Patent Attorney and Founder
Hi everyone, I’m J.D. Houvener, your host of the Bold Today Show, where we review the inventor, entrepreneur, or business owner and get your daily dose of inspiration to make the world a better place. We’re on the fourth of a five-part series talking about space, and I’m excited to be here with you today to discuss an aspect we might not often consider – the measurement of space. Where does the Earth’s atmosphere end, and space begin? Before I googled it, I didn’t know, and so, please don’t Google it if you’re wondering right now. Your challenge of the day is to have fun and put in the comments below your best guess at what altitude above the Earth’s surface space begins. Is it one mile, five miles, or as much as 500 miles up? I was way off when I looked it up, and we’ll find out tomorrow.
Continuing with the patent we found, I want to give great kudos to NASA for this public domain website they’ve launched. The URL is listed right here: technology.nasa.gov/publicdomain. It’s an incredible resource of patented and unpatented technology that NASA has provided a free license to the world. You can use this technology without even requesting permission from NASA – an unbelievable resource I encourage you all to visit.
We’ve been discussing a rocket engine patent from NASA issued in 2011 for the past three days. Today, let’s take a closer look at the claimed language. Claim 1 is where we’re focusing, and the claims are at the bottom of the PDF if you look it up. Scroll down to the end of the specification to find numeral 1. We’re zooming in on the top section for this discussion.
Claim writing follows rules under 35 USC 112(b), stating that claims must be in definite terms. Let’s examine some of the seemingly arcane wording in the claim language. The term “said” is used for precision, acting as an antecedent basis to refer back to a specific turbocharger mentioned earlier. It ensures clarity and prevents confusion, a traditional but effective way in patent writing.
Patent claim language can be dense, and if you have questions about writing your own patent or conducting an initial search for specific technology, give us a call. We offer a free 30-minute consultation and would be happy to help you navigate the patent process, regardless of your technology. I hope you have a wonderful day. I’m your host, J.D. Houvener, of the Bold Today Show. Go big, go bold!