1154 EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS 



Patents on methods or processes for geophysical surveying ordinarily 

 fall under the general classification of an art as defined in the patent laws of 

 the United States. 



The patent laws of foreign countries vary somewhat, and no attempt 

 will be made here to deal with such. There is no international bureau or 

 central world ofiice where a world-wide patent may be secured. Each 

 country has its own patent system, and a separate application must be filed 

 in each foreign country where protection is desired. 



In the United States a patent is obtained by filing a formal application, 

 which is usually followed by what is termed the prosecution. Prosecution 

 includes the official examination and actions by the Patent Office Examiner, 

 to which a response is made by the applicant's attorney, after which, if the 

 subject matter presented and claimed is new, useful and involves invention 

 over prior art, the Patent Office will send a formal notice of allowance, 

 and upon payment of a final fee the patent will issue. 



A patent application consists of (1) a specification, which is somewhat 

 comparable to the usual technical article, describing and preferably illus- 

 trating at least one embodiment of the invention, (2) an oath and (3) a 

 set of claims attached to the specification which define in general or 

 specific language the improvement or invention which the applicant believes 

 to be novel. The claims mark out the legal boundaries of the patent. They 

 may be revised during the prosecution of the case as may be necessary or 

 desirable. The majority of applications are filed through an attorney, in 

 which case a pozver of attorney accompanies the application when it is filed. 



The examining procedure is necessarily time-consuming, and there may 

 normally be a lapse of two to four years between the filing date of the 

 application (the date it is received at the patent office), and the issuance of 

 the patent. More time may be consumed if more than one inventor files 

 on the same patentable subject matter, in which case the Patent Office 

 conducts an interference proceeding, which is equivalent to a trial to 

 determine who was the first inventor. 



Inventors may, and some do, file and prosecute their own applications, 

 but this is not recommended, for while the inventor may be an expert on 

 the technical phases of the subject matter, there are many legal aspects to 

 patent law which require the experience and training of a patent attorney. 

 Anyone interested ma}' obtain pamphlets dealing with the patent laws, 

 rules of practice and Patent Office procedure by writing to the Commis- 

 sioner of Patents, Washington, D.C. 



No rights are conferred on the inventor before the issuance of his 

 patent. The words patent applied for or the equivalent, appearing on a 

 piece of apparatus, constitute merely an unofficial notice that the inventor is 

 seeking a patent. 



A patent expires at the end of seventeen years after the date of its 

 grant, and the subject matter thereof is open to use by the public. 



The philosophy upon which the government grants a patent monopoly 



