Roger Rocket is a designer of paper cups at Paper America. During his free time, he
likes to attend baseball games at Yankee Stadium. One day, while seated in the stands,
he caught a fly ball. He took the baseball home and played catch with his friends Andy
Cannon, Orlando Torpedo, and Mariano Missle. Unfortunately for Rocket, Cannon has a
problem with accuracy. Cannon threw the ball over Rocket’s head and straight through a
neighbor’s front window. The shattered glass ripped the lining off of the baseball.
Instantly, Rocket conceived a more durable baseball with an exterior similar to that of a
golf ball. Rocket worked for months on his invention in Missle’s garage. His new
baseball was comprised of a titanium core, and a plastic shell having circular dimples and
V-shaped laces. Torpedo realized and told Rocket that Y-shaped laces would enable
baseball players to throw the ball faster. Cannon, an engineer in a radar gun laboratory,
tested the velocity of the baseball with both V and Y-shaped laces. To Cannon’s surprise,
the baseball traveled 10 M.P.H. faster with the Y-shaped laces. Rocket wanted patent
protection for a baseball having a titanium core, and a plastic shell having circular
dimples and Y-shaped laces, so he approached Yogi Practitioner for assistance. Rocket
has no obligation, contractual or otherwise, to assign his inventions to Paper America.
In accordance with proper USPTO practice and procedure, who should execute
the oath?
(A) Rocket
(B) Rocket and Torpedo
(C) Rocket and Cannon
(D) Rocket, Torpedo, and Cannon
(E) Rocket, Torpedo, Cannon, and Missle
Before executing the oath, Rocket wanted to ask Practitioner a question. On his
way to Practitioner’s office, Rocket was instantly killed when a drunk driver hit his car.
The officers or employees of Paper America are not related to Rocket. Who can execute
an oath on Rocket’s behalf?
(A) The President of Paper America
(B) The CEO of Paper America
(C) Rocket’s manager at Paper America
(D) Rocket’s legal representative
(E) None of the above
Practitioner received all of the proper papers required to
receive a filing date. However, due to an unexpected emergency, he had to fly out of the
country that evening to conduct discovery in another matter. Practitioner knew that he
would be out of the office for at least 4 weeks, so before leaving, he left a note instructing
his assistant to file the Rocket application on October 13, 2001, using an Express Mailing
label. His assistant did not see the note until 8:00 P.M. on Friday, October 19, 2001. On
Monday, October 22, 2001, Rocket’s assistant deposited the Rocket application in the
United States Postal Service with a proper Express Mailing label. The Postal Service
properly completed a legible label showing an October 22, 2001 date in. The
correspondence was received in the USPTO on October 27, 2001. What is the filing date
of the Rocket application absent any Postal Service Emergency?
(A) October 12, 2001
(B) October 13, 2001
(C) October 19, 2001
(D) October 22, 2001
(E) October 27, 2001
18. Joint inventorship is based on conception only, not reduction to practice. Rocket
conceived of the basic titanium ball and Torpedo came up with the laces. B is the
answer.
19. Bizarre macabre facts. A PTO specialty. An estate rep. can sign for Rocket since
Paper America is completely out of the picture.
20. Express Mail “date in” is the filing date. Answer D.
Regarding 19; shouldn’t it be ‘E’ since 2nd inventor Torpedo can sign the oath (47a)? Any thoughts!!!
Torpedo can sign on his own behalf, but not on Rocket’s behalf. I see your point, but the call of the question is specific.
(A)
All the available joint inventors must (1) make oath or declaration on their own behalf as required by 37 CFR 1.63 or 1.175 (see MPEP § 602, § 605.01, and § 1414) and (2) make oath or declaration on behalf of the nonsigning joint inventor as required by 37 CFR 1.64. An oath or declaration signed by all the available joint inventors with the signature block of the nonsigning inventor(s) left blank may be treated as having been signed by all the available joint inventors on behalf of the nonsigning inven-tor(s), unless otherwise indicated.
The answer is D because “death” is different from “unavailable” or “refusing to sign”.
37 CFR § 1.42 – When the inventor is dead.
In case of the death of the inventor, the legal representative (executor, administrator, etc.) of the deceased inventor may make the necessary oath or declaration, and apply for and obtain the patent.
Anyone else thinking that they chose ‘legal representative’ to make us think it was talking about his patent agent/attorney instead of the estate manager? I would’ve guessed (E) as a result. Thank goodness for this site.
Agreed, Agreed. I actually had to read the rule (even after reading your post) to understand why (D) is the correct answer…Too Many hours
yes, i totally agree matt!
Obviously a Yankee fan wrote this question. Now wonder it’s lousy.
I have really lost track which discussion goes to which question. As to the first….Is it Torpedo and Rocket because Cannon did nothing but provide a radar gun for the speed test. Rocket conceived the design of the ball while Torpedo added the conception of the laces.
Got this. 06.30.2012