OCR Text |
Show To submit mm ; j rt LJ a press release, announce a busmess or comment on Utah busTCounty ness, call Business Editor Travis jacobsen during normal business hours at l fetfJ fi HI j .- 2H PTl fiS f7 -- I SJ vSS Cg 13 FZl 5? f ft-- 1 ill 7 C2 C2D " The Daily Herald Monday, December 4,1995 ' i calls off i i walkou 17-mon- th For many investments, '95 will be hard to beat Workers spurn company offer Here's a thought to keep your expectations from getting too high as you make your sav- By CHRISTOPHER WILLS Associated Press Writer After a PEORIA, III. strike that ended with the union relenting and nothing gained, Caterpillar workers will he going hack to work under a contract proposal they rejected in a last symbolic swipe. ings and investment plans for the coming year: All three major categories of th financial assets bonds and r "I think the company's in complete control." striker Jim Schmidt said. "We have to accept defeat." For its part. Caterpillar said all striking employees will be allowed to return to work, just not right away. The company said it may take days or weeks to sort out who will go where and what will happen to replacement workers. Union members at nine plants in Illinois, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Tennessee voted Saturday and Sunday on the contract, which resembled offers made before the strike and rejected And strikers said many began. they consider it insulting. The contract would limit job security, create lower six-ye- 1995 performance. This forecast isn't based on any gloomy v iew of the economy. It simply reflects the reality that the year now draw ing to a close, an unusually generous one for investors, will be a tough act to follow. Through the first 10 months of 1995, one commonly accepted gauge of stock-markk action. Standard & Poor's composite index, racked up a return of just under 30 percent. That's almost double its average annual return over the past decade of a little more than 15 percent, as calculated by Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. The Lehman Brothers aggregate bond index returned better than 15 percent from Jan. through Oct. 31, more than I 12 times its average return over the past decade of 9.91 percent. The stretch from the s to the mid-199has itself been an unusually good one for both stocks and bonds, encompassing a period of falling interest rates and improving internationally competitiveness for the U.S. econo- IN OUPv AP Photo sign urges union members to vote down the proposed contract with Caterpillar Inc., at the United Auto Workers Local 974 meeting at A Bradley University in Peoria, wage scales for some workers, limit union activity and give the company more power to schedule odd working hours without paying overtime. The proposal also does not require Caterpillar to rehire employees the union feels were fired illegally. The company's offer "was turned down by a large majority of members," UAW leaders said in a statement. "I'm ashameu that the company would do this to us. as hard as we've worked for them." said Jack Feltmever. an employee for 30 ears. The employees, who have not had a contract since 1991. struck ar Karl Cannon June 21, 1994, to protest unfair labor practices at the world's largest maker of heavy equipment. The National Labor Relations Board has issued more than 80 complaints against the 1 company. All of the more than 14.000 UAW members eligible to strike walked out initially, but only 8,700 remained on the picket line at the end. About 4.100 have returned to work, and others have retired. Strikers have lost about $32,000 each in wages. This is the second time in recent years the union has called off a national strike against In April Caterpillar. fif , Jfl Qg; J Patent Pending published for all to see and learn from. As soon as the patent term expires, anyone may legally make, use or sell the invention by following the patent specification. Thereby, the public interest has been promoted. In effect, a patent is an agreement between the government and The government the inventor. to protect the inv ention for agrees a' limited time. In exchange, the inventor agrees to publish the details of the invention. The inv entor also agrees not to exploit public markets or forums for more than one year before filing a patent application. The inventor gets the benefit of exclusive rights for a limited time, and the public gets the benefit of free access to the inv ention after the patent expires. In this manner, the public is actually a partner to ongoing research and development. Anyone may claim their share in this extensive R&D effort bv conducting a patent search of tax-payi- 1992. the patents. Anyone may make, use or sell the inventions described in expired patents. In addition, anyone may exploit any product or process for which a patent application was not filed within one year from its first public use, disclosure or sale. time limit may The one-yeseem harsh, but not in comparison with the patent laws in foreign countries. Most commercially significant foreign countries do not permit a grace period but require instead. "absolute novelty" Absolute novelty typically means that a patent application must be Filed before any public use or disclosure of tht invention. A sale is usually construed as a public disclosure. Inventors and businesses who desire to patent their inventions in foreign countries must comply with the absolute novelty expired ar standard. One Utah inventor learned this the hard w ay by show ing his product at a trade show. Although he filed a patent application within one year to obtain U.S. patent protection, his public activity at the trade show barred most of his foreign patent rights. Unfortunately, a large part of his intended market included foreign countries. He could have preserved his foreign patent rights by simply filing the patent application before the trade show. Instead, competitors may now legally copy and sell his invention in most foreign countries. If a new product is successful in the U.S.. it may also succeed in foreign markets. One way to increase revenue, therefore, is to sell products overseas. Or. patent applicants may simply license their foreign patent rights for a fee to companies interested in promoting the product in foreign coun TECHNOLOGY BUT ON THE OTHER WHAT HAND, IttTHEWOST OF ENGINEERS ATTRACTIVE DO YOU WHO HAS ATTENTtON THIS YEAR. FEMALE PAIO TO XOU 1 UAW ended a strike after Caterpillar threatened to permanently replace strikers. The recent strike was an extension of that dispute. Some strikers said the hostile terms under which they are returning could leave the door open for even more turmoil, especially since they will be with peoworking ple who abandoned the strike, people they consider scabs. "We're just going to have to keep our mouths shut." said employee Pail Dabbs. "But if they summarily start firing people left and right, they're going to have trouble. We're not iioina to roll over." 10-ye- ar mid-1980- side-by-si- my. So 1996 will also have to be unusually favorable for stocks and bonds just to keep them at or close to their recent pace. Yields on interest-bearin- g 24-ye- ar market money investments have hovered in the 5 percent to 6 percent range through 1994. That's about average for the past 10 years performance of this most conservative of the asset classes, w hich is exemplified by Treasury bills and money market mutual funds. But most expectations are for the Federal Reserve to ease credit conditions in the months ahead, encouraging short-terinterest rates to decline. So it would be no surprise at all if patent applications timeiy-file- d In order to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, the patent act encourages prompt filing of patent applications by time limit. imposing the one-yeIn addition, the act requires patent holders to provide a detailed description of how to make and use the inv ention. When a patent is granted, the detailed description is rS The III., Sunday. workers voted down Caterpillar's offer yesterday, but union leaders ended the strike and called all union members back to work today. See story for more details. tries. Rule of thumb: File for a patent first, then market the invention. Otherwise, you run the risk of waiving what may turn out to be significant foreign patent rights. m A'7 Cannon is a rcxiswrcd patent attorney with the law linn of R. NORTH THORPE. & W ESTERN money-mark- in Sandy. The firm speeiali:es in patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition and related matters. This column appears every two weeks in the Monday investments et returned less by early 1996 than they do now. ave'-ugresults from any finan- cial market indefinitely. A more modest return, however, would still be beneficial if the recent trend of inflation continues. The cost of living in this country has lately been advancing at a rate of about 3 percent a year or less, and it may slow further. That leaves a "real" (inflation-adjusted) return on all catthat bring in as of assets egories little as 4 percent or 5 percent after taxes. It creates a favorable climate for paper investments, furthermore, by keeping inflationary pressures down in the competing markets for tangibles such as precious metals and real estate. Another factor to consider: 1996 is a presidential election year, w hich usually means pretty benign conditions for the markets. Of all the serious bear markets for stocks over the past quarter-centur- 1981-8- 1990. v 1973-7- 2. 1969-7- 4. iys7. 0 none occurred in a presidential election year. And although the markets are hardly at bargain-basemen- t levels, investors determined to search for neglected opportunities still have some places to look. A couple of areas sure to be suggested by main adv isers: International and global stock mutual funds, which have lagged behind domestic funds for two years now. and municipal bonds and muni-bon- d have been funds, which bv talk a of down posweighed sible overhaul of the nation's tax system. edition o'The Daily Herald. Questions or comments can he directed to Cannon at (SOI) 566-663- 120 118 116 114 ,112 EMU 110 108 WEATHERLINE " iuu r luec. ju. ism A A 'i Tl The indivi- vrag dual invettw portfolio fo S619 last wek and s now worth M0 204 Chance in alue E3II Hit week ago 1.03 year ago 20 60 - 106 NYSE 134 46 ASEOTC Equity Funds 141 32 '26 09 102 tlcDnihHcrnlO ,100 98'' Information and Forecasts - 24 Hours 1 1629 18.28 Taxable 11542 Municipal 116 25 071 1 69 Bona Funds 11387 ,071 14.25 Li192,J CDs 10505 102.73 010 5 49 0 06 2 95 Real Estale 110.58 Gold 104 36 0.65 2.95 Money Funds sum D J 1994 M AM J 1995 JASON 1 1 .44 383 'The value ot the avcaye investor s portfolio is determined by dividing the total assets held by Amenrans Ivy the numbei ol U S adults 344-600- 0 Sawces O.i'i S.iie Mcmoi II f ,i.ai Roservs Investment Company Institute Lehman Bros lpper Analytical Services lv"rfi K'cnfi funa Report Morgan Stanley Capital International National Association ot Real Estate ln.psm,vi! TtusK P'utwntiai Asset Management Standard & Poor s Robert Stangei & Co World Gold Cunoi ... Market roundup magazine via AP Market highlights 12 months: Daily Dow !1A M3 - 1 .. MONEY Jones closes Week endina December 1. 1995 5200 i 5037.13 5000 El 4800 pLUiiSJ iTnij 5220 5 100 -j--H 4600 38.29 4400 ! fur llir ending I t id.n. DiTinilur 56 38 41 43.02 27 88 123 372 104 li'niK'ra(uri' and hirecasl rccordi'd h 4,920 4200 M T I 4000 -- yM-, By Scott Adams PRODUCTS... By John Cunniff AP Business Analyst 500-stoc- DILBERT INFEMOR Business Mirror et Inch. 5.105.56 Vim in i .'v v ON ONE HMD W COWANS OOE.5U5E hard-press- in 1996 to match their Patentability requires When it conies to protecting an invention, what you don't know can hurt you. For example, in the U.S., a patent application for an invention must be filed within one year from the first public, use. disclosure or sale of the invention. Otherw ise, patent rights on the invention are forfeited under section 102 of the Patent Act. The invention enters the public domain, and anyone may legally copy and sell the invention without compensating the inventor. Some businesses and inventors have unwittingly barred themselves from U.S. patent rights simply because they did not know about section 102. The scenario can be quite unfortunate. For example, suppose a business launches a new product. After a year or two. sales are so prosperous that competitors begin to copy the product. The business consults a patent attorney and is shocked to learn that it's "too late to file a patent application. The business has inadvertently donated its invention to the public by failing to file a patent application soon enough. In such cases, thousands, and sometimes millions, of dollars have been lost. These "statutory bars" illustrate the policy behind the patent laws. The policy is to promote generally the progress of science and useful the technology, for the benefit of entire public. This policy is derived from the "patent and copyright clause" of the U.S. Constitution, Article I. section 8. clause 8. which reads: "Congress shall have the power ... to promote the progress of science and iiselul arts, by granting for limited times to authors and inventors the excluwril-insi- s sive right to their respective and discoveries." will be investments "Save your dignity." one worker shouted during weekend voting. "It's about all you've cot left." The 8,700 remaining Caterpillar strikers in four states turned thumbs down on the proposal after being told by United Auto Workers leadership Sunday to go back to work no matter what the outcome. Union officials offered no explanation for their decision to call off the strike, but it has been clear the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment has been able to set record profits with a combination of strikers who crossed picket lines, temporary workers and new hires. stocks, et money-mark- Nowhere is it decreed that must follow these scripts. All the financial markets are prone to pulling surprises on everybody, and especially on the people who think they understand what's going on. But veterans of the game say it isn't wise to expect above-- " events fT95 11 I 4 1 95 7.1 95 101 '95 12 months: Daily S&P 500 KINO I W T F Day '3800 DOWilm.luMri.iNl 1196 closes NYSE 625 600 &P500 575 THINK WE ARE.?? 550 606.98 PICTURES OF YOUR FIELD SUPPORT 525 7.01 DO YOU HAVE 500 fur tlir vmk rnilinu Krnl.iv Om-mlH- 475 I S&PMidCap '450 PEOPLE? All tunc hivli: V, ., 6II7.M m(,l AMEX 'A 425 1 1 95 4'195 71.95 10195 1196 AP St NASDAQ AP |