1st Quarter Patenting Holds Steady

ALBANY, NY (04/25/2011)(readMedia)-- Hoffman Warnick LLC (HW), an intellectual property law firm based in Albany, NY, has released the Tech Valley Patent Indices for First Quarter 2011. The "Tech Valley Patent Indices" include data for: the Capital Region (Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties), Tech Valley, Tech Valley without IBM and GE, and the Capital Region without GE.

In the first quarter, "the Tech Valley Patent Index was up again compared to last quarter, while the Capital Region numbers were down slightly" stated Spencer Warnick, partner at Hoffman Warnick. Warnick added that: "I don't believe the slightly lower numbers are anything to worry about for the Capital Region. Most likely a mild beginning of the year slow down within the US Patent and Trademark Office."

The "Patent of the Quarter" is chosen to illustrate firsthand the creativity of Tech Valley inventors. This quarter, the POQ is awarded to: US Patent No. 7889317 issued to Toshiharu Furukawa, Mark Hakey, Steven Holmes, David Horak, and Peter Mitchell for "immersion lithography with equalized pressure on at least projection optics component and wafer." The patent issued February 15, 2011. The patent is assigned to IBM, which is a client of Hoffman Warnick. This patent illustrates the research going on at the International Sematech and UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Many of the inventors are IBM employees that have moved to the area from elsewhere to work at the centers.

To obtain a pdf of this quarter's Patent Index, please e-mail hwemail@hoffmanwarnick.com or visit www.hoffmanwarnick.com.

About Hoffman Warnick LLC: Hoffman Warnick LLC is an intellectual property law firm focusing on biotechnology, nanotechnology, computers and software, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and materials engineering. Hoffman Warnick is committed to providing the highest quality services including: domestic and international property rights procurement, dispute resolution, and licensing.