Why Should I File a Patent?

The reasons for filing a patent application are as varied as are the reasons for the existence of the vast numbers of industries, businesses and products that populate our daily lives – but the main reason that dominates an applicant’s decision to file a patent (or any Industrial Property for that matter) is to maintain an advantage gained through brilliant innovation, small hard-earned incremental advances or even through good luck.

Filing a patent application is all about maintaining and exploiting a market or a technological advantage. A patent allows its owner a legal means to prevent would be competitors from gaining a foothold into a particular area of commercial endeavor that would not otherwise be possible. Patents can be used positively as a means to capture an area that needs to be developed, or they can be used negatively as a deterrent to unauthorized copiers. Either way they are a formidable commercial tool.

Patents provide the platform for making important commercial decisions – they are all about how best to use limited capital resources for greatest impact. It has been said that Patents allow innovators to gain vital bridgeheads into technical areas which can be exploited to:

Consolidate a Strong market position.

Provide new Revenue streams through the licensing or sale.

Gain investment funds to develop and market new products.

Increase in negotiating power through cross licenses or Joint Venture agreements.

Provide the basis for a company culture based on innovation, brand presence and design.

Provide a positive image to potential investors, customers, manufacturers and distributors

Attract and retain key personel enabling new products to be developed further and

Secure Overseas markets, distributors and alliances.

What is Patent??

What is a Patent? A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally 20 years from the filing date). It is a legal document defining ownership of a particular area of new technology. Patents are Granted in over 150 countries and are predicated on the theory that inventors are more likely to invent and disclose that knowledge to the public in exchange for a limited period of exclusivity. The right granted by a patent excludes all others from making, using, or selling an invention or products made by an invented process. What is Patentable? To gain a valid Patent the invention must be new (novel), involve an inventive step or be non-obvious, and be capable of industrial application. Some countries have specific exclusions preventing things from being patented such as the making of nuclear bombs. What does new mean? An invention is considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art. What is the State of the Art? The state of the art comprises everything that is known or used in public in any way, anywhere in the world, before the date of filing of the patent application. What is inventive Step? An invention is considered as involving an inventive step if it is not obvious to a skilled person having regard to the state of the art. Industrial applicability: The invention must be capable of being made or used in some kind of industry, including agriculture. Generally, it does not include one-offs. Excluded Subject Matters: Many countries have specific exclusions to certain inventions such as the patenting of plants and animals or the patenting of scientific theories. As long as the above criteria are met the United States has very few exclusions to patentability.

problems and disadvantages of an active RFID tag

The problems and disadvantages of an active RFID tag are:

• The tag cannot function without battery power, which limits the lifetime of the tag.
• The tag is typically more expensive, often costing $20 or more each
• The tag is physically larger, which may limit applications.
• The long-term maintenance costs for an active RFID tag can be greater than those of a passive tag if the batteries are replaced.
• Battery outages in an active tag can result in expensive misreads

Advantages of active RFID tags

The major advantages of an active rfid tag are:

• It can be read at distances of one hundred feet or more, greatly improving the utility of the device
• It may have other sensors that can use electricity for power
• Active RFID Tag has battery for generate power signal
• It has longevity up to 20 years

Features of active RFID tags:

Active RFID tags may have all or some of the following features:

• longest communication range of any tag
• the capability to perform independent monitoring and control
• the capability of initiating communications
• the capability of performing diagnostics
• the highest data bandwidth
• active RFID tags may even be equipped with autonomous networking; the tags autonomously determine the best communication path

Different Types of RFID Tags

There are mainly Three (03) different types of RFID Tags:

They are:

• Passive RFID tags
• Active RFID tags
• Semi-passive RFID tags

 Active RFID tags:

 Some Active Tags

Active RFID tags have their own internal source of power. This is used to power the circuits and   broadcast signals to the reader. These tags are usually more reliable than passive tags. They also have a  stronger signal because of their built-in power supply. This also allows them to work in places that  passive tags wouldn't be able to, such as in water(which would incluce humans and other animals),  metal, or from longer distances. They are however, larger and more expensive than passive tags. Today,  active tags can transmit from hundreds of meters and their batteries can last for about 10 years. Some  active tags contain different sensors that can read things like temperature, humidity, and radiation.

 Passive RFID tags:

Some Passive Tags

Passive RFID tags don't have an internal source of power. There is an electrical current that is created in the antenna by the incoming radio frequency signal from the reader. This means that the antenna has to be able to collect power from the incoming signal and also transmit the outbound signal to the reader. A passive tag can respond with identification numbers or non-volatile storage data. It can be read from about 10 cm to a couple of meters and since they don't have to have a power source on the device, they can be extremely small(they can be embedded in a sticker or under the skin).

In 2007, a company called RFIDsec created a passive tag that had many more privacy capabilities built into the device. These included built-in firewall acces controls, communication encryption, and a silent mode that would ensure that the soncumer at the point of sales can get exclusive control of the key to control the tag. In 2007, Hitachi,Ltd. developed a passive tag that was table to embedded in a sheet of paper. The problem with this is the antenna is 80 times bigger than the device. It can receive and send signals from as far away as a couple hundred meters. Companies are currently developing methods of production that will hopefully lower the prices of RFID tags dramatically.

Semi-passive RFID tags:

Semi Passive Tag

 Semi-passive tags have an internal power source like active tags, but it only powers the integrated circuit and doesn't broadcast a signal to the reader. The radiofrequency is used to broadcast a signal like a passive tag. These tags have a higher sensitivity than passive tags. This means that they can have a higher range and enhanced reliability. They also have a longer battery life than active tags. Information from www.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID.