2015 Neowin post cited as "Prior Art" in a patent application

[+Warwagon MVC]

I got this PM from a person who just joined Neowin today. At first I thought it was spam until I read it and looked into it.

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Hi Warwagon,

 

I'm a paralegal working for a patent law firm, and just came across a post you made in 2015 (concerning scanning of Walmart receipts) cited as "Prior Art" in a patent application.  This is the first time I've ever seen a forum post cited, pretty cool!

 

Anyways, no need to reply or follow up. I'm a forum user myself and just thought you'd enjoy seeing this. If you want to check out where your post was cited, go to the USPTO's Public Pair website and search for the application number 16/100,710. Then, in the "Image File Wrapper" tab, open the "Non-Final Rejection" of May 15, 2020.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

So I looked it up and found the PDF of the application ... on page 13 under prior art I found this ..

 It was referencing this post

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Ha...that is pretty cool.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I did hear back from him .. I wrote him back and said / asked "That is interesting. So what exactly does that mean? other than being cool it's referenced."

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Good question!

 

A patent application can be rejected for a number of reasons, but most commonly is rejected when the Examiner finds that "Prior Art" exists which makes the new invention already obvious to someone who is "skilled in the art". Essentially, if there's evidence that the invention isn't completely new, it won't be granted a patent.

 

 The cited "Prior Art" is almost always other patent documents; these can be domestic, foreign, successfully patented inventions, and even unsuccessful "abandoned" patent applications. However, Examiners aren't limited to patent documents when searching for "Prior Art" and are allowed to cite "non-patent literature" (NPL) if they believe it shows that the invention of the application is already public knowledge. Occasionally, I've seen examiners cite academic journals and instruction manuals as NPL.

 

 

 This particular Examiner, however, cited your 2015 forum post as "Prior Art" evidence that the invention in the application, which concerns QR codes on receipts, is (at least partly) already in existence.

 

 It doesn't really mean anything besides just being cool to be referenced, but seeing a forum post referenced is, in my experience, exceedingly rare.

 In short, it doesn't mean all that much, but hopefully gives you a good story to tell at your next (probably virtual) cocktail hour!