Page 32 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday October 26 1997 Plethora of new patents overloading system She built a better mousetrap but these days thafs just half the job By Maud S Beelman Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (DC) — American inventors still follow the advice of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door Marie Woodruff who holds the country’s newest mousetrap patent found her inspiration behind the office drink machine The research analyst for CPC International Inc a food company had long pondered the workings of the mousetrap For years she watched relatives on a farm in Pennsylvania set the traditional spring-loade- d rat and mousetraps “They've injured their pets on the farms Children have played with them and fingers have been snapped Even the mouse or the rodent itself got mutilated" Mrs Woodruff said She figured there must be a better way Then in 1995 while trying to fix the vending machine at work she looked behind it for the reset button and saw a sticky mousetrap “And on that sticky trap was just the leg of a rodent and I said ‘I've gut to do this”' “I made up a sketch and showed it to my husband He said ‘That's really good Marie you ought to do this”' she said by telephone from her Mountainside NJ home “And I said 'Gee how can I ever build a new mousetrap after all these years?”' 7 made up a sketch and showed it to my husband He said That's really good Marie you ought to do this ' And I said Gee how can I ever build a new mousetrap after all these years" is equivalent to the transition By Maud S Beelman Associated Press writer from the agricultural to the industrial age An increasingly large percentage of our work force makes its living simply off mental activity” WASHINGTON — It came to him in a dream Richard Chercton saw forests of trees being felled and shipped directly to a landfill He also saw two envelopes The next morning the California computer consultant picked up a business-siz- e envelope turned it around a few times and saw the future — a reversible envelope that companies could use for their monthly billings and customers for their return payments The idea was disarmingly simple but it was unique and useful enough for the US Patent and Trademark Office which awarded Chercton one of the 121697 patents granted last year Over the last five years the number of patent applications has increased about 6 percent a year said Edward Kazenske acting associate commissioner The creative burst has been fueled by a vibrant economy court rulings that strengthened patent security and extended patents to computer software and a greater awareness of the value of intellectual property protection in a global marketplace made smaller by the Internet But that burst of creativity has a price Increased filings coupled with budget cuts and staff reductions have led to unprecedented backlogs in both patents and copyrights Patent proposals that used to take about 18 months to review now take nearly a year longer while copyright registrations are completed in 18 weeks com- pared to six weeks in 1993 Mary beth Peters the registrar of copyrights told Congress this summer that compared to 1980 she had 25 percent fewer workers processing a workload that was 26 percent larger “This unacceptable time frame must be reduced otherwise the copyright system will collapse" Peters said m asking Congress for more money for next year Copyright filings are expected to grow even faster when an electronic registration system now being tested goes on line The more than 700000 works submitted for copyright in 1996 are just “the tip of the iceberg of of patents Applications for the first half of 1997 were up about 8 percent In the sectors of telecommunications and electronics which Americans have dominated patent applications have skyrocketed over the last two years growing about 17 percent a year Kazenske said The number of works submitted to the Library of Congress for copyright protection is also rising “There is a brain boom" said Bruce Lehman assistant commerce secretary and commissioner of patents “We are living in a period that The Patent and Trademark become the government's “cash Office said it had to cut by half the number of examiners it had hoped to hire this year because of budget restrictions and office cow" “This is the most critical thing facing the PTO (Patent and Trademark Office) right now bar none” said Kirk “Without the money you can’t hire the examiners and without the examiners you can't process the work” Allowed to continue the patent upgrades have been delayed Trough it deals daily with cuttin- technology proposals g-edge much of the work on the patent system remains onpaper 207-year-o- ld The patent office became in 1992 under legislation that required it to raise fees nearly 70 percent to replace taxpayer support of its budget But the same legislation also community argues the system ng allowed won’t be able to keep pace with technology and will become irrelevant Without patent protection for some of that increased revenue to go toward offsetting the federal budget deficit The amount diverted for budget reduction since fiscal year 1992 has increased annually and totals $142 million the proposed withholding for the fiscal year beginning Oct 1 is $92 million The patent office is supposed to gain control over its fee income starting in fiscal year 1999 Additionally a bill making its way through Congress would convert the office into a wholly owned government corporation giving it some operating and financing autonomy But a proposed spending cap on the office contained in pending legislation for the new fiscal year has the patent community worried that lawmakers have found another way to continue tapping what some believe has though inventors won't be able to secure the loans needed to start businesses and make products For now the strong economy still has businesses looking for ways to increase productivity said David Wyss research tor at direc- the DRIMcGraw-Hil- l nation's largest economic con- sulting firm “They are willing to sink more money into research” he said “Research fuels profits It's being able to mine those patents that has provided those companies a lot of the increase in profits” The growth of the economy and technology have become so intertwined that many agree with Kazenske that “the pace of technology is becoming an element driving the economy today intellectual property is becoming a force in the economy" creative America” Peters ANDERSON —Marie Woodruff Logan City Council Undeterred Mrs Woodruff applied for a patent in June 1995 and was awarded one April 1 — the most recent mousetrap patent granted since the Constitution enshrined the concept of protection for creative output to promote the progress of science and the arts The Patent and Trademark Office estimates it has granted about 350 mousetrap patents in the last two centuries but because its automated records go back only to 1971 only an exhaustive search of paper records would reveal the exact number Mrs Woodruff's mousetrap is a soft plastic tube closed at me end with a spring attachment at the open end that snaps shut after a mouse enters A gel capsule at the closed end of die tube contains an attractant to lure the mouse or rodent into the tube Not only is the mouse not mutilated but a breathing hole on the tube allows it to live “so you can release the rodent if you're squeamish” Mrs Woodruff said “And the rodent is concealed from view That's what I didn't like I didn't like seeing them lying on the trap And it keeps the odor inside the tube” At less than $225 for three of the disposable traps Mrs Woodruff thinks her mousetrap could be a real seller But she hasn't decided yet whether to market the patent or make the mousetrap on her own Considering that about 90 percent of patents never make it to profit fellow independent inventor Richard Chercton of Pacific Grove Calif says marketing the product is almost more important than creating it “You can have a better mousetrap and 100 years ago the world would beat a path to your door” said the inventor of a reversible envelope who is negotiating a production deal with a California envelope maker “In today's world if you have a better mousetrap you better have a better mousetrap company' jA legend of Leadership Sample Ballot Initial Official Ballot for Smithfield City Utah November 4 1997 PltMy I mo futlj anardv INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS: To vote for a candidate place a cross (X) in the square following the name(s) of the pcnon(s) you favor as the candidate) for each respective office r OOD&dtainiHM W0 OtiUQ- - toWmtfto'toifhBsnte (WMIrtMMnQ SALE 8- - SERTAPEDIC reg SALE SALE reg SERTAPEDIC SERTAPEDIC JUBILEE LUXURY SUPERIOR-P1LLOWSOF- T 169 199 Twin Size ea pc Full Size ea pc Queen Size 2 pc set King Size 3 pcset 439 649 PERFECT SLEEPER ARDMORE PERFECT SLEEPER ULTRA PREMIUM PILLOWTOP PERFECT SLEEPER ARTIST PILLOWSOPT Twin 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