Why KISS will save you CA$H

Until (and perhaps after) the dust settles, keeping your patent strategy simple is likely to be the most cost effective approach. As we all recognize, this is a period of turmoil in the US patent environment. Keeping track of the rules of the game when the Supreme Court, USPTO, and Congress are all making changes puts quicksand under our feet as we plot our patent strategies. By making our patent applications sharply focused on the individual, core innovations that make up our invention we can avoid the risks and costs of trying to comply with some of the uncertain rules either in place or on the table for discussion.

Consider, for example, the new USPTO rules limiting the number of continuation applications you can have in one family. In the past, when you made improvements to your invention, you might choose to file a continuation-in-part with at least one claim overlapping the subject matter of the original application (to gain benefit of the earlier priority date). With the new rules in place, you might not want to "use up" your limited number of continuation applications this way. Instead you might just file a new application with no overlapping claims, understanding that your published application will be prior art.

Similarly, many patentees have intentionally filed "omnibus" applications into which they have packed every new aspect of their invention, knowing full well that they will want to chop it up into divisional applications later. Again, this may no longer be the best approach since the number of divisional applications you can file by right depends on the actions of the USPTO. The alternative of filing several simple, "one invention" applications may serve you better.

If you still don't think you are going to have to pay an attorney significant dollars to help you navigate the new rules with a complicated patent strategy, see the 63 page FAQ document. on the patent office web site. We are sometimes our own worst enemy when we try to be "too clever by half". At least for now, KISS.