United States: As Read In IP Watchdog: Dan Ovanezian, Scott Breining Secure Patent For Pro Bono Inventor Client

PALO ALTO, CALIF.—Dan Ovanezian and Scott Breining in Palo Alto recently helped an inventor obtain a long-sought patent that he previously had been unable to obtain.

The project came to Ovanezian and Breining through the firm's work with California Lawyers for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that serves as the statewide administrator for the California Inventors Assistance Program. The inventor, Bill Carpenter, had created a method for treating wastewater comprising a multi-chambered tank with concentric baffles to more efficiently and consistently provide a breakdown of waste.

However, due to limited funding, Carpenter was not able to hire a patent lawyer initially and filed his own patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That application ultimately was rejected, even after Carpenter hired a lawyer.

CIAP agreed to take his case, and Ovanezian and Breining agreed to help. They reviewed his materials and created a new description that would clearly differentiate his invention from the prior art patents. They also convinced a patent examiner to take another look at the patent and Carpenter's patent officially was granted on Dec. 5, 2017. Ovanezian and Breining even worked with the USPTO to waive fees that normally would be associated with a request for continued examination.

Carpenter said, "[i]f it was not for them [Dan Ovanezian and Scott Breining], and California Lawyers for the Arts, I would have lost three years of long hard work and any possibility of continuing with the prosecution of the patent. Not only did Ovanezian and Breining produce excellent work on a very timely basis, my patent was issued amazingly fast. I definitely could never have done this without California Lawyers for the Arts and Womble Bond Dickinson."

Click here to read Ovanezian and Breining's first-person account of the Bill Carpenter patent representation at IP Watchdog.

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