Tag: patent

Gedankenexperiment – Quantum Telepathy Patent

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

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Question:

Is it possible to get a “Quantum Telepathy” patent granted?

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As mentioned previously in the blog I am going to be physically incapacitated and will have some time on my hands after the hip-hop hip op. I will need something to do, to fill the time. One of the things which I enjoy is testing and finding out what may/may not be possible. I can lose interest quickly after that. I am more interested in possibility than execution. A vanity project might be to test if it is possible to get a “Quantum Telepathy” patent granted. A brief search suggests that there is no prior art. I am not sure how someone “skilled in the art” might be qualified and deemed expert. Aside from Marvel Comics there are no peer reviewed journals convinced that the parapsychological notion of telepathy is real and thereby measurable. Professor X might struggle to be believed. In effect such a patent would be for a phenomenon deemed imaginary by others. Patents are not about the already proven so imaginary or quasi-imaginary need not yet be a barrier to grant.

To dream up a tidy application would take quite a lot of work and effort

We are currently resident in France and have a right to remain which expires end of March next year. The government here is putting in place a mechanism to renew these rights for those allowed to stay under the Brexit withdrawal agreement. It is possible and likely that we will be allowed to remain. A change of government leaning towards the antimigration wing could happen and our future here might suddenly become much less certain. We could get booted out.

This means legally we are under a French jurisdiction and our governing body is Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle {INPI}. Even if I wanted to file an application in English to the UK or European patent office I am legally obliged to go through them first. I do not know yet if I can file in English at INPI.

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“The patent application can be filed in any language but a French translation is required within two months following receipt of a Communication issued by the French Patent Office (INPI) shortly after the filing date.”

Cabinet Beau de Loménie

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“But, for national security purposes, the Minister of National Defence, via the Intellectual Property Office of the General Delegation for Armaments (“DGA“ in French) has the right to review all applications for the protection of inventions made by natural or legal persons having their domicile or registered office in France, in order to authorize or not the exploitation of such inventions and thus avoid the possible leakage of so-called sensitive technologies, regardless of the country where the protection is sought.

Article L612-8 of the French Intellectual Property Code

Consequently, the applicants have: An obligation of first filing with the INPI. The applicant whose domicile or registered office is located in France cannot proceed outside of France with the first filing of a patent application. There is no exception to this provision.

The first filing must be submitted to the INPI, and for patents for which protection is sought outside France, the INPI must act as a receiving office and only transmit patent applications to foreign offices once the DGA has delivered its authorization for disclosure and exploitation.”

Oyat Law web site.

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Until this morning I was not aware of this.

To file a patent in French and get it granted adds an extra layer of complexity. Patent attorneys are not well know for pro bono work. That makes the challenge even more difficult / interesting.

I don’t know how the French system works. So that would be a complete unknown for me. I’ll wager that there are protocols and regulations. England might be a nation of shop keepers; France is a nation of administrators and dossier lovers.

I have no idea what kind of can or worms I might open in starting a French process. The possibilities for miscommunication are fairly vast.

In the UK things are a tad more familiar.

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From Gov.uk

National security checks on patent applications

All patent applications filed at the IPO are checked to identify any which could be prejudicial to national security or public safety.

We screen every application filed to check whether it should be placed under directions according to Section 22 of the Patents Act 1977. This includes applications such as:

  • UK national applications
  • European patent applications under the European Patent Convention (EPC)
  • international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

If such directions are imposed, we will write to you within six weeks of filing your application. You must provide an address for service within the UK for all applications placed under section 22 directions.

The directions under section 22 may only be lifted after your application has been inspected by the Ministry of Defence. You must file a Form DP2 to request such an inspection (we will send a copy of this form to you when we notify you of the directions); it is in your interest to return this form to us as soon as possible if you think the directions should not remain in force.

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From DP2 Form

Note In view of the prohibition under Section 22(1), the application should be provisionally treated as

“SECRET”. The copy of the specification should be enclosed in two envelopes, the inner envelope being marked “SECRET”

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SECRET

Definition:

Very sensitive information that requires enhanced protective controls, including the use of secure networks on secured dedicated physical infrastructure and appropriately defined and implemented boundary security controls, suitable to defend against highly capable and determined threat actors, whereby a compromise could threaten life (an individual or group), seriously damage the UK’s security and/or international relations, its financial security/stability or impede its ability to investigate serious and organised crime.

Threat Profile:

The threat profile for SECRET anticipates the need to defend against sophisticated, well-resourced and determined threat actors with higher levels of capabilities than would be typical for the OFFICIAL tier. This includes but is not limited to: capable state actors; sophisticated state sponsored actors such as cybercrime groups; some serious organised crime groups; and, staff who pose insider risk. Proportionate technical capabilities, user behaviours and security controls will be used to protect information and services from compromise by these actors, including from targeted and bespoke attacks.

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I have had a quick check on the published list of things deemed worthy of considering secret and although cryptography and cypher are listed, there is no reference to telepathy. I did not see the Q word either.

It all sounds more than a little heavy and intense.

Provided that telepathy is entirely imaginary then there is no security threat.  So this is perhaps a hypothetical. It is kind of hard to imagine someone taking such an application seriously.

Dr Whacko McNutjob, The Shed, 1001 Unicorn Jockey Drive, Camelot-sur-Mer, Narnia is not the kind of address that people take seriously so there is a good chance that anything I write will simply be waved through security checks. I do not have a bedlam.ac.uk corporate email address any longer.

People will pay less attention to Shrek from the swamp than a big cheese from a well know fromagerie.

Legally I must go through INPI or jeopardise residency. There are a lot of barriers even before beginning.

Hmmn… needs a bit more thought….

“Job” Interview  – IP – Patents Dream 30-07-2025

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here is this morning’s dream had between 5 and 7 AM. I did not think I would go back to sleep but had this from which I awoke exhausted and grilled.

The dream starts in South West London, with a feel of Richmond Wimbledon etc.. I am with a younger man, mid-late thirties. He has bright blonde hair and is tall and slim. He is immaculately dressed in an English suit, overcoat and with expensive English shoes. He is smooth and accustomed to handling people. He is privately school educated and has a crisp posh accent. He has not seen much sun and is a pale indoors person from a high social class family, hence a part of the firm. He is skilled in meet and greet {think main character Pine in The Night Manager only better}. We are in his shared house and getting ready to go into town. There are two other men and one Serbian or Bosnian woman who live there. The hallway to the house has very small black and white tiles and the door is of a large ornate stained glass kind. The implication is that they all work together. They are all high functioning.

The woman is in the kitchen and opens the door out. Bibi our adopted stray cat runs out into the garden. We need to get the cat in because they are all returning to work. In the garden there is a golf style sand bunker. Bibi is in it and wants to play. I go over and sweep her up onto my shoulder as is customary and bring her back into the kitchen. The house is period with original features. It has an Aga over which is a wooden slats clothes dryer, raised by a pulley and cord. The kitchen is massive and decked out for cooking and entertaining. I let Bibi off my shoulder onto the kitchen table and say that I will be back later to drive her home. The woman speaks with an accent to the cat. She is also tall and lithe, gymnastic even. To an extent they are all humouring me as they have been told to do.

I go outside with the young man through a tiled entrance area from what once was the scullery up to street level. I comment that it is nice that all the original enamelled tiles remain. We are running a little behind schedule and we make our way to the ticket office of the over ground railway. The man in the ticket office hands me a small bundle of documents hand sized ~4 by 6 inches. In this is a cardboard “wallet” of yellowed colour and age. In it are old photos of the male side of my family some of whom are in their military uniform. He has gotten them out of records and I must give them to the blond man. The documents contain old out of circulation Sterling banknotes. I hand them to my “guide”.

He takes them and gets two old school train tickets for us. The man form the ticket office says that the next train is at 4:30.  We look at the clock it is nearly an hour to wait. He says that “they” are waiting for us upstairs.

We go up into a busy bar come waiting area. It is lively, there is a hubbub and people are drinking. At one end of the room there is a long rectangular table around which are sat a number of people, less than ten. They are all male ranging in age from mid-thirties to my age. Most of them are wearing suits. They are going to interview me for a “job”. The notion it is for a glass company like Pilkington. The whole things seems weird to me because I have made no job application. They are sort of “head hunting”. The “guide” ushers me to the head of the table and sits me down. The man in charge at the other end of the table welcomes me and says that they are going to ask me a few questions. There is a lot of interplay between panel members. I have a knowing that at least two people on the panel are from the security services, they are British. There is a possible third who says nothing but who had a distinctly American air. He is the only black person on the panel amidst the nondescript white men. He is focussed and attentive.

The chair asks me about patents. I say that I have three granted patents, two on Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV). He asks me how these were filed. I say that when were knocking the ideas of a company about I started the ball rolling by going to Kilburn and Strode to draw up the first patent application. I look to one of the men to my left. The penny drops I have met him before very briefly at Kilburn and Strode. He is a government patent attorney. I claim him and he says that yes, he was there, I too looked vaguely familiar. They want to know who I worked with at Kilburn and Strode. I can’t remember the name except that it was Welsh sounding and that he has gone on to be a senior partner. I suggest that they look him up on the internet. They take over the entertainment screen in the bar and give me some new fangled clicker to run the search. I do not know how to use it. This bemuses them. I say that I have never seen a device like this before. They are disappointed in me. The chair says why would I have used one of these things before.

One of the junior members of the panel asks me about my exam results. Somehow, he has a file about me open on his desk. It has my photo and multiple sheets of paper therein; it is about half a centimetre thick. He has withdrawn the file from records for this purpose. I say that I got four “A”s and four “B”s at “O” level and BCC at “A” level. He tuts unimpressed. I explain to him that this was before rampant grade inflation. He inquires what about the recent “E” grade. I say that I have no idea what he is talking about. I joke that it was my self-taught grade for computer science. One of the panel gestures for him to desist. He backs off.

One of the security people wants again to know whom I worked with at Kilburn & Strode. The name still escapes me. For some reason it is very important for the security guy. I say to him that I have a relatively recent patent grant for a patent entitled “Electric Field Induced Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion” * . He really wants to know who I worked with all those years ago.

At the far end of the table there is a discussion, which I am not privy to, going on. It is very animated. I remain pretty unsure as to why I am there and what they could possibly want from me. I am incongruous in their company and the plush opulent bar like setting. I can feel that somehow it is important to them but I have no notion of why. It is tiring all that stress.

As I come to, I remember that it was Gwilym Roberts, all those years ago.

The dream ends

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* The full patent title is “Increasing the probability of generating entangled photon pairs using Electric Field Induced Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion”.

From The Kilburn an Strode Web Site

Arguably the highest profile patent attorney in Europe, Gwilym Roberts advises clients on all aspects of the patent process including IP audit and capture, IP filing strategies and patent portfolio management techniques. He acts for a range of clients including individuals, SMEs, Universities, and spin outs through to multi-nationals and handles a broad and diverse range of cases before the UK Patent Office, EPO and WIPO.

Summer Job and Patent Decision

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

I saw a summer job advertised for someone to help do tours of the local distillery. They wanted a trilingual person for two months over summer. Seems a bit of an ask…They are probably not all that common.

I have said hi and that I am interested. The demographic who might visit a distillery are probably not rabid smart ‘phone users or teeny gamers. There may even be the odd grey hair. Having said that, I am probably compatible. I have offered to help with the “franglais” translation into English for the web site. I could be DR X who gives the tour.

I’ll not hold my breath for a reply.

The quantum optics patent comes up for renewal in May. I have to decide if it is worth another ~£150 to keep it live. I could simply let it expire, fadeaway. I can’t really see a way of taking it forward to any kind of commercialisation.

I have had my MRI yesterday. Hopefully they can get the results to the spine surgeon for the appointment next week. Otherwise, there will be an iteration. Getting an appointment with a rheumatologist here is not facile. I need a referral. I am 90% convinced that there is some immune implication in my joint pains. It is not well received to suggest to an “expert” that they may have overlooked something. We may have to let them do their round(s) or inquiries before we get any meaningful traction. People have processes which you cannot always accelerate.

Failing that I could do a Zoom consultation with some private Harley Street type geezer in London for a few hundred quid. I have imagery which I could send electronically.

I’ll will be surprised if there is no immune component. When you put your arse in an MRI scanner you do not know what if anything they will find. There is an entirely new branch of medicine based upon instrumentation and not symptoms.

You never know what is around the corner.

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For some reason over the last day or so people from my undergraduate degree course have been popping into consciousness. I did briefly touch base on LinkedIn and then deleted my account, disappeared back into the aether.

The whole house move situation has been given added uncertainly thanks to Uncle Donny and his game-show tariff board. He missed his vocation as a corny game show host. The scores on the doors…

We will visit Jersey just to see how being surrounded by people speaking English feels. It will add a feeling to the variables. The bank in Paris want to touch base. Last year I asked about a bridging loan. We shall see what he wants / advises.

It is sunny here today…time to feed the stray cats soon…

CT scan of my lungs on Monday…looking for the evolution of COPD and possibly some kind of fungal aspergillus feature? Farmer’s lung would be another factor in the must move house equation.

I wonder how many people are sighing at the folly inflicted upon the world from the USA…It is a bit sad really…so unnecessary.

Is the great USA afraid of fair competition? Perhaps it needs to fill cauldrons with boiling oil and man the ramparts of fortress USA.

Make America Paranoid Again…

Patent Attorney Dream 8-12-17

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I go back to bed for a snooze after breakfast, my body is tired after Aikido last night and the logs the day before. It is very unusual to dream in these snoozes.

I am in my garden, with a small house and a wooden fence. I go through the gate at the end of the garden onto the footpath that runs behind all the houses. The footpath is on the edge of hill which overlooks a large lake. The water in the lake is clear and azure blue. To the side of the big lake is a smaller similar coloured lake. From where I am standing I can see fish swimming in the lake. It is a clear sunny day of indeterminate season.

I go back into the garden and my sister has a telescopic fishing rod which looks to be a bit tangled with fishing line. I say, that was just what I was thinking. Let’s go and see if we can catch some fish. She follows with the rod. Attached to it are two pike fishing plugs. I say we won’t be needing these. We can find some hooks later. I have half a loaf of sliced bread. I start to roll some of the bread into balls and throw it from the hill into the water. It seems to attract the fish. But my throwing is off. I decide to go down to the lake.

At the edge of the lake I throw some bread balls in. The smaller fish are attracted. I then try to throw the bread out to where the bigger fish are. These are also attracted to the bread.

I go over to the smaller lake. To my surprise there are two women swimming in the lake. They are wearing fashionable, expensive, swimsuits. They are tall and athletic. I ask them what the water is like, one says cold. Just as I am asking I fall into the water fully clothed. The water is fine. One of them swims close to me and in a slightly sexually provocative manner. We talk for a bit and I can hear that she has an accent. We go over to the shallows and the two women get out as do I. They have to get back to work.

I ask them where they are from, Germany, south, I suggest. Yes one is German and the other Russian. I ask them why they are here. They are working, both of them, in patents, one is writing a patent and the other is a patent attorney.  I say to them, in the dream, that I pay particular attention to strange things and explore them. Two women working in patents in a lake is a strange thing, and because they are German, this is even stranger.

I ask them how they feel about living in the UK. It is OK they say. It isn’t very modern but green and has nice trees. I say that Germany has all changed since the reunification.

Dream ends.

Thunder Cats – Patents – Dream 11-05-23

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Here is last night’s dream it is another out of the blue.

The dream starts in a busy open office environment there are many people milling about. There is a lot of noise and the people are mostly “young guns” wearing grey business suits. It has a feel of the city of London, but it is not there. There is a lot of excitement. 

On a screen in the corner is a camera pointing at a stock board at the London Stock Exchange. One can see a blank board and it is before the exchange opens for the day. An initial public offering has been made by the company and everyone is waiting to see if the share price starts higher than that of the offering.

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I find myself in the midst of chaos. There has been a lot of investment and many people have been employed but I can see nobody who is going to get down and do the hands on work. There are too many suits.  I shout out, “Do we need any more intellectual property? “No”, is the answer.

I ask who is in charge of patents. Amidst all the youngish British men a more mature tall and slim woman puts up her hand. “I am”, she says in a Californian accent. I say to her that we need to talk and could she find us a quiet place.

On the building opposite I can see the Thundercats logo projected. It pertains to the company and we and most especially I have this logo. In the dream I am slightly surprised on one level but not on another.

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The patent lady and I walk off out of the noise and struggle to find a quiet room to the side of the office. Once we are in, I say to her than we need more quiet spaces amongst the bedlam.  Which she agrees with. We sit down and she outlines that there is indeed need for further intellectual property which is more to do with applications and extensions. I ask her how come they recruited so many suits. She shrugs her shoulders and says that it was not her idea. I ask her to scope out in detail more of her ideas concerning applications.

A young man comes running to the door and knocks. “I am sorry to disturb you but there is a man at the front desk who keeps asking for you and he won’t go away.  He says that he knows you.” I say to the patent lady that I will be back and go with the young man to the front desk.

When I get there, it is Prof. TJ. He says that can we go for a walk and have and “off the record” chat. He has come up with an application for the intellectual property and would like to discuss it. He has in mind, using it to buy some shares in the company and joining in. We walk off into an industrial estate and he outlines his ideas.

The dream ends. 

Patents-VCs-Dream-19-02-18

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Here is this morning’s dream. Last night we watched Dragons’ Den on TV and I had another dream of its ilk earlier in the night which I cannot recall.

I arrive at some swanky offices in London and go into reception. It is plush and modern with a glass fronted airy atrium. The security guards at the desk take my name and give me a badge to wear. They direct me to a holding area / outer office. I am suited and booted but with no tie.

The PA greets me. In the holding area there is another man sat. He is clutching documentation and a tablet computer. I tell the lady, who is smartly dressed, that I am here for a 10 o’clock appointment. It is 9:24AM. The other guy is about to go “in”. Knowing that I am, as per usual, early, I ask the PA how the timing and schedule is going. “Is it Swiss?”, I ask. She says, “not quite” with a wink. So, I say that I will pop out for a coffee and come back. She points me in the direction of the canteen. I say I would rather go to a coffee shop; she is unhappy about this as it threatens her scheduling. She doubts I will be back on time.

I head off into town and find a coffee shop. I sit at one table and am joined by three other people. They do not notice me and are deep in heated discussion. I can see that they have a design for a beam steering column to be used in conjunction with a microscope. They are discussing a possible patent application. The younger one is talking the others through the design drawings which are in clear view on the table.

Just as they are about to leave, I say that the design looks OK but that is doesn’t look all that novel to me. Anyone “skilled in the art” might have come up with it, they need to find a better angle or way of doing it. They are a bit shocked.

I look down at my watch it is 9:55AM. I had better leg it back. I get in my car and drive fast through the traffic back to the office.

As I arrive the other guy is coming “out”, clutching his documents. I wish him luck.

I sit in a chair close to the open door which leads to the inner office it is now 10:02AM.

Through the ajar door one of the posh geezers says that I had better come in. In the room there are a number of men (~4-5) dressed in expensive suits and “Rolex” type watches. They are having their coffee refreshed. The first man ushers me towards some chairs facing the men whom I know to be rich VC types. I say that I would prefer to stand. Which I do facing the semi-circle of investors. I have no documentation or IT. Just me. I am very relaxed.

The PA leaves the room and one of the men there says that I should tell them about myself.

I start off on the cancer and tutorial story. I can sense their eyes glazing over and the thought “time waster” starting to manifest. One says, “That explains why we haven’t heard anything from you or about you!”

I then say that I have also been looking at and delving into patents. I know a patentable idea when I see one and I have a couple sketched out. This sparks their interest a little more. The tone and the mood in the room suddenly changes. One of them who is the lead turns to another and mutters something under his breath. I have their attention now.     

At that point I start engaging them in a very relaxed manner. “What kinds of investment opportunities are you (plural) looking for? “

Because thy have been sat all morning listening, they welcome the chance to speak for a bit, so they begin.

The dream ends.