure pertaining to Tinnitus which has proven treating tinnitus while you get the therapy from the actual expert.You should follow this guidance step by step to eradicate and get rid of your the ears problem and it takes even under 2 days.

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Tinnitus Dizziness – A Basics Guide

There are more than 50 million Americans who suffer from tinnitus dizziness as a major symptom of tinnitus and around 15 million of these suffer too much to the point that they already need professional help and the worst is 3 million of these find it very difficult to go through their life. This only proves how big nuisance tinnitus dizziness can be. Read on to know more about this condition. What is Tinnitus Dizziness?

Tinnitus dizziness occurs when the spatial perception and stability of the brain is impaired due to the constant hearing of roaring, hissing, ringing, and other tinnitus-produced sounds. The attack can either be sporadic or regular and the effect can either be mild to shattering. Tinnitus Dizziness Causes It is quite hard to determine the main cause of this condition. Nevertheless, there have been studies and researches that show some sources as possible causes or triggers of this condition. These sources include hearing loss due to loud noise, sinus or ear infection, earwax, and tinnitus. This condition is said to be related hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to very loud sounds and noises. Tinnitus dizziness strikes when the noise has already caused the cilia to be damaged. This is the reason why this condition is also often associated with hearing loss. Another possible cause of this condition is when hard and impacted earwax has accumulated into the ears. The problem is there are some people who produce earwax more than the usual, causing them to experience tinnitus dizziness. People in this condition often find relief from removing the earwax. This condition may also be caused in infections in sinus or ears. This only means that treating the infection can also stop the dizziness. This condition of course is common in tinnitus patients who then find relief from using CD maskers and hearing aids. How to Prevent Tinnitus Dizziness Effectively? One of the best and most effective ways to prevent tinnitus dizziness is to protect your hearing. Always remember that a hearing gone is a hearing gone! It is possible to find help from hearing assistive devices such as hearing aids but these could never be as effective as healthy ears. If exposure to extremely loud noises cannot be avoided, then at least do something to keep your ears protected such as use hearing devices that can protect your ears. Never forget that exposure your loud sounds and noises is one of the main sources of dizziness and tinnitus but aside from that, they can damage the hearing too. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to always keep your protective hearing devices with you whenever you plan to go to places with too loud sounds and noises. Additionally, if you are currently under medication due to other medical or health conditions, you need to check if the medicine or drug you are taking doesn’t affect your hearing adversely. They should also not cause you to experience tinnitus dizziness. You will know about this by checking with the drugstore or pharmacy where you got your medicine. There are certain medicines and drugs that can actually make tinnitus worse. This is the reason why it is very important that you talk with your doctor about this because they definitely have an idea on the medicines and drugs that are good and bad for your condition. Barbara Thomson strives to provide the best possible information available on tinnitus treatment. If you want to find out which tinnitus guide is the best fit for you, then visit the Top Rated Tinnitus Solutions.

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Simple Article Marketing Tips that Work

Unless you’re a total newbie, then you’re very much aware of the power of article marketing and all the many uses for it. This article will talk about several article marketing points you should be aware of if you use this method.If you are looking for ideal offers and testimonials on this topic, than please visit Market Samurai. One thing that makes this form of marketing so popular is that it has diverse applications. You can repurpose articles and use them on forums, blogs, and other places besides article directories. It’s easy to find forums in your market, depending on your market, by just Googling your niche plus your market. Then you can begin the process of forum marketing using your articles, but be sure to use good common sense when you enter new forums. Proceed slowly with it, and in time you can become known as an expert in your niche, etc. Thousands if not millions of people get involved with forums, and a lot of times they’re searching for some kind of information. If you’re not familiar, the usual thing to do is including your website domain name in your sig file, or signature file. You can create traffic by making useful posts, and other readers will often click through to your site from the link in your sig file. You’ll find that this kind of arrangement works effectively for promoting your site.

When it comes to any kind of online content, make sure you always do a proof read on it. After you publish your content, or articles, then there’ll be no more chances to fix it. You should read it through a couple times and look for any kind of mistakes and errors. Appearance and impressions are everything online, and you never want to convey that you are not professional.If you want you can even pay someone to proof read them for you. You can always ask someone you know to proof them for you. Try to remember to have this done because it really does matter.Avoid neglecting the title when you create it because it has an important function for your article. Your titles can serve to make lots of people read the article, or they can be completely ineffective as well. Of course the opposite is true, as well, and you can lose out on a lot of traffic. A badly written title will not stop people in their tracks and make them want to read. Including a great benefit in the title will always help to create some desire to know about it. Those are the kinds of important details you should always be mindful of when you write articles. Hardly anything can beat article marketing for creating traffic that is highly targeted, and it’s also pretty cost effective, too. It’s not a cure-all for marketing, and it’s not a fast method to make money, but you can make money with it if you work it.

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Tampa Bay Condominiums – A Wise Choice

Condominiums in the Tampa and Clearwater area have become a popular choice for those seeking to buy second homes, real estate investments, or for those desiring a break from outside maintenance and upkeep. This is due to the multitude of benefits associated with condominium living. Combine those benefits with the beauty, abundant sunshine, pristine beaches and coastline of the Tampa Bay area, and attractions like: Busch Gardens, Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World and you have a winning combination that pays for itself again and again. How so you might ask? Why should you consider a condominium over a single-family dwelling for example? When you buy a single home, you will need to purchase homeowner’s insurance to secure financing from most lenders and also to protect yourself from loss due to fire, theft, etc. When you purchase a condominium, the insurance is included as a part of the monthly maintenance fee; most lenders therefore, don’t require you to purchase separate homeowners insurance policy.

If you buy a single-family dwelling you will have to maintain your home and your lawn yourself, whereas, condo owners can spend their time doing other things while someone else mows the lawn and cleans out those gutters! Upkeep and maintenance are included in the Condominium’s maintenance agreement, and these owners are more than happy to pay a monthly fee in order to not have to worry about getting these things done themselves. For the most part, condominium maintenance fees are reasonable when you add up the costs involved and how much it would cost for you to hire someone to do these things for you. On the Florida beaches you will find higher condominium maintenance fees and this is because there is simply much more maintenance that comes with owning a home near the ocean. On the other hand, owning a condominium slightly inland can save you a lot of money on the purchase as well as the monthly maintenance fees. The safety of your family and the security of your real estate property are of course, very important to you. While the owners of single-family homes may choose to equip their homes with expensive alarm systems, most condo owners have the benefit of gated security, which provides 24 hour protection, even when you’re away. Such security also makes it harder for the “unlawful” to spot an unoccupied dwelling. Single homes, whose owners are away, are easier to detect due to such things as: uncut grass, no lights on in the home, and no activity around the home. At a condominium complex, there is always some kind of activity, which helps to conceal that you’re away from your property. Condominiums provide some pretty terrific amenities right there on the property. Some of those amenities are: fitness rooms, pools, spas, restaurants, hair salons, tennis and golf to its residents. It would be impossible for a single home owner to duplicate some of these amenities and cost-prohibitive to acquire some of these amenities. Keep in mind that the more amenities there are in a condominium, the higher the maintenance fee can be. It costs money to keep up the amenities for the residents to enjoy. Amenities are what makes condo living so popular though. In the long run, the more amenities the condo has, the more saleable and desirable the condominium will be on a resale. Real estate investors will find that some condominiums, depending on the condo restrictions, are easily rented out short or long term. If you and your family use your condominium only part of the year, consider leasing it out for additional income for yourself. Have your real estate agent check the restrictions for you before making an offer for purchase. Not all condos are alike on this policy. Now that you know about the many benefits to owning a condominium, add the undeniable value that owning a condominium in the Tampa Bay area of Florida’s West Coast holds for you. Now you will have a place to escape to when the temperatures up north get down right cold! You won’t ever have to worry about no vacancies at hotels, and resorts either. The beach and ocean with bountiful amounts of sun are at your doorstep. Your Tampa or Clearwater area Florida Condo offers you the opportunity to get away from areas that are overcrowded with tourists, and yet you’re only a short drive from Florida’s most popular attractions. If you’re looking for a way to make some additional income, consider renting out your condo unit when you head back north in the summer. Contact your Tampa Bay area realtor today to get started on finding the condominium property that meets your needs. They can assist you whether you’re looking to buy a first or second home, a retirement home, or investment property. Bob Lipply is a top Real Estate Broker Associate in the Tampa Bay Florida area. He and his team have been helping families get top dollar for their homes with great success. Visit his website at Tampa Bay Real Estate for many other valuable selling tips.

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Shipping Fine Art and Antiques

Fine art and antiques are among our most treasured possessions. The furniture that has served our families for generations, lovingly cared for year after year, passed on from mother to daughter, father to son; the objects we’ve discovered on long drives through the countryside, poking into tiny little shops; paintings that move us, sculptures that express emotion in three dimensions — all of these things enrich our lives.  They also present a unique shipping challenge. How do you ship fine arts and antiques safely? Whether you’re an art collector contemplating a cross-country move or simply want to send Grandma’s breakfront to your new daughter-in-law, you’ve got a challenge on your hands. Here’s what you need to know about shipping fine art and antiques:Protection is Paramount!To ship fine arts and antiques, you must first understand what it takes to keep them safe and intact. This is why it’s generally a good idea to trust your fine arts and antiques to a pack and ship service, preferably one that specializes in fine arts and antiques. They use special custom built crates sized to encase your antique and protective cushioning. Packing materials are specially selected to accommodate the item being packed, cushioning it without damaging the surfaces. It’s important to have the appropriate packaging materials to keep your art and antiques from being knocked around in transit. Without the right protective crate and packaging materials, it’s very likely that there will be damage to delicate woodwork, glass panels, crystal knobs, large canvases, exposed surfaces and more. But you don’t have to worry — you name it, there’s a specialized packaging system designed for it!  Security in TransitAdditionally, your fine art and antiques are valuable. Using a reputable pack and ship service minimizes the risk of theft while in transit. This is one area where you’ll really want to do your research. Unfortunately, the pack and ship industry, along with the commercial moving industry, has a few bad apples in it who engage in less than ethical practices. Check with the Better Business Bureau and online rating sites to discern which companies have a reputation for professionalism. These are the people you’re counting on to protect your treasures from unsavory people. Ideally, your pack and ship company will deliver your art work or antiques right to your door — or, in some cases, even installed in the room of your choice!Know Where You’re GoingShipping is not a one size fits all endeavor, particularly when you’re shipping fine art and antiques. If you’re shipping internationally, you’ll want to work with a pack and shipping company that has experience with air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, and interim storage. For example, did you know that there are strict regulations about the types of wood used in shipping crates and the packaging materials that are allowed? It’s essential that you trust your antiques to a packaging and shipping company who knows the nuances of international shipping. You can’t replace your antiques — and if they’re not packed properly they may not survive the trip! Why take chances with family heirlooms? When you’re sending your art around the world it needs expert handling and protection right from the start!

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Monday 30 January 2012

Tax Tips for Writers & Authors

Sometimes, another writer, upon learning that I’m both a book author and tax accountant, asks me for the best ways that authors can minimize their income taxes. If I can, I try to weasel my way out of the discussion, offering up such basic tidbits as, -œWell, be sure to look at the home office deduction.- And -œdo use a basic accounting program like Quicken or Microsoft Money so you capture all of your writing business expenses.-

Usually, those simplistic answers work. Usually, after dolling out such drivel, the guy wonders off to get another drink and more appetizers. Everyone once in a while, though, I encounter some writer who’s really motivated to save on taxes. Usually, someone now making good money writing-¦ When I can’t deflect their questions in some other way, I tell them about the three best ways that authors have to save on taxes. Technique #1: Smooth Your Income Whatever you think of the US Internal Revenue Code, you need to know that it’s quite progressive. That progressivity means the more you make, the more you pay. The progressity also means that if your income fluctuates, your income taxes go up even if you make the same money on average as someone else makes. To give you an example of this, suppose that you compare two writers, John and Jane. If John makes a steady $60,000 a year and has a mortgage, a spouse and couple of kids, he might pay about $1000 over four years (net of tax credits for these like his children.) In comparison, suppose that Jane averages $60,000 a year, but sees her income fluctuate between $30,000 a year and $90,000 a year. If she also has a spouse, two kids and a mortgage, she’ll probably pay $8,000 to $10,000 over those same four years. Please note that over the same four years, the two writers make the same amount of money: $240,000. But what they pay in taxes differs radically. Jane pays eight to ten times what John pays! Yikes! What can Jane do? Well, let’s bring this back to the example of working writers. Jane can probably rather easily smooth her income. She can make sure that she’s not stacking two big advances in the same year. She can spread out advance payments over two or more years. She can even try to stuff more of her expenses into the good years. In the good years, for example, she can buy new computers, take those graduate classes, or top off her pension. Technique #2: Setup an LLC and Elect S Corporation Status I’ve written and talked much about how S corporations save taxpayers money and how the right way to set up an S corporation is first create a limited liability company and then ask the IRS to treat the LLC as an S corporation for tax purposes. Let me review the basics here again, however. Suppose that you’re making $90,000 a year as a writer or author. If you just treat your writing business as a sole proprietorship, you might pay $12,000 in income taxes on the $90,000 and then another 15.3% self-employment tax, or roughly $13,500 on the $90,000. If you set up an LLC and have the LLC treated as an S corporation, you’ll still pay the same $12,000 in income taxes. But you’ll only pay the 15.3% self-employment tax on that portion of the profit that you categorize as wages. If you categorize, say, $30,000 of the profits as wages, you’ll pay $4,500 in self-employment taxes. (The other $60,000 in remaining profits, by the way, gets paid out as a dividend-like -œdistribution.-) Two quick points about S corporations: First, S corporations require some extra tax and accounting so you don’t get to spend all of your savings. Some of the savings go to the lawyer, the accountant, and the bank. Second, you absolutely must set your salary to a reasonable level. Technique #3: Relocate Your Residency One final, easy planning gambit. Remember that there are states like Alaska, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Washington that don’t charge residents state income taxes. Accordingly, if you relocate to one of these states, you’ll automatically drop your overall tax bill because you won’t have state income taxes. One of the benefits of writing is that you do get to live wherever you want. Why not choose a place that doesn’t tax your writing income. But a caution: Do be careful that you don’t get blindsided by the other taxes a state levies. For example, Washington state where I live charges a four-tenths of a percent excise tax on royalty income. This is still a lot lower tax rate than high tax states like California or New York charge writers. Which maybe explains why during the technology boom in the 1990s many computer book writers making high six figure and low seven figure incomes moved to the Seattle area. Washington State LLC formation expert Stephen L. Nelson CPA has written more than 150 books. Formerly an adjunct tax professor at Golden Gate University, Nelson is the author of Quicken for Dummies and more than 150 other books. Copyright 2006 by Stephen L. Nelson and http://www.llcsexplained.com

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Selections Obtainable Beneath Joann Fabrics Coupons

Only individuals who like to sew their private clothing or are interested in artwork and crafts would know that it is extremely really important to have a big range of selections or embellishments to pick from. One particular can make terrific masterpieces with the ideal set of solutions for their materials. Joann Fabrics is one particular these over the internet store that supplies a complete assortment of special clasps, fabrics, buttons and other artwork and craft linked products. It is a 1-quit shop where all your sewing or art and craft demands can be met.Joann Fabrics also have a great deal of thread and yarns of several colors and weights if you like to crochet or sew. They also feature a broad variety of diverse variations of components to choose from, which are most suitable for earning any kind of garments, be it costumes or outfits. You can obtain all your requirements at this store rather of operating helter-skelter to locate different particular person goods. That is the most beneficial attribute of the firm as it supplies all sorts of important things beneath a person roof, nicely, a internet site.

The on the internet shop is focused on bringing outstanding goods to their clientele at budget friendly charges and that is why a whole lot of their products and solutions are presently quite fairly priced. But a minor even more low cost never ever hurts, accurate? There are a whole lot of low cost Joann Fabrics coupons readily available over the internet that can be put into use at Joann Fabrics for gaining added cost savings. You can get these coupons by both going to the keep for checking out the particular provides there or by going to other webpages that offer you discount coupons for this retailer.By investing a tiny time and carrying out a search for low cost coupons on the net, you can help save a whole lot on your purchases at Joann Materials. This way you can get great products and solutions at even alot more great charges, thank you to the low cost coupons.The innovation of Cricut machine has manufactured paper crafting a hobby to die for! This machine developed craftwork easier and way more thrilling. It will allow you to die cut fonts and designs of diverse sizes from totally different paper components at the touch of a button. This machine does not come with low-cost Cricut cartridges which are put to use to establish your fonts and shapes.A Private Cutter from Provo Craft will value you $299 and the fancier Cricut Expressions is much more expensive at $499. Along with the machine come the equipment like Cricut cartridges which are also not very simple on the pocket. You can get cheap Cricut Cartridges and machines in the online as nicely as from other specialty retail store. You just have to know exactly where to seem.By placing some work in comparing price ranges, it’s painless to identify specials on your Cricut cutter devices as very well as cartridges and other equipment. There are quite a few craft retailers that you can go to for the duration of their promo specials. JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels and Pastime Lobby are some of the further fashionable craft merchants that sell Cricut machines and equipment. Look at out for the weekly revenue from other regional craft stores.Paper Crafting Pro gives you some extremely good bargains as a lot as $twenty and significantly less. You are not able to entry their pricing if you don’t register using the web. The registration, although, is not no cost. You might need to spend $nine.99 for the month-to-month price. If you are in a company of reselling cartridges, to register is a wonderful point, but, since you have month to month costs to shell out, search for other sites that don’t charge membership costs.You can also decide to purchase much less expensive Cricut cartridges from eBay. You can score on a new cartridge beneath $15 dollar. Though you have to bid on the cartridges, you just have to be affected person and be inclined to bid throughout auctions. By performing this, you can evade overpaying for the cartridge. Lookout for shipping costs. Come across sellers who deliver no cost shipment within just the US territory. You can also bid on Cricut Cake cartridges which generally cost up to $100 which you can get on the internet for $25 or much less. A great number of don’t realise this but Cricut Cake cartridges can be applied in any Cricut machine.Oh My Crafts is a webpage that at all times sells Cricut cartridges at a reduce price. Their cartridges might value $30 and beneath. You can indicator up for their e-mail newsletter and get coupons for as a lot of as $twenty% off.Major A lot sells Cricut cartridges for as minimal as $30. You can also view out for the clearance sale from Wal-Mart.There you have it. It’s not in reality difficult to look and feel for affordable Cricut cartridges when you know exactly where to search. Consistently maintain in thoughts: by no means shell out for the total value of a Cricut cartridge or for shipment that expenditures you much more than $thirty.Possibilities Available Beneath Joann Fabrics CouponsIn addition, they often have discount joann fabrics coupons that can be used online and in stores for added savings..

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This Estate Planning Strategy Provides Care for Your Spouse, Even After You Are Gone©

Estate planning is hard enough when both spouses do it together. It becomes more confusing when one becomes ill or passes. What then? Your spouse has been there with you through thick and thin…your rock, the foundation upon which you’ve built your life. Your spouse has probably been your friend, confidant, and true partner. If your spouse is ailing now, there are ways that you can protect them, even after you are gone. Let’s say your spouse has a slowly degenerative disease, like Alzheimer’s disease. Hopefully, their illness may be kept at bay. As long as you are able, you intend to care for your spouse at home. But, what if you die first? At least one study has shown that caregivers themselves often get sick or die early because of the stresses on them.

If you die first, your plan probably provides that your assets pass to your spouse. Then, without your presence, your spouse may need nursing care and would need to spend the resources you’ve built over a lifetime together to pay for that care. Eventually, those assets would have to be -œspent down- in order to qualify for financial assistance. In that event they would have little money left for incidentals and luxuries, like birthday gifts for the grandchildren. There is a better way. You could leave your assets to your spouse in a -œTestamentary Special Needs Trust,- which is a unique kind of Special Needs Trust. The assets in the Special Needs Trust may not be used for items covered by government assistance, such as medical care. However, the assets may be used for whatever costs government assistance does not cover, such as a special medical procedure, extra therapy, a private room in the hospital or nursing home, travel, an art class, birthday gifts for the grandchildren, and in some cases, even everyday living expenses. A Special Needs Trust is a good strategy for any loved one needing substantial care. However, a Special Needs Trust for your spouse can only take effect upon your death. Further, it must be set up in a precise manner to qualify, so that the assets you leave to your spouse will not be deemed -œavailable resources- when seeking government assistance and have to be -œspent down- before the government will help with the bills. You would do anything for your spouse. But, statistics show that you may go before your spouse. Plan now to protect and provide for your spouse, even after you are gone. A qualified estate planning and elder law attorney, one who focuses his or her practice in that area, can help you set up a plan that meets your concerns and your spouse’s needs. Mr Larry V. Parman is an attorney whose firm provides premier estate, elder and business law planning. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. Money Magazine, Consumer’s Report and Suze Orman have recommended consumers contact Academy members for their estate planning services. For more information or to attend an upcoming seminar, call (405) 843-6100, contact info@parmanlaw.com or visit www.parmanlaw.com. or www.parmanlawblog.com

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This Estate Planning Strategy Provides Care for Your Spouse, Even After You Are Gone©

Estate planning is hard enough when both spouses do it together. It becomes more confusing when one becomes ill or passes. What then? Your spouse has been there with you through thick and thin…your rock, the foundation upon which you’ve built your life. Your spouse has probably been your friend, confidant, and true partner. If your spouse is ailing now, there are ways that you can protect them, even after you are gone. Let’s say your spouse has a slowly degenerative disease, like Alzheimer’s disease. Hopefully, their illness may be kept at bay. As long as you are able, you intend to care for your spouse at home. But, what if you die first? At least one study has shown that caregivers themselves often get sick or die early because of the stresses on them.

If you die first, your plan probably provides that your assets pass to your spouse. Then, without your presence, your spouse may need nursing care and would need to spend the resources you’ve built over a lifetime together to pay for that care. Eventually, those assets would have to be -œspent down- in order to qualify for financial assistance. In that event they would have little money left for incidentals and luxuries, like birthday gifts for the grandchildren. There is a better way. You could leave your assets to your spouse in a -œTestamentary Special Needs Trust,- which is a unique kind of Special Needs Trust. The assets in the Special Needs Trust may not be used for items covered by government assistance, such as medical care. However, the assets may be used for whatever costs government assistance does not cover, such as a special medical procedure, extra therapy, a private room in the hospital or nursing home, travel, an art class, birthday gifts for the grandchildren, and in some cases, even everyday living expenses. A Special Needs Trust is a good strategy for any loved one needing substantial care. However, a Special Needs Trust for your spouse can only take effect upon your death. Further, it must be set up in a precise manner to qualify, so that the assets you leave to your spouse will not be deemed -œavailable resources- when seeking government assistance and have to be -œspent down- before the government will help with the bills. You would do anything for your spouse. But, statistics show that you may go before your spouse. Plan now to protect and provide for your spouse, even after you are gone. A qualified estate planning and elder law attorney, one who focuses his or her practice in that area, can help you set up a plan that meets your concerns and your spouse’s needs. Mr Larry V. Parman is an attorney whose firm provides premier estate, elder and business law planning. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. Money Magazine, Consumer’s Report and Suze Orman have recommended consumers contact Academy members for their estate planning services. For more information or to attend an upcoming seminar, call (405) 843-6100, contact info@parmanlaw.com or visit www.parmanlaw.com. or www.parmanlawblog.com

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Sydney Cosmetic Dentistry – Obtain Customised Answers to Your Cosmetic Dentistry Needs

If your bite is unstable, as from poorly aligned teeth or even a missing tooth, the muscle tissue must perform tougher to provide the teeth collectively. Most people today get a getaway from do the job when they tire out-but your jaw muscle tissue by no means get a break! Seeing that the aligners are detachable, you may well brush and floss your teeth as regular. With regular braces, brushing and flossing is much more tricky and significantly less effective.Your Invisalign dentist will be acquainted with 5 issues that are typical with their patients’ teeth. These challenges can all lead to considerable dental overall health concerns and will need to be corrected in which doable.

one. Overbite – When your upper teeth bite about your reduce teethtwo. Underbite – When your upper teeth bite below your lower teeththree. Overly crowded teeth – When there is not ample place in your jaw for your teeth to fit in normallyfour. Commonly spaced teeth – When there is as well considerably area involving your teethfive. Crossbite – When some of your upper teeth bite above your decrease teeth, and some bite beneath your reduced teeth.If you have any of these difficulties previously mentioned, then Invisalign braces the remedy you are hunting for.Dental health and fitness &amp care is and must constantly be a priority of our day to day lifestyle. It is not only important for your well being but also adds to your character.It is our face which represents our individuality to a fantastic extent. A good smile that is made use of to good dental treatment adds to the people today self confidence level. Nevertheless, numerous times some unlucky activities like genetic issues, accidents and illnesses lead to its disfigurement. This in turn affects the individuals psychological way in some way or the other. If you are facing any such difficulty than the specialists of the cosmetics dentists Sydney can assistance you resolve the problem. The dental experts of the dental implants Sydney group can enable you to enhance your jaw and mouth expressions, consequently guaranteeing that you get a stunning smile which you can flaunt at any time and anywhere you want.There are all over again some conditions when the disfigurement is in extra and for this reason treatment is required. This is when you will want the help of the cosmetic dentists Sydney. Cosmetic dentistry can help you to get rid of the physical disfigurement absolutely. It aids to boost the bodily appearance totally no matter if it is the deal with, belly, back, legs and arms.Cosmetic surgery generally tends to have a enormous constructive psychological and social influence on the specific. It can help them to seem like anybody else and at times even greater. Hence it adds to their self-assurance level. Unlike well-liked perception about cosmetic dentistry, it is rather cheap. In truth there are several reasonably priced dental solutions which an individual can use to get their dental defects corrected.The dental health services Australia, also presents sinus augmentation. This is new addition to the area of cosmetic dentistry. It is specifically applied for folks who have decrease jaw bones. The sinus augmentation is a course of action employing which the bone is transplanted in to the upper level of the jaw. This aids it to look taller.Cosmetic Dentistry in Sydney, Sydney Cosmetic DentistryCosmeticdentistrysydney.org makes it possible for you to get customised solutions to all your cosmetic dentistry desires and queries with out getting to meet experience to face with the dentists. You can effortlessly know the solutions to your concerns by giving us particulars on every single issues we request you.

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Sunday 29 January 2012

The Benefits of Employing Electric Fencing And The Categorized Shock Amount Received

There’re a lot of reasons for which people set up electric fencing about their property, be it a building or a portion of land. Electric fencing is in reality functional because of it taking on the role of a well-built blockade to put a stop to the traveling of animals as well as people into and away from the contained region. There’re three categorized shock intensities that differ among reasonable, hurting and fatal.

In cultivation electric fencing make available a lot of benefits. Livestock is typically enclosed inside a meadow or portion of land and the intention of the electric fencing is to prevent them from running off. The shock provided to the farm animals varies among reasonable and hurting, but this differs in accordance with the creature which is being enclosed. As an instance, the intensity of electric current being passed throughout the wiring that contain sheep is going to be a great deal less to the current being passed throughout electric wiring that contain a horse.

Electric fencing enclosing livestock in addition assists in putting off surplus guests, like marauders or humans from entering. As an instance, farmers who keep farm animals like sheep or chickens time and again discover that predators like foxes make an effort in accessing the pen to slaughter the farm animals. A lot of farmers who have set up this sort of fencing about the pen boundaries have witnessed an enormous cut down in the quantity of farm animals lost because of being killed by other animals. Nonetheless, at the time of setting up electric fencing about your grounds you have got to on a regular basis test the barrier to make out whether it’s been dislocated or messed about with because the current is easily able to be lost in the event of the circuit being broken, by animals or objects.

Electric fencing makes available a lot of benefits at the time it’s made use of to safeguard the boundaries of high safety prisons as well as closed property perimeters. The amount of electric current being passed throughout the wiring when used for the above reasons is fatal and is going to kill on impact.

There’re a lot of non-lethal sorts of Electric fencing that is going to cause a reasonable to hurting shock level. This sort of fencing is made use of to defend government lands and armed bases from surplus trespassers. A lot of airports as well as private lands are in addition bounded by means of this non-lethal sort of electric fencing. Airports employ it to shield the runways from wild mammals going by just like properties employ it to defend against trespassers. Accompanying the electric fencing is generally an alarm/ pointer of some sort to make people or animals aware of the prospective hazard in the event of them making contact with the fencing.

All the ones who’re on the look out for electric fencing to defend you grounds or farm animals should call us or visit us online. We are able to can make available to you reasonably priced electric fencing to go well with your requirements.

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Setting The Mood In Your Bathroom With Shower Sets and Shower Kits

The shower sets in your bathroom play an important role in setting the mood. If you are looking for advice and help on finding just the right shower sets then you will find it here. It’s easy to enhance the mood and improve the look of your bathroom design with a few important rules.Your bathroom is one of the most important rooms in your home. It is one of the only places where you can get peace and quiet and rejuvenate yourself without interruptions. You start and end your days in your bathroom and as such they play an important role in how you feel. Your feelings and moods will be affected by the choice of the right shower kits in your bathroom. It may sound crazy, but I’ve seen this in my own family and I’m sure that you will feel the difference yourself.A bathroom is a relaxing place where the worries of the day can be washed away. If the colour scheme is drab and uninteresting then you will gain no benefit from spending time there. The right bathroom design can lift your spirit and leave you feeling refreshed. Everything, including the bath tub and the bathroom fittings play a role and you must get it right in order to get the benefit.Shower sets come in many designs and styles. You need to decide on what you want your bathroom to look like and then chose appropriate shower kits to match. This is where you want to look at form and function. Taps all achieve one purpose; to control the flow of water into your basin, tub or shower. Your design should include decisions based on whether the taps are integrated into a single unit or two distinct taps for hot and cold water.The design of the taps should be carried through to all the facilities so that you do not have different taps on your bath tube and shower for instance. If the design calls for a single unit to control the water flow then try your best to buy the taps in a set. The shower set should match the tub and basin sets. Your design may call for a modern look or it may evoke images of yesteryear. You can mix styles but you want to ensure continuity.The best way to decide on your final choice is to actually use the taps you like. Feel how they fall in your hand. You may find that your hand is too big or small and the taps just don’t feel right. It is no use to only discover that the beautiful taps you bought just leave you irritated. That defeats the purpose of using your bathroom for relaxation.Bathroom shower kits are available in funky new designs if that is what you want. They can come with matching units for the bathtub. Before buying your bathtub, actually sit in it. That’s right, get into the tub and lie down. That’s the only way you are going to find out if it’s right for you.The showerhead design and shape is also important when considering shower kits. While there is a move towards water conservation, the designs that incorporate water saving technology do not always look that great or perform well. You are going to have to test them out to which one is best for you. I highly recommend a showerhead that vibrates the water to give you a massage while you shower. I have one that works really well and its very relaxing after exercising or if I’ve had a hard day at the office.So take your time choosing your shower sets and you will find that its time well spent.

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The Benefits of E-book Marketing

Once a cherished project such as your first ebook or ecourse has been completed, we need to turn our attention to the marketing of your project. Here’s where things sometimes turn somewhat difficult if the author and the marketeer are one and the same person, and here’s where we have to be cautious and take the right steps in the right order, so we might stay on track.

In order to write ANY form of marketing material for your ebook or course, you need to be completely FAMILIAR with all the benefits of your product. Now it seems obvious that the author, of all people, SHOULD be familiar with the benefits but there is such a thing as over-familiarity, as well as having been immersed in the project for a long time and thus not seeing the proverbial forest for the trees any longer. I was assisting just such an ebook author and absolute AUTHORITY on writing their major sales page the other day, and I was astonished that they couldn’t answer certain basic questions I put to them, such as: “How many chapters are there in your book?” “How many pages does your book have?” “How many illustrations?” “How many words?” “What’s the ISBN?” The answer was always something along the lines of, “Ahm … I guess I could look it up …” Oooh! These are the kind of “technical details” that are handled in a publishing house by “other people” – but of course, in web publishing they need to be known EXACTLY by the author, because these things comprise the “technical specifications” of the product and a prospective purchaser might well enquire or need to know up front before they make their buying decision. But that’s just an example and in a way, it is the tip of the iceberg. What became very apparent was that the author in question had missed out on the first step of ANY marketing analysis. This important step, which is the core topic of this article, is ESSENTIAL to be able to write any form of advertising copy, to target the correct audiences with the correct approach and to market the product, full stop. This first step is called “the benefits extraction”. *** How To Do The Benefits Extraction *** You need a printed out copy of your book or course, PLENTY of empty pieces of paper, a big pot of coffee and then, you take off your author’s hat and instead, you put on your marketing hat and go through the text, ONE PARAGRAPH AT A TIME, and “extract” ALL the benefits that could possibly accrue for the reader/user/learner AND all they come into contact with *if they follow the advice and procedures outlined* exactly. There is a HUGE range of potential benefits that can and will be found in this process, and even before we get into the text and content itself, there’s also benefits such as: Good sized print – easy to read for older people, avoid headaches! Good use of white space – easy on the eye, relaxing reading Well structured – information flow is logical, and thus easy to understand and learn Fully indexed – things are easy to find, you can quickly get to what you need to know. Helpful diagrams and illustrations – pictures say more than a thousand words … … and so on. Once you get into the content, you will notice that sometimes, a single sentence or paragraph hides a MAJOR benefit, such as: “The SINGLE little known SECRET to all your marketing problems!” (Page 23) Take your time and keep backing up and asking yourself over and over again, “What BENEFITS will the reader/user get from this?” Immediately, short term, long term? Don’t stop with things like, “Reader will learn how to use the snarkometer …” That’s not a benefit. A benefit is what happens WHEN you use a snarkometer as its creator designed it to be used – so the benefit might be: “Reader will be able to capture even well hidden, rare and elusive snarks.” From there, you can go on to further future benefits, such as: “Reader will become famous and rich from his snark sales.” That’s the point, after all! *** Sorting Out Your Benefits *** If you do this properly, you will find HUNDREDS of benefits, big and small, and for all sorts of different applications, situations and people, and from all sorts of different angles, in ANY decent ebook or ecourse. You will have them all written down, as they come, with the referencing page numbers on your many sheets of paper. Now it’s time to sort them out. Firstly, go through your list and find the MAJOR benefits that would make the best HEADLINES and major bonus lists. As soon as you’ve got those, your advertising and marketing falls into place because now you know WHAT IT IS THAT YOU ARE SELLING! “Deep down”, of course you knew that all along but it’s extraordinary how “deep down” this stuff often is and how hard one has to dig to get it out of the authors to bring it to the surface! Pick out the top ten benefits and transfer them to a new sheet of paper. Now, pick the next 20 or so which will become benefits in lists on pitch pages, or will be laid end-to-end in classifieds and sales letters. Finally, take all the rest and sort them out in any way you want. You might find that a particular market emerges that you hadn’t thought about before with their OWN benefits list that is quite separate from the general main benefits, and where you can then market your product accordingly. You might well find material amongst those benefits that you can use to write articles or engage in customer “education” – explain how and why these benefits arise in separate articles so they get to appreciate what you do and how VALUABLE your product really is. You will find ideas, headlines, tag lines, and pure advertising GOLD COPY in this benefits extraction and analysis. And once you are done, NOW you are ready to write REAL advertisements of all kinds – and you’ll find that now you ACTUALLY KNOW what your product is from the marketer’s standpoint, you’ll also be able to SELL IT TO OTHERS. Oh, and one more thing. A benefits extraction is also possibly one of THE most motivational and exciting things any author or creator can do for THEMSELVES. Yup, it’s all true. It really is THAT good, and it REALLY has all those benefits! It’ll do the world for your self confidence AND for YOUR ability to start shouting about the amazing benefits of YOUR amazing product from the rooftops – and that in turn, leads to a whole lot more sales, more money in the bank, more joy and freedom and love all around! So if you have not yet done your word-by-word extreme benefits extraction, go for it NOW. It is absolutely THE FIRST STEP to ALL future marketing. Good luck and surprise blessings, Visit the Knowledge Galaxy website to learn about basketball drills for beginners, become a locksmith and other information.

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Strategies for Preparing for a Patent Interference

Strategies For Preparing for an Interference

Table of Contents

I. The Benefits of Timely Recognizing a Potential Interference

II. Obtain and Use Competitive Intelligence

III. Patent Procedures Relating to Competitive Intelligence

A. Limit Access to Your Client’s Applications

B Obtain Information Regarding Competitor’s Patent Applications

IV. The Law Relevant to Requesting an Interference

A. 35 USC 102(g)(1) – Procedural Limitations on Secret Prior Art

B. 35 USC 135(a) – Criteria for an Interference

C. 35 USC 135(b) – The Statutory Bar

D. 37 CFR 1.604, 1.607, 1.608, and 1.617, and Requesting an Interference

E. 37 CFR 1.658(c) Estoppel, Interference Estoppel, and Issue Preclusion

1. In the USPTO

2. In Subsequent Litigation

V. File Early

VI. Respond to Published United States or PCT Applications

VII. Consider Splitting Subject Matter Between Applications in View of Temporal Delays and Interference Estoppel

A. Probable Time Line for an Interference

B. Predicting the Outcome and Consequences of the Outcome

1. Consequences of Losing the Interference

2. Consequences of Prevailing in the Interference

C. Costs of an Interference

VIII. Count Formulation for an Interference Request

IX. Table 1 – Comparison of Data Sources

I. The Benefits of Timely Recognizing a Potential Interference

Timely recognizing a potential interference allows your client to act before certain legal and business options are foreclosed. Failing to request an interference within one year of the issuance of the target patent bars your client (1) from obtaining an interference and (2) from obtaining patent claims defining substantially the same subject matter as claimed in the patent.1 Failing to request an interference within one year of the publication of an application will under certain circumstances also bar your client from obtaining both an interference and the claims in the published application.2

Applications targeting a patent for an interference that are filed after the issuance of the target patent must make certain showings in the interference by the burden of clear and convincing evidence as opposed to the otherwise generally applicable burden of the preponderance of the evidence.3 Promptly requesting an interference with a target application may result in an interference with the target application as opposed to an interference with a patent issued from the target patent. Dragging the target application into an interference before it can issue into a patent can be advantageous because, normally, no patent will issue from the target application until judicial review of the interference is terminated.5 The duration of the interference and all judicial review can be substantial. Therefore, failing to timely request an interference could result in your client unnecessarily facing a patent instead of an application for the duration of the interference and judicial review of the interference. Furthermore, if your client requests a stay in litigation in which it has been accused of infringement of a patent based upon the existence of an interference involving the patent, it is more likely that the stay will be granted if an interference is procedurally advanced relative to the litigation than vice versa.6 Finally, late recognition of problem patents increases the costs of designing, licensing, or abandoning the market.

For all of the foregoing reasons, early recognition of the potential for an interference can be advantageous. Conversely, preventing a competitor from timely identifying your client’s patent applications increases the value of your client’s patent portfolio. I focus in this paper on practices you can employ to identify relevant patent information, such as potential interferences, to prevent competitors from identifying your client’s patent information, and to explain what you can or should do when you identify a potential interference.

II. Obtain and Use Competitive Intelligence

Your client will never know a patent problem exists (until it is too late) unless it is obtaining competitive intelligence. Each company should employ a procedure to obtain competitive intelligence. Most companies set up an information “watch,” which is a periodic retrieval of targeted information, as part of this procedure.

There are numerous commercial databases containing relevant patent and non-patent information. Table 1 (see section VIII) lists some of the more popular commercial database sources, and it lists pros and cons of each vendor’s services.7 As Table 1 shows, no one vendor supplies all potentially useful sources of competitive intelligence. Therefore, a good policy is to use a plurality of database vendors to gather relevant information for analysis.

If a company does not have an in-house information specialist, it may be cost effective and more reliable for it to contract with a consulting information specialist instead of attempting to internally implement a watch. This is because a suitable “watch” may involve retrieving data from multiple data vendors, and the watch may need to be tweaked from time to time to provide desired information. Moreover, it may be desirable to conduct non-automated database searches for certain information. Information specialist organizations include the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), the Society for Competitive Intelligence (SCIP), the Special Libraries Association (SLA), and the Patent Information User’s Group (PIUG).8

One source of patent competitive intelligence is disclosures by or to your client, typically in connection with offers to sell IP, settlement or merger negotiations, or duties pursuant to a joint venture. Consider including in the underlying agreement terms defining the rights to pursue inter partes administrative actions, such as interferences. Likewise, be aware of the possibility of requesting administrative action, such as interferences, if your agreement permits (or does not expressly exclude) them.

III. Patent Procedures Relating to Competitive Intelligence

In this section, I list procedures to employ for (1) limiting or delaying access to your client’s patent or confidential information and (2) obtaining access to information about patent applications of others.

A. Limit Access to Your Client’s Applications

If there is information that you feel obliged to submit in a 35 USC 111(a) patent application, a reissue patent application, or a reexamination, and you want that information to remain confidential, consider filing the information pursuant to MPEP section 724 concurrently with a rule 37 CFR 1.59 petition to have the information expunged if the information is found to be not important to patentability. If you file such a petition, the confidential information will not be made available to the public and will be returned to the applicant if an examiner determines that the information is not “important to a reasonable examiner in deciding whether to allow the application to issue as a patent.”9

Second, anyone can access the file of an abandoned unpublished United States patent application if the application is referred to anywhere in the file history (not just when it is referred to in the specification) of an issued patent.10 Why is this important? Partially because of the duty to disclose “Information Relating to or From Copending United States Patent Applications,”11 such as information “[f]or “different applications pending in which similar subject matter but [arguably] patentably indistinct claims are present.”12 Accordingly, it is a common practice to file IDSs containing copending application statements. These statements may include the specification, figures, claims, or merely the serial numbers of the related applications. Keep in mind that the claims are potentially material vis-a-vis a double patenting determination. In any case, that practice can eventually enable an adverse party to access the file histories of the cited applications – - even if those applications are subsequently abandoned. In addition, for reexaminations and reissue applications, that practice provides your client’s competitors potentially damaging information. Therefore, you may want to file a 37 CFR 1.59 petition along with each copending application statement.

B Obtain Information Regarding Competitor’s Patent Applications

If you are interested in whether there are any pending applications related to either a published United States application or an issued United States patent, simply look on the continuity link for parent and child data in PAIR, or telephone or fax your request for that information to the USPTO.13 Continuity and status information is extremely useful in targeting patent applications for an interference or a public protest.

In certain instances, an application priority to which is claimed in a PCT publication is not readily available from the USPTO. In those instances, be aware that copies of the priority applications may be obtained directly, promptly, and inexpensively from the International Bureau in Zurich.

You can request status information from the USPTO to determine whether a 371 application has been filed based upon a published PCT application by sending a request for status information to the PCT Legal Office either by mail or by facsimile to 703-308-6459, including a cover of the published PCT application, and a letter requesting status. The PCT Legal office will then mail you a letter providing status, including the US serial number, if one exists.14

Finally, you can now order from the USPTO a copy of any paper cited in the PAIR file for a published application.15

IV. The Law Relevant to Requesting an Interference

Deciding what action, if any, to take when you identify a potential interference requires knowing the relevant law. The relevant law includes inter alia 35 USC 102(g), 35 USC 135(a), 35 USC 135(b), 37 CFR 1.604, 37 CFR 1.607, 1.608, and 1.617, 1.658(c) and related interference estoppel, and 37 CFR 1.657. 35 USC 102(g) defines the circumstances in which secret inventions are prior art. 135(a) defines what constitutes interfering subject matter. 135(b) defines a patentability and interference bar. Rules 604 and 607 define the requirements for an applicant to copy claims and request an interference. Rule 608 defines the showing an applicant must make prior to the interference to convince the examiner to recommend the interference.16 Rule 617 defines the degree of proof required in an applicant’s 608(b) showings necessary to avoid losing the interference when it is declared. 37 CFR 1.657 defines who has the burden of proof on priority.

I briefly review this law below and provide practice advice interspersed with the review. However, note that you are obliged to notify the examiner when you present claims substantially similar or copied from a target patent or application that you are doing so, and failure to do so is a sanctionable act of misconduct.17 Merely citing the target application or patent in an IDS is not sufficient to satisfy this obligation.

A. 35 USC 102(g)(1) – Procedural Limitations on Secret Prior Art

35 USC 102(g)(1) defines inventive activity that occurred abroad to be prior art only in an interference.18 In contrast, 35 USC 102(g)(2) defines inventive activity that occurred in the United States to be prior art without limit to the type of action.19 As a consequence, a company’s inventive activity that occurred abroad will not provide a 102(g) prior art invalidity defense to a charge of infringement of a patent. It follows that foreign company’s have a greater incentive than domestic companies to request interferences, since that action is more likely to be the foreign company’s only recourse to avoid liability for patent infringement.

B. 35 USC 135(a) – Criteria for an Interference

35 USC 135(a) states that an “application … which, in the opinion of the Director, would interfere with any pending application, or with any unexpired patent…” may be the basis of an interference. In other words, the statutory language leaves the criteria for what constitutes interference at the complete discretion of the Director. The Director’s discretion is circumscribed by 37 CFR 1.601(j) and (n), which define an “interference-in-fact” based upon a “same patentable invention” test. A literal reading of those rules would indicate that the test for interfering subject matter is the same as the usual test for obviousness-type double patenting; a one-way obviousness test. However, in Winter v. Fujita,20 an expanded panel of the Board held that interference-in-fact required a “two-way patentability analysis,” stating that:

Resolution of an interference-in-fact issue involves a two-way patentability analysis. The claimed invention of Party A is presumed to be prior art vis-a-vis Part B and vice versa. The claimed invention of Party A must anticipate or render obvious the claimed invention of Part B and the claimed invention of Party B must anticipate or render obvious the claimed invention of Party A. When the two-way analysis is applied, then regardless of who ultimately prevails on the issue of priority, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) assures itself that it will not issue two patents to the same patentable invention.

Winter still leaves some wiggle room as to when there exists interfering subject matter since a “two-way patentability analysis” does not specify that there must be two-ways obviousness between the claimed inventions. However, my current understanding from the case law and the guidance provided by members of the Trial Section21 of the Board at various bar meetings is that an interference would require two-ways obviousness between the parties’ claims, except in unusual circumstances. However, one important point to note is that a claim in an application to a species of a genus may be insufficient to provoke an interference with a claim in a target application or patent to the genus.22

C. 35 USC 135(b) – The Statutory Bar

35 US 135(b)23 provides a “triple whammy.”

First, it precludes untimely attempts to provoke an interference.

Second, it precludes getting a patent on claims defining substantially the same subject matter as claims in an issued patent or published US application that are not timely presented.

Third, since the 135(b) “substantially the same subject matter” criteria may be narrow than the135(a) “same patentable invention” criteria, anomalous situations may occur where 35 USC 135(b) may bar an interference even when claims that were timely presented met the 35 USC 135(a) criteria. As a result, the applicant requesting the interference (1) may be barred from the interference and (2) barred from getting a patent even when there is no 135(b) bar. This is because 37 CFR 1.131 does not allow antedating a patent or published application for claims that define the “same patentable invention”24 as the claims in the patent or published application.

35 USC 135(b)(2) presents special problems since it bars late presented claims to “an application published under section 122(b) of this title,” and 35 USC 374 accords to published PCT applications the same force and effect as published US application, except for 102(e) and 154(d).25 The special problem arises in that not all PCT applications are published in English, but all PCT publications may serve as the basis for a 135(b)(2) bar. Accordingly, it may be difficult to identify a claim in a foreign language (e.g., Japanese, German, or French) published PCT application defining subject matter that would be a problem for your client, and just as difficult to determine whether your client’s applications have support to copy those claims. However, if you can identify potentially relevant PCT published applications, you can address this problem by obtaining an automated English translation of at least the claims using free web services, such as those linked on my firm’s web site at: http://www.neifeld.com/autotrans.html

The terms of 135(b)(2) limit the bar based upon published applications (including PCT application) to claims presented in applications filed after the publication date of the published application. Thus, there is no time bar on copying claims in an application that was pending when the potentially interfering application was published. 35 USC 374 would imply that no 135(b)(2) bar would exist to claims filed in your client’s own PCT application when your client’s own PCT application was filed prior to the publication date of the target application. However, in my opinion, the USPTO has not clearly defined whether it considers claims in a PCT application in the international stage to be “pending.” Accordingly, your client should not rely upon “pending” claims in its own PCT application to satisfy 135(b)(2), unless that application has been nationalized in accordance with 35 USC 371.

D. 37 CFR 1.604, 1.607, 1.608, and 1.617, and Requesting an Interference

Rules 604 and 607 specify what you need to show to get into an interference.

37 CFR 1.604(a) specifies the requirements for requesting an interference with a pending application, which are: (1) suggesting a proposed count, (2) presenting at least one claim corresponding to the proposed count or identifying at least one claim in its application that corresponds to the proposed count, (3) identifying the other application and, if known, a claim in the other application which corresponds to the proposed count, and (4) explaining why an interference should be declared. 37 CFR 1.606 is useful in understanding item (4). Rule 606 states that before “an interference is declared between an application and an unexpired patent, an examiner must determine that there is interfering subject matter claimed in the application and the patent which is patentable to the applicant subject to a judgment in the interference.” Thus, the explanation why an interference should be declared should at least allege that the claims in the application are patentable to the applicant, but for the potential interference.

37 CFR 1.607(a) specifies the requirements for requesting an interference with an issued patent. These requirements are the following: (1) identifying the patent, (2) presenting a proposed count, (3) identifying at least one claim in the patent corresponding to the proposed count, (4) presenting at least one claim corresponding to the proposed count or identifying at least one claim already pending in its application that corresponds to the proposed count, (5) if any claim of the patent or application identified as corresponding to the proposed count does not correspond exactly to the proposed count, explaining why each such claim corresponds to the proposed count, (6) applying the terms of any application claim identified as corresponding to the count, and not previously in the application to the disclosure of the application, and (7) explaining how the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 135(b) are met if the claim presented or identified in your client’s application as interfering were not present in the application until more than one year after the issue date of the patent.

37 CFR 1.608(a) applies when the effective filing date of an applicant requesting an interference with a patent is later than the effective filing date of the target patent by no more than three months. Rule 608(a) requires the requestor to file a statement alleging that there is a basis upon which the applicant is entitled to a judgment relative to the patentee. Since the allegation is usually based upon priority, you must conduct a priority investigation to make this statement.

37 CFR 1.608(b) applies when the effective filing date of an application in which an applicant requesting an interference with a patent is later than the effective filing date of the target patent by more than three months. Rule 608(b) requires the applicant requesting the interference to submit evidence and explanations demonstrating that applicant’s application is prima facie entitled to a judgment relative to the patent. However, rule 608(b) states that “the examiner will consider the evidence and explanation only to the extent of determining whether a basis upon which the application would be entitled to a judgment relative to the patentee is alleged and, if a basis is alleged, an interference may be declared,” whereas 37 CFR 1.617(a) states that the APJ will review the evidence filed in connection with rule 608(b), and, if the APJ determines that the “evidence fails to show that the applicant is prima facie entitled to a judgment relative to the patentee, the administrative patent judge shall, concurrently with the notice declaring the interference, enter an order stating the reasons for the opinion and directing the applicant, within a time set in the order, to show cause why summary judgment should not be entered against the applicant.” 37 CFR 1.617(b) also states that “additional evidence shall not be presented by the applicant or considered by the Board” in response the show cause order. In other words, if the applicant’s interference request alleges but does not make a prima facie case for a date of invention prior to the effective filing date of the target patent, the applicant will not be able to supplement that evidence and will be faced with a show cause order, most likely resulting in swift judgement against the applicant.26 Accordingly, whenever a 608(b) showing is required, it is essential that the showing be sufficient so that the applicant is prima facie entitled to judgement relative to the patentee.

E. 37 CFR 1.658(c) Estoppel, Interference Estoppel, and Issue Preclusion

1. In the USPTO

37 CFR 1.658(c) defines the estoppel effect in the USPTO with respect to all issues that were or could have been raised in the interference.27 This includes estoppel with respect to claims defining patentably indistinguishable inventions from a count,28 and to claims to subject matter commonly disclosed (whether or not claimed) in any applications involved in the interference.29

2. In Subsequent Litigation

Issues decided in an interference proceeding may be accorded issue preclusion effect in subsequent litigation. The burden of proof on most issues in an interference proceeding is preponderance of the evidence.30 The corresponding burden in infringement litigation is clear and convincing evidence. In all cases, the burden of proof in the interference proceeding is no higher than the burden of proof in infringement litigation. Therefore, the decisions on issues actually litigated in the interference proceeding should be granted issue preclusion effect in subsequent infringement litigation.31

F. 37 CFR 1.657 – Burden of Proof on Priority

37 CFR 1.657 defines the burden of proof as to date of invention to be on the party with the later effective filing date, and that the burden increases from preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence if the effective filing date of the application is after the effective filing date of the target patent, and that burden does not shift based upon submission of priority evidence.32

V. File Early

If your competitive intelligence is lucky enough to identify that your client’s competitor is about to file a patent application on contested technology, or obtain a patent on that technology, your client should file immediately. As just shown, the burden of proof on priority depends solely upon effective filing and issue dates, and pointedly does not depend upon evidence of inventive activity.

VI. Respond to Published United States or PCT Applications

Assume your client identifies a published United States or PCT application (1) which designates the United States and (2) the claims of which cover or relate to your client’s technology. Your client should first consider preserving its rights in view of 35 USC 135(b)(2).

135(b)(2) will bar your client from presenting claims to substantially the same subject matter as claimed in a published application when your client files such claims (1) more than one year after publication and (2) in any application filed after the date of the publication. Therefore, your client should consider either copying claims from the published application in a previously filed 35 USC 111(a) or 35 USC 371 application or filing a new application and copying the claims in the newly filed application. Your client should copy exactly the same claims as in the published application (to the extent possible based upon support in your client’s application’s specification) to ensure compliance with 135(b). In addition, your client can present additional claims modeled after the published claims which exclude limitations for which your client arguably does not have support in their specification, exclude limitations for which your client arguably does not have an early priority date, and correct indefiniteness problems. This approach provides the best possible chance for your client meeting the 135(b) bar and also obtaining allowable claims that are also interfering with the target claims.

Keep in mind that you are obliged to notify the Office of the target application and the fact that you are copying claims from it, even if the target application is a PCT application in the international stage. This is because 37 CFR 1.604(b) states that you must notify the Office when you present a claim that you know “define[s] the same patentable invention claimed in a pending application for all purposes except 102(e) and 154(b), pursuant to 35 USC 374. Therefore, the requirement to notify the Office when copying claims from an application specified in 37 CFR 1.604(b) applies to copying of claims in a PCT application in the international stage.

Moreover, if your client files a new application for use as a vehicle for interference with a national stage or continuation of the published PCT application, consider filing a non-publication request, and an IDS identifying your client’s applications disclosing or claiming similar subject matter, and a 37 CFR 1.59 petition to expunge the IDS information. Similarly, your client should consider filing IDSs in the cited applications identifying the new application along with petitions to expunge in those applications.

Note that your client’s opponent in the interference will have access to the file history of your client’s involved application and all applications to which it claims priority. Therefore, even a non-publication request in your client’s involved application will not immunize information regarding your client’s similar applications identified in an IDS from eventual discovery.

It is extremely unlikely that the USPTO would declare an interference involving claims in a PCT application.34 Therefore, even though your client may promptly copy claims into their application, it makes little sense to present a complete 37 CFR 1.604 request at that time. You should file the 604 request in your client’s application when there is a 35 USC 371 national stage (or 35 USC 111(a) continuation) of the target PCT application, since you can then identify in your client’s interference request the United States serial number of the target application. A 371 application will be published several months after it is on file in the USPTO. However, as a third party, you can periodically request status information from the USPTO based upon the publication of a PCT application to determine whether a corresponding 371 application has been filed in order to identify the serial number of the 371 application prior to its publication. That will allow you to more promptly request an interference.

You should promptly file an interference request targeting the published United States 35 USC 111(a) or 371 application because it takes most interference requests roughly two years to mature into interferences.35 Prompt filing increases the chances that an interference request will be considered and an interference declared prior to issuance of the target application into a patent. Moreover, you should periodically check for papers filed in the target application using PAIR, obtain copies of paper filed in it, copy into your application any additional or amended claims presented in the 371 application to which your client believes it has a right, and update your 604 request accordingly.

When you file an interference request targeting a competitor’s application or patent, consider filing a paper in the style of a public protest in each of the applications related to the target application or patent pointing out that the subject application is related to the target application or patent, and should be examined in view of that fact relationship.36 That may bring the existence of the interference request to the attention of the examiners of the related applications, and enable those examiner to consider the impact of the interference request on the subject application. This action may result in the related applications being included in the interference, having prosecution in them stayed until the interference is terminated, or at least receiving a heightened level of examination.37 However, you are also obliged to serve a copy of any public protest on the attorney for the target application, 38 thereby notifying the adverse party of your interference request. You will have to weigh benefits and drawbacks of this procedure in each situation.

VII. Consider Splitting Subject Matter Between Applications in View of Temporal Delays and Interference Estoppel

Your client needs to take into consideration the potential time line, outcome, consequences of the outcome, and cost when deciding what action to take in view of a potential interference. Based upon these considerations, your client can make a reasoned decision (1) whether to attempt to provoke an interference and (2) whether to also attempt to promptly obtain issued patents on closely related but arguably non-interfering subject matter. The important point is to identify these issues prior to taking action and to weigh the benefits and drawbacks before deciding to act.

Keep in mind that the motivation for filing most interference requests is that the existence of another’s exclusive right to the target claims is unacceptable from a business perspective. Therefore, the most important goal of most of the parties requesting interferences is to obtain cancellation of the other party’s claims.

A. Probable Time Line for an Interference

Most probably, an interference request will result in an interference in roughly two years after the date the request for the interference is filed. Most probably, the interference proceeding in the USPTO will take about two years. Most probably, any 35 USC 146 action following the interference will take about two years. Most probably, any 35 USC 141 appeal will take about a year. Therefore, any hard fought interference and its judicial review may take on the order of five years. Most probably, post interference prosecution and issuance of a prevailing applicant’s application will take about a year.

B. Predicting the Outcome and Consequences of the Outcome

Predicting the outcome of an interference depends upon the known facts of the case (e.g., your priority evidence and known prior art) and guesses as to unknown facts (e.g., your opponent’s priority evidence and unknown prior art). Thus, any such prediction and the confidence level of the prediction depend upon the facts of the case.

1. Consequences of Losing the Interference

If your client “loses”39 the interference, it may end up with no patent, and 37 CFR 1.658(c) may bar it from any claims to any subject matter disclosed or obvious in view of the disclosure of the other applications (or patents) involved in the interference. In contrast, if your client does not provoke an interference, it may obtain claims dominating or subservient to the claims of the target application or patent, and these may be claims that your client would be precluded from obtaining if it pursued an interference. Theoretically, that should not happen since, theoretically, your client and the owner of the target application or patent should be entitled to the same claims in any case. However, interferences adduce additional evidence than exists in ex parte prosecution, decisions of the APJs on patentability and the scope of interfering subject matter may differ from those of ex parte examiners, and failure to either raise certain issues or carry the burden of proof on certain issues in an interference may all result in different outcomes in interferences than in corresponding ex parte prosecution.

2. Consequences of Prevailing in the Interference

If your client prevails in the interference, (1) corresponding claims in the opponent’s application or patent will be canceled, and your client’s application will be entitled to an amount of term extension40 unless term is limited by a terminal disclaimer. In addition, issue preclusion may apply in a follow on infringement litigation by your client on its patent issuing from its application involved in the interference against the other party in the interference.

If your client has previously obtained patents with claims to closely related subject matter, you may be forced to file in your client’s interference application a terminal disclaimer to moot a double patenting rejection, thereby losing any potential term extension that may be afforded by the AIPA due to the duration of the interference and subsequent judicial review. This is a factor to weigh when considering prosecution of related applications. In this regard, also keep in mind your rule 56 duty to provide information from the interference to the examiner examining any relevant application, whether you win or lose the interference.41

C. Costs of an Interference

Most interferences cost several hundred thousand dollars to litigate; roughly ten percent of the cost of a patent infringement litigation. Interferences are procedurally complex, usually requiring the interplay of priority and patentability issues respecting both parties’ claims. However, interferences allow much more limited discovery than district court infringement litigation, they do not deal with issues of infringement or damages, and therefore they cost less than infringement litigation.

VIII. Count Formulation for an Interference Request

The vast majority of interference proceedings terminate prior to a decision on priority. However, priority is the ultimate issue, and the reasons why interferences terminate are logically related and dependent upon priority. For example, a decision on motions that a party lacks support for its involved claims will result in termination of the interference via a judgement against that party. However, lack of support implies that the party does not have priority for the subject matter defined by the count. Likewise, parties settle or concede based upon factors including the likelihood of prevailing on priority. Therefore, priority is an issue you should be concerned with when requesting an interference.

Priority in an interference is awarded on a count by count basis. The party losing priority with respect to a count will not be entitled to claims corresponding to that count, which are all claims that define the same patentable invention as the count. Claims corresponding to the count are supposed to define obvious variations of the subject matter defined by the count. The count is supposed to define subject matter that is non-obvious over the of the prior art. The count is an artificial legal construct defined by the APJ at the beginning of the interference in the declaration of the interference. However, interference requests must include a propose count or counts. Often, the proposed counts are the same as the counts defined in the declaration of the interference.

Moreover, a party requesting (via motion) in the interference proceeding that the count be change has the burden of the preponderance of the evidence to explain why the count should be changed. The majority of motions in interferences are denied. Therefore, it is statistically unlikely that the count will be changed via a motion in an interference. Therefore, your client has the possibility of influencing the outcome of the interference by what count or counts it proposes in its request for an interference, and what claims it presents prior to the interference.

The logical procedure to follow to propose a count is to determine your client’s relevant priority information, obtain what priority information you can regarding the target application, such as the disclosure of any applications to which the target application claims priority, relevant press releases on the target company’s products, publications of the named inventors, and information on the employment histories of the named inventors, and propose a count (1) that you believe to be non-obvious over the prior art and (2) that provides the highest probability that your client will have priority over the other party’s priority for the subject matter defined by that count.

In addition, you should present in the interference request claims identical (or as close as possible given the limitation of support in your client’s application) to the proposed count. This is at least because the existence of such claims may preclude an argument by your opponent in the interference why the count should be changed.

IX. Table 1 – Comparison of Data Sources

Database sources for competitive intelligence is available at http://www.neifeld.com/strategies_020827.pdf. All of the database vendors noted in this chart provide fee based services. Most of the Internet sites are free, but some require registration or subscription. Table 1 is courtesy of Martin Goffman Associates.

FOOTNOTES

1 135 USC 135(b)(1)(“A claim which is the same as, or for the same or substantially the same subject matter as, a claim of an issued patent may not be made in any application unless such a claim is made prior to one year from the date on which the patent was granted.”); and In re McGrew, ___ F.3d ___, ___, 43 USPQ2d 1642, 1635 (Fed. Cir 1997)(Rich J.)(“The application of section 135(b) is not limited to inter partes interference proceedings but may be used, in accordance with its literal terms, as a basis for ex parte rejections.”).

2 35 USC 135(b)(2)(“A claim which is the same as, or for the same or substantially the same subject matter as, a claim of an application published under section 122(b) of this title may be made in an application filed after the application is published only if the claim is made before 1 year after the date on which the application is published.”). You can file copied claims in your application at any time if your application was pending when the target application was published.

3 Bamberger v. Cheruvu, 55 USPQ2d 1523, 1526 (PTOBPAI 1998)(“We recognize that when an application is filed after a patent issues, that [sic] the applicant must prove priority by clear and convincing evidence. Price v. Symsek, 988 F.2d 1187, 26 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1993). In the interference before us, the Bamberger application was copending with the application which matured into the Cheruvu patent. We leave for another case the determination of whether unpatentability should be based on clear and convincing evidence in those interferences where the junior party application was filed after the senior party patent issued.”). Issues of derivation and fraud always require proof by clear and convincing evidence. See Price v. Symsek, 988 F.2d 1187, ___, 26 USPQ2d 1031, 1033-34 (Fed. Cir. 1993) as to derivation and Litton Sys., Inc. v. Honeywell, Inc., 87 F.3d 1559, 1570, 39 USPQ2D 1321, 1328 (Fed. Cir. 1996), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 117 S. Ct. 1240 (1997) as to fraud.

4 I polled the members of the Interference Committee of the AIPLA to determine the average delay between requesting an interference and declaration of the interference. The average delay was about two years. See Neifeld, “Report of the January 2002 meeting of the Interference Committee of the AIPLA,” published in the AIPLA Quarterly Bulletin and available at http://www.neifeld.com/advidx.html.>

5 Cf. Lin v. Fritsch,14 USPQ2d 1795, 1798 (Comm’r 1989)(“The normal practice of PTO is not to issue patents based on applications involved in an ongoing interference. The interference rules authorize petitions to the Commissioner in interference cases for the purpose of seeking a waiver of a rule of practice. 37 CFR §1.644(a)(3) [Rule 644]. Inasmuch as Rule 644 is not inconsistent with law, it has the force and effect of law. In re Rubinfield, 270 F.2d 391, 123 USPQ 210 (CCPA 1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 903 [ 124 USPQ 535 ] (1960). Rule 644 gives the Commissioner jurisdiction to reach the merits of Lin’s petition.”).

6 Whether or not a court grants a stay requested based upon the existence of an interference depends on various factors including how advanced the litigation is relative to the interference, the number of issues that will not be resolved by a decision in the interference, and the hardship to the non-moving party. See Chiron Corp. v. Abbott Labs., 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 317, *8-9 (N.D.Cal. 1996)(advanced litigation); General Foods Corp. v. Struthers Scientific and Int’l. Corp., 309 F.Supp. 161, 161-2 (D. Del. 1970)(advanced litigation and several other patents in suit); Research Corp. v. Radio Corp. of America, 181 F.Supp. 709, (D. Del. 1960)(advanced interference); Sanwa Foods, Inc., v. Wenger Mfg., Inc., 18 USPQ2d 1493 (D. Kan. 1990)(interference so advanced decision expected prior to trial deemed grounds to deny request for stay); NL Chemicals, Inc. v. Southern Clay Prods., Inc., 14 USPQ2d 1561 (D.D.C. 1989)(stay granted where the PTO interference encompassed all of the issues in the district court action); R.E. Phelon Co., Inc. v. Wabash, Inc., 640 F.Supp. 1383, 1385 (N.D. Ind. 1986)(stay granted where both parties joined in the request for the stay).

7 Courtesy of Martin Goffman, Ph.D., Goffman & Associates. I use Goffman & Associates for most of my proprietary database information needs. See www.Goffman.com.

8 See www.aiip.org for the AIIP. The AIIP is directed to general information. See www.scip.org for the SCIP. See www.sla.org for the SLA. See www.piug.org for the PIUG. The PIUG is directed to patent information.

9 MPEP section 724.04, August 2001, page 700-250.

10 See http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/opla/frule/supq&a.pdf Q&A 85 on page 24, and see form PTO/SB68, at http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0068.pdf and specifically section 1.B.

11 MPEP section 2001.06(b).

12 MPEP section 2001.06(b), page 2000-5, August 2001; interpolation supplied.

13 USPTO FILE INFORMATION UNIT, Crystal Plaza 3, Tel: 703-308-2733; Fax: 703-305-6067.

14According to Examiner Leonard Smith, PCT Legal Office, USPTO.

15 See https://www3.uspto.gov/vision-service/Product_Services_P/msgProductFees.>

16 Interferences are declared by an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ), not by the examiner. 37 CFR 1.610)a).

17 See 37 CFR 10.23(c)(7) and Bovard v. Respondent, Office of Enrollment and Discipline (“OED”) Proceeding D96-01 (Commissioner’s Decision, August 27, 1997).For a description of ethical duties in interferences, see Neifeld, “A Practitioner’s View of Ethical Considerations Before the Board in Interferences,” September 2002, available at http://www.neifeld.com/advidx.html

18 35 USC 102(g)(1) reads:

during the course of an interference conducted under section 135 or section 291, another inventor involved therein establishes, to the extent permitted in section 104, that before such person’s invention thereof the invention was made by such other inventor and not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed….

19 35 USC 102(g)(2) reads:

before such person’s invention thereof, the invention was made in this country by another inventor who had not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed it.

20 53 USPQ2d 1234 (PTOBPAI 1999)(expanded panel consisting of Stoner, Chief Administrative Patent Judge, McKelvey, Senior Administrative Patent Judge, and Schafer, Lee, and Torczon, trial section administrative patent judges)(opinion by SAPJ McKelvey).

21 The Trial Section of the Board is a section of the Interference Division of the Board. The Trial Section includes about eight APJs. The APJs of the Trial Section have declared, presided over, and decided most of the interference proceedings since inception of the Trial Section in 1998.

22 For a discussion of this issue see Neifeld, “The Standard for the Existence of an Interference” 83 JPTOS 275 (April 2001), also available athttp://www.neifeld.com/advidx.html.

23 35 USC 135(b) reads:

(b)(1)A claim which is the same as, or for the same or substantially the same subject matter as, a claim of an issued patent may not be made in any application unless such a claim is made prior to one year from the date on which the patent was granted.

(2) A claim which is the same as, or for the same or substantially the same subject matter as, a claim of an application published under section 122(b) of this title may be made in an application filed after the application is published only if the claim is made before 1 year after the date on which the application is published.

24 However, see In re Eickmeyer, 202 USPQ 655, 661, 602 F.2d 974, 980 (CCPA 1979)(“At the same time, we do not regard the opposite result (proposed here by the PTO) to be justifiable, namely: leaving an applicant in a position where he cannot overcome a reference by a 131 affidavit because the PTO has decided that the reference claims his invention, while, at the same time, he is denied an interference because the PTO has decided that the claims of his application and those of the reference are not for substantially the same invention.”)

2535 USC 374 reads:

The publication under the treaty defined in section 351(a) of this title, of an international application designating the United States shall confer the same rights and shall have the same effect under this title as an application for patent published under section 122(b), except as provided in sections 102(e) and 154(d) of this title.

26 See Basmadjian v. Landry, Interference No. 103,694, paper No. 22, pp 57-58 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/bpai/prec.htm (PTOBPAI 1997) (precedential to the Board) (Judgement entered against Basmadjian because Basmadjian’s 608(b) showings did not prima facie establish diligence; additional evidence submitted by Basmadjian’s in response to the show cause order was not considered since Basmadjian did not show good cause why the additional evidence was not submitted with 608(b) showings.).

27 37 CFR 1.658(c) reads:

c) A judgment in an interference settles all issues which (1) were raised and decided in the interference, (2) could have been properly raised and decided in the interference by a motion under § 1.633 (a) through (d) and (f) through (j) or § 1.634, and (3) could have been properly raised and decided in an additional interference with a motion under § 1.633(e). A losing party who could have properly moved, but failed to move, under § 1.633 or 1.634, shall be estopped to take ex parte or inter partes action in the Patent and Trademark Office after the interference which is inconsistent with that party’s failure to properly move, except that a losing party shall not be estopped with respect to any claims which correspond, or properly could have corresponded, to a count as to which that party was awarded a favorable judgment.

28 In re Deckler, 977 F.2d 1449, 1452, 24 USPQ2d 1448, 1450 (Fed. Cir. 1992)(the judgement in the interference may be used as a basis to subsequently reject claims of the losing party to the same patentable invention as the count).

29 49 Fed. Reg. 48440 second column lines 25-61; In re Shirmer, 69 F.2d 556, 558, 21 USPQ 161, 163 (CCPA 1934); and Avery v. Chase, 101 F.2d 204, 40 USPQ 343 (CCPA 1939), cert. den’d, 307 U.S. 638 (1939); and 37 CFR 1.633(e).

30 Bruning v. Hirose, 161 F.3d 681, ___, 48 USPQ2d 1934, 1938 (Fed. Cir. 1998)(“Accordingly, this court holds that, during an interference involving a patent issued from an application that was copending with the interfering application, the appropriate standard of proof for validity challenges is the preponderance of the evidence standard.”); Brown v. Barbacid, 276 F.3d 1327, 1333, 61 USPQ2d 1236, ___ (Fed. Cir. 2002)(“Specifically, this court (or the Board on remand, as the case may be) must determine, based on the entire evidentiary record, whether Barbacid ultimately prevailed in proving priority by a preponderance of evidence.”).

31 Section 27 of the Restatement of Judgements (second) states the general rule of issue preclusion, which is that: When an issue of fact or law is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, and the determination is essential to the judgment, the determination is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties, whether on the same or a different claim.

32 Brown v. Barbacid, 276 F.3d 1327, 1333, 61 USPQ2d 1236, ___ (Fed. Cir. 2002).(“In sum, under 37 C.F.R. § 1.657(a) and (b), the ultimate burden of proof always remained on the

junior party, Barbacid. Thus, the Board erred in stating that the burden of proof shifted to Brown at any point in this case.”)

33 There is no authoritative legal opinion on this issue. However, a PCT application may form the basis for a rejection of a claim as specified in 102(e), and possible based upon 102(g). See the discussion of the purpose for an interference and why applications qualify as prior art under 102(g) in Neifeld, “Viability of the Hilmer Doctrine” 81 JPTOS 544 (July 1999) and Neifeld, “Viability of the Hilmer Doctrine” 81 JPTOS 544 (July 1999), respectively, both available at http://www.neifeld.com/advidx.html.>

34 It appears that the Board would have jurisdiction over a PCT application in an interference via application of the terms of 35 USC 374 to 35 USC 135(a), but I know of no such interference.

35 See “Report of the January 2002 meeting of the Interference Committee of the AIPLA” published in the AIPLA Quarterly Bulletin, available at http://www.neifeld.com/advidx.html.>

36 37 CFR 1.291 specifies the rules for public protests. A protest filed after the date of publication of an application will not be entered into the applications 37 CFR 1.291(a)(1). However, the existence of the interference issue should still be noted by the examiner.

37 MPEP 2315.01 first paragraph states that:

Where one of several applications of the same inventor or assignee which contain overlapping claims gets into an interference, the prosecution of all the cases not in the interference should be carried as far as possible, by treating as prior art the counts of the interference for the purpose of making provisional rejections and by insisting on proper lines of division or distinction between the applications. In some instances, suspension of action by the Office cannot be avoided. See MPEP § 709.01.

38 37 CFR 1.291(a)(2).

39 The concepts of winning and losing depend upon the goals of the parties in the interference. However, in this context, winning and losing refer to the effect on a claim by claim basis of the final decision or judgement in the interference. See 35 USC 135(a).

40 The pre-AIPA law provides for up to five years of interference term extension, and the AIPA provides for day for day term extension. See 35 USC 154.

41 See Eli Lilly v. Cameron, Interference No. 104,104, paper No. 18 (PTOBPAI 2001) (non-precedential) (adverse judgement that “is material to the patentability with respect to pending claims in other applications under consideration before” the Office falls within the rule 56 duty not withstanding Lilly’s characterization of request for entry of adverse judgement as not an admission).

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