patent agent examination paper a 2016 - industry … · page 1 of 25 paper a – 2016 patent agent...
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Page 1 of 25
Paper A – 2016
PATENT AGENT EXAMINATION
PAPER A
2016
Dear Candidate,
Paper A is a patent drafting exercise in which you are being requested to prepare a full
patent specification, with significant weight (60%) given to the claims.
A description of the technology as the hypothetical inventor understands it is provided in
the form of a meeting transcript. The inventor has also provided the attached drawings.
You are to assume that there is no more relevant prior art than what is mentioned in the
meeting transcript. You are cautioned not to impart your own knowledge of the subject
matter into your analysis and preparation of the patent application.
On the basis of the client's description, drawings, and the known prior art, taking into
account what the inventor tells you are his/her observations, prepare a patent
application. Please note:
- The Petition and other such formal portions of an application are not required;
- Titles for sections of the patent application must be provided to assist with
correction;
- Order of sections of the patent application is not important for Exam purposes.
Claims
You are required to submit a first independent claim of the apparatus type (30 marks),
six dependent apparatus claims (12 marks, 2 marks each), a second independent claim
of the method type (12 marks) and three dependent method claims (6 marks, 2 marks
each). You are to ignore any issues relating to unity of invention.
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Paper A – 2016
NOTE: FOR THE DEPENDENT CLAIMS, MARKS WILL BE GIVEN FOR ONLY THE
FIRST 6 DEPENDENT APPARATUS CLAIMS, AND FOR ONLY THE FIRST 3
DEPENDENT METHOD CLAIMS. ADDITIONAL CLAIMS WILL NOT BE MARKED.
NOTE: MARKS WILL BE GIVEN FOR ONLY DEPENDENT CLAIMS THAT ARE
RELEVANT TO THE POINT OF INVENTION.
Description of the Embodiments
While clever, the inventor is unlikely to have provided language, structure and
organization appropriate for a patent application. Accordingly, full marks for the
description will not be awarded for merely copying the transcript and, historically, lower
marks have been awarded for exclusively cutting and pasting portions from the
examination itself. The description should not simply consist of an enumeration of the
elements on each figure. The description must address with more details the point(s) of
invention including the subject matter recited in the dependent claims. Alternative
embodiments provided by the inventor should also be discussed.
Drawings
You have been provided with duplicate unmarked copies of the drawings for your use.
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Paper A – 2016
MARK BREAKDOWN
Apparatus claims Method claims
Claim 1 - independent 30 Claim 8 - independent 12
Claim 2 - dependent 2 Claim 9 - dependent 2
Claim 3 - dependent 2 Claim 10 - dependent 2
Claim 4 - dependent 2 Claim 11 - dependent 2
Claim 5 - dependent 2
Claim 6 - dependent 2
Claim 7 - dependent 2
Subtotal 60
Disclosure
Abstract 1 Summary of the Invention 3
Title 1 Description of the Drawings 2
Field of the Invention 1 Description of the Embodiments
(marks are allotted for proper
reference to the drawings)
22
Background of the Invention 10
Subtotal 40
TOTAL 100
Page 4 of 25
Paper A – 2016 Transcript
Your client (Inventor) comes in to your office at 9AM on today’s date. Below is a
transcript of the dialogue.
Inventor: Good morning, Patent Agent.
Patent Agent: Good morning, Inventor. What can I do for you?
Inventor: Allow me to present to you my most recent invention; it will be great for
bottlers of drinks such as soda, beer and other beverages. I would like you to prepare
and file a Canadian patent application to protect my invention.
Patent Agent: Not a problem. Tell me more!
Inventor: I have a neat new idea for a drink bottle. I was actually inspired by an earlier
product that I invented in my spare time, a couple weeks after the birth of my only
daughter. It was a baby bottle. Actually, that reminds me, my daughter’s first birthday is
tomorrow – I must remember to bake a cake tonight!
Patent Agent: How nice. I will try to remind you before you leave.
Inventor: Anyhow, I attach a brochure, labelled D1, from a recent trade show where I
advertised the baby bottle. I had many inquiries about the baby bottle, and even a call
from a company in Europe, but no sales. In any event, I have decided not to pursue the
baby bottle, so that I can put my resources into bringing this new drink bottle to market.
Patent Agent: I see.
Inventor: Back to my invention. I own a company that makes containers, and lately I
have been doing a lot of research into various beverage containers…you know beer
bottles, soda bottles, wine bottles, travel mugs…stuff like that. Market studies have
shown that many people like adding lemon flavor to their fizzy beverages, such as beer,
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Paper A – 2016 Transcript
sparkling water and soft drinks. However, many do not. Thus, if you make it convenient
for people to have the option of adding lemon juice, but so that they don’t necessarily
have to add it, then you are likely to have a successful product. If you look at my Figure
A, I am using the example of a soft drink bottle. Inside the bottle is a dispenser. It’s a
squeezable artificial lemon wedge that holds lemon juice. Some soft drink brands may
taste better with lime juice instead of lemon juice. So the dispenser could be an artificial
lime wedge or even a plastic orange wedge. The colour can give an indication as to
what additive is in the dispenser.
Patent Agent: It really does look like a lemon floating in there. But how do you get it
out?
Inventor: Well, as shown in my Figure B, you will notice the bottle has a cap that seals
the opening of the bottle. The dispenser is actually secured to the cap, in this case by a
clear, transparent string, which creates the illusion that there is a lemon wedge floating
in the liquid. When the user removes the cap to drink the beverage, the dispenser is
withdrawn from the bottle via the opening. The dispenser is physically protected by
remaining entirely within the bottle during transport, so it can’t be stolen, tampered with,
contaminated, or knocked off. Yet its contents are not released until the user chooses to
release them. Or they could even choose not to release them! Once they remove the
cap to open the bottle, the dispenser is withdrawn, and they can squeeze the juice from
the dispenser into the beverage, as shown in my Figure C, or save the juice for later, or
even discard the dispenser!
Patent Agent: I suppose you would have to use a small dispenser to fit through the
opening of the bottle?
Inventor: In most cases yes, but you also have to understand that a soft drink bottle or
a beer bottle is just one example of a receptacle of a container, in which the neck of the
receptacle is particularly narrow. Other receptacles may have much wider openings –
for example a travel mug. At the other extreme, you could also use a dispenser that is
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Paper A – 2016 Transcript
actually larger than the opening of the receptacle, but is compressible or squeezable.
One example of this would be a sealed balloon that contains a substance to be added
to the material in the bottle. During assembly, the balloon could be compressed on the
way down the neck of the bottle until it reaches a wider portion and expands. When the
cap is removed, the string would tug on the balloon, and on the way out, the balloon
would be re-compressed, as a result of the user continuing to pull the cap away from
the bottle.
Patent Agent: Aren’t you afraid that the string will snap?
Inventor: Well, yes and no. If the string snaps, you can’t remove the dispenser and
thus you can’t use the dispenser. So you are right in that the dispenser has to be
removable through the opening by withdrawing the cap, or else my invention doesn’t
work. But I have found that snapping of the string isn’t likely to happen. Many materials
would be suitable for the string – even dental floss or fishing wire. Actually, this reminds
me of an alternative design which you will see in my Figure D. Here I use a rigid rod as
an attachment member instead of a string, and the dispenser takes the form of a
capsule. This version works better with a screw cap as the closure member, as opposed
to the bottle cap of Figure A. You see, during removal of the bottle cap of Figure A with
a conventional bottle opener, the bottle cap is deformed by the bottle opener. This isn’t
a concern when the attachment member is a string, since the string is flexible. But the
deformation of the bottle cap may cause a rod to snap. Anyway, in Figure D, the
closure member is a screw cap, which isn’t deformed when removed, so the string and
the rigid rod work equally well. I also have developed a prototype where the dispenser is
fitted directly to the cap, so a rod or string or other such structure would not be required.
Patent Agent: You are making me thirsty. Can your invention be used with other
beverages and other condiments?
Inventor: Yes, in fact my brother and sister are great examples. They both like non-
alcoholic cocktail mixes that come in a variety of plastic and glass bottles. She always
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Paper A – 2016 Transcript
adds Tabasco brand hot sauce to her drink whereas he does not. My invention would
make them both happy, because they would each unscrew the plastic cap from the
bottle and remove the cap, which causes the dispenser to exit the bottle through the
opening. Then my sister can break open the capsule and add the hot sauce, whereas
my brother doesn’t need to. In fact, he can give her his capsule, which would remain
attached to his cap via the rod, and she can enjoy twice the spiciness!
Patent Agent: Sounds great but what are the manufacturing costs like?
Inventor: You are correct to imply that manufacturing costs are higher than for a
conventional bottle, but the method for assembling the container is actually pretty neat.
In fact, we have a few options available for the manufacturing process. You can start
with really any receptacle and any complementary closure member – they can be the
same bottles and caps that manufacturers are already working with. You can fill the
bottle with the beverage, and fill the dispenser with the condiment. Then, you secure
the dispenser to the cap. Next, you insert the dispenser into the receptacle and
subsequently close off the opening of the receptacle by mounting the cap. You can
then ship or store the bottle.
Patent Agent: How do you secure the dispenser to the cap?
Inventor: So far we have found that the best way to do it is with an adhesive. We glue
one end of the string to the dispenser, and the second end to the inside of the cap.
We’ve found a great food-safe glue that we use for this. In the version we plan to sell,
the second end of the string is glued to the bottom or inside surface of the cap. But we
did experiment with a version where the second end was glued to the top or outside
surface of the cap, and then the string came down along the side of the cap and passed
under the cap into the bottle. This actually made manufacturing a bit simpler, but we
were concerned that this would make the product easier to tamper with, so for now we
have chosen to proceed with the string glued to the bottom surface of the cap.
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Paper A – 2016 Transcript
Patent Agent: Interesting…
Inventor: And we also have another way of doing it, where we insert the dispenser into
the receptacle, and then secure it to the cap.
Patent Agent: How does that work?
Inventor: Well, we glue the string to the dispenser, and then insert the dispenser into
the bottle. The free end of the string stays outside the bottle, so it can then be glued to
the cap at the end of the manufacturing process. Just like the other version, we can
then ship or store the bottle.
Patent Agent: Are there any other variants?
Inventor: Yes, I am going to tackle the problem of childhood obesity by reducing the
sugar content of beverages and instead placing the excess sugar in the capsule. That
way, the consumer would have the option of adding sugar by cracking the capsule and
adding the sugar to the base beverage before consuming it. While I expect many people
may add the sugar, the option of not adding it would be available, hopefully leading to a
healthier society.
Patent Agent: Is that everything?
Inventor: One more thing! I plan to make and sell bottled beverages, but I was
thinking that this could also be good for beverage containers that are sold empty. I
would really like to license this patent to companies that manufacture those types of
containers. Like for reusable water bottles or even a thermally insulated canister like a
Thermos brand canister. In fact, even the dispenser could be sold empty, so that the
user can fill it with whatever they want. Someone might want to fill their canister with
coffee in the morning before they go to work, and fill the dispenser with sweetener.
When they get to work, they can add as much sweetener to their coffee as they want.
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Paper A – 2016 Transcript
Patent Agent: Thank you for the information on your invention. I have everything I
need, and will prepare and file the application today. Oh, before you go, can you tell me
if you have done any prior art searching?
Inventor: Yes. I am aware of Documents D2 and D3. And I already told you about the
trade show – the brochure is labelled D1.
Patent Agent: Excellent. Oh by the way - don’t forget to bake a cake for your
daughter’s first birthday tomorrow!
Inventor: Thank you for the reminder! Please file the patent application today so that I
can enjoy the party tomorrow!
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Paper A – 2016 Drawings of Invention
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Paper A – 2016 Drawings of Invention
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Paper A – 2016 D1
ON-THE-GO BABY BOTTLE D1
Introducing the ON-THE-GO BABY BOTTLE – a simple, easy-to-use, all-in-one bottle
that stores powdered formula and water, so that they can be mixed on the go!
The ON-THE-GO BABY BOTTLE includes a standard bottle, a nipple with a built-in
formula d ispenser cup , and a cap for the d ispenser cup . Simply fill the bottle with
water, and fill the formula d ispenser cup with the powdered baby formula of your
choice (see figure 1). The formula d ispenser cup even has markings on it, so you can
add the amount of your choice! Then snap the cap onto the formula d ispenser cup (see
figures 2A and 2B). This seals the formula inside the formula d ispenser cup. Then
simply insert the sealed formula d ispenser cup into the bottle, while screwing the
nipple onto the bottle (see figure 3). Voila – the formula and water are stored separately
inside the bottle until you are ready to use them! When your baby is hungry, unscrew
the nipple from the bottle to remove the sealed formula d ispenser cup from the bottle.
Remove the cap from the formula d ispenser cup , and pour the formula from the
formula d ispenser cup into the water in the bottle (see figure 4). Next, screw the nipple
on to the bottle (with the cap set aside), and shake to mix (see figure 5). You are ready
to feed your baby!
The ON-THE-GO BABY BOTTLE is BPA free, and manufactured in Germany.
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Paper A – 2016 D1
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Paper A – 2016 D1
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Paper A – 2016 D2
United States Patent
Patent Number X,XXX,056
Corona et al.
Date of Patent September 21, 2010
_________________________________________________________________________________
Fruit Flavoring In The Image Of A Fruit Portion Stored With A Vessel
For Flavoring A Fluid
TECHNICAL FIELD
The field of this invention is devices associated with flavoring a
bottled beverage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross section of an artificial fruit portion, where the
artificial fruit portion is a wedge and comprises an elastic foam body
and a container containing fruit-flavored liquid.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a bottled beverage with the artificial fruit
portion of Figure 1 suspended outside the bottle by an external
fastener with a ring at one end.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the artificial fruit portion and external
fastener of Figure 2, wherein the artificial fruit portion is packaged
in a removable protective covering.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
One often wishes to use another liquid or flavoring with their
beverage, where it is undesirable or inconvenient to premix the liquid
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Paper A – 2016 D2
or flavoring with the beverage. As examples, there is lemon or milk
with tea, citrus fruit flavored liquids with soda or beer or water,
juices with alcoholic beverages, and the like.
The subject invention provides a combination of a beverage liquid in a
sealed vessel and a flavoring, such as an ancillary liquid or soluble
substance, accompanying the vessel in a convenient form for admixing
the flavoring with the beverage liquid upon opening the vessel.
When the flavoring is an ancillary liquid typically it is stored in a
container, that may be frangible or breakable or openable, and that is
connected to and separable from the container. Conveniently, the
container is housed in a foam housing, desirably in the image or form
of a portion of a fruit, including but not limited to a citrus fruit,
including but not limited to a lime or lemon wedge or slice. In such
examples, the container and housing may collectively be referred to as
an artificial fruit portion.
The artificial fruit portion is packaged outside the bottle, typically
removably attached to the top of the bottle cap, side of the bottle,
or bottle carrier or holder.
The container and housing may resemble any natural food or portion
thereof and contain any liquid, including flavoring.
The artificial lime wedge may also be replaced by a real lime, lemon
or other food that is packaged in a removable container or covering.
The natural lime, lemon, fruit or other food may be “dehydrated” or
“dried,” e.g., freeze-dried. It may be non-perishable or optionally
contain a preservative. It may be optionally supplemented with a
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Paper A – 2016 D2
container of flavored liquid. It may optionally contain fruit juice
from concentrate.
The liquid contents of the bottle may be beer, a soft drink (or soda),
tea, coffee, milk, water, a sports drink, fruit juice, an alcoholic
beverage and the like.
FIG. 1 is a cross section of an artificial fruit portion 100
(including but not limited to an artificial lime or lemon), including
a container 102 and a housing 104. The housing 104 is foam body that
encloses all or a portion of the container 102. The artificial fruit
100 typically represents only a portion of the artificial fruit,
including but not limited to a triangular lime wedge or lemon slice.
In this example, the container liquid 106 in the container 102 may be
real fruit juice (including but not limited to real lime juice),
artificial fruit juice (including but not limited to artificial lime
juice), fruit flavored liquid (including but not limited to lime
flavored liquid) or another desired liquid. The tip 110 (shown only in
Fig 1) of the container can be snapped off, to open the container 102.
The liquid 106 in the container liquid can then be squeezed out of the
container 102.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a beverage bottle 200 filled with liquid 201
and associated with artificial fruit portion 100. The artificial fruit
portion 100 is shown suspended outside the bottle 200 by fastener 202
with a loop 204 at one end. The fastener 202 is suspended outside the
bottle 200 by the loop 204, which encircles the neck of the bottle
200. The fastener may also be adhered or otherwise connected to the
outside of the bottle 200, for example adhered to the top of the
bottle cap 206.
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Paper A – 2016 D2
The artificial fruit portion 100 may also be fastened to the outside
of the bottle 200 or bottle cap 206 using a plastic wrap, shrink wrap,
cling wrap, plastic film, tape, glue, adhesive, a clip, snap, Velcro®,
cable tie, a mating member and the like.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the artificial fruit portion 100,
fastener 202, and loop 204, where the artificial fruit portion 100 is
packaged in a removable covering 300. The removable covering 300 may
be made of any convenient material including but not limited to clear,
translucent or opaque plastic. The removable covering 300 may be
vacuum-sealed and adhered to the fastener.
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Paper A – 2016 D2
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Paper A – 2016 D3
United States Patent
Patent Number X,XXX,979
Pellegrino et al.
Date of Patent October 17, 2009
____________________________________________________________________________________
Automatic Citrus Flavoring System for a Beverage
TECHNICAL FIELD
This application relates to beverages, and more specifically to a
system for automatically flavoring a beverage with citrus flavor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a cross section of a beverage bottle comprising a beverage
and an imitation citrus wedge. Inside the imitation citrus wedge is a
liquid vessel that releases its liquid contents, including but not
limited to lemon juice, into the beverage when the imitation citrus
wedge is lowered into the beverage, as shown in FIG. 1B.
FIG. 2A is a side view of the liquid vessel of Figures 1A and 1B, and
Figure 2B is a cross section of the liquid vessel of Figure 2A, taken
along line A-A in Figure 2A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Many popular beverages are served in a bottle, such as mineral water
or soft drinks. Such beverages are often enjoyed with a wedge of
citrus. Often, one purchases a bottle of mineral water in a store or
gets one from their refrigerator and does not have a natural lime or
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Paper A – 2016 D3
lemon wedge handy. For such situations it would be convenient to have
the lime or lemon packaged with the bottle.
The present invention provides an imitation citrus wedge, such as an
imitation lemon or lime wedge, that is stored inside the neck of a
beverage bottle. The imitation citrus wedge houses a liquid vessel
that automatically releases citrus juice into the beverage when the
bottle is opened and the imitation citrus wedge is pushed down into
the body of the bottle (e.g. with a finger).
FIG. 1A is a cross section of a beverage bottle 100 comprising a
beverage 102, such as mineral water, and an imitation citrus wedge
104. The imitation citrus wedge 104 can include but is not limited to
an artificial lime or lemon wedge.
Inside the imitation citrus wedge is a liquid vessel 106 comprising a
first member 108 and a second member 110. The liquid vessel 106
releases its liquid contents inside the imitation citrus wedge 104
when the imitation citrus wedge 104 is lowered into the beverage 102,
as shown in FIG. 1B and as described below. The liquid contents then
diffuse through the imitation citrus wedge 104 into the beverage 102.
For example, the imitation citrus wedge 104 may be made from a foam
through which the contents of the liquid vessel 106 may permeate.
As shown, the imitation citrus wedge 104 is typically initially in
contact with the inner surface of the neck 112 of the beverage bottle
100. The imitation citrus wedge 104 is compressed by the neck to keep
the first member 108 in sealed contact with the second member 110 to
prevent the liquid contents from escaping.
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Paper A – 2016 D3
In FIG. 1B, the imitation citrus wedge 104 has been lowered into the
beverage 102. For example, a user may press the imitation citrus
wedge 104 down into the beverage 102 using their finger. This
releases the pressure keeping the first member 108 in sealed contact
with the second member 110 (i.e the neck no longer squeezes the wedge
104 to keep the first member 108 and second member 110 in contact),
and allowing the first member 108 to separate from the second member
110. Typically, such separation is induced by a separating pressure
between the first member 108 and the second member 110. Such
separating pressure may be provided by any convenient method,
including a spring, including but not limited to a compression spring
or extension spring. When the first member 108 separates from the
second member 110, the contents of the liquid vessel 106 are released
into the imitation citrus wedge, and permeate through the imitation
citrus wedge 104 into the beverage.
FIG. 2A is a side view of the liquid vessel 106 FIGS. 1A and 1B. In
this embodiment, the liquid vessel 106 has a first member 108 and a
second member 110 joined by a hinge 114. Not shown in the figure is
the spring for applying a separating pressure between the first member
108 and second member 110. Such a spring may be associated with the
hinge 114. There may also be a compression spring between the first
member 108 and second member 110.
FIG. 2B is a cross section of the liquid vessel 106 of FIG. 2A taken
at section A-A of FIG. 2A. In order to form to form a liquid seal, the
second member 110 has a protuberance 116 along its entire perimeter
that fits into a mating channel 118 along the entire perimeter of the
first member 108.
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Paper A – 2016 D3