The relevant patent. Print out and read this patent: Coffee or tea filtering press (7,849,784).
This is an actual product, the Aeropress coffee maker that you can buy at a number of places such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It’s a very good coffee-maker, one that improves (in my opinion) substantially on the quality of French-pressed coffee.
Below is both guidance and some questions. Use the guidance, answer the questions.
Cover. Who is the inventor? Who is the patentee?
Duration. When was the patent filed? When will the patent expire?
Subject matter. What is patented? A process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter? A “new and useful improvement thereof”? Is this patentable subject matter?
Prior art. See the “References cited” (p. 1). These are “prior references” or “prior art” that the inventor and PTO know of. Novelty and nonobviousness are measured against the preexisting technology, or “prior art.” Prior art need not be prior patents or patent applications. They can be other things that are publicly available. Can you think of things that might qualify as prior art for this invention? Where might you look for them?
Novelty/nonobviousness/utility. What is new about the claimed invention (section 102 anticipation)? Is it more than a trivial improvement over previous coffee makers (section 103 nonobviousness)? Does it work (section 101 utility)?
Specification. Examine the drawings and numbers. Note that the numbers used in the drawings are also used in the written description. Reading them together should “enable” the person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) to make and use the claimed invention.
Claims. What does the patent claim? This is the heart of the patent, its metes and bounds. How many claims are there? Are some independent? Are some dependent on others? Does the written specification help in giving meaning to terms used? Note the difference between the preamble (“A coffee or tea filtering press”, the transitional word or phrase (“comprising”), and the body (the text following).
Posted June 4, 2018