Boston Patent Numbers Remain High in Final Quarter of 2012

BOSTON, MA (01/31/2013)(readMedia)-- Hoffman Warnick LLC (HW), an intellectual property law firm with offices in Boston, Albany and Rochester, has released the Boston Patent Index for Fourth Quarter of 2012. The "Boston Patent Index" includes patent issuances to inventors and companies residing within the Boston Metro Area*.

Following the continuing trend in the Boston Metro Area, the total number of patent issuances increased year-on-year in the Fourth Quarter of 2012, with a total number of 1,375. This represents an increase over the Fourth Quarter of 2011 (1,227), and a slight decrease from the Third Quarter of 2012 (1,424). The number of published patent applications (1,581) dropped from the Fourth Quarter of 2011 (1,730) and the Third Quarter of 2012 (1,735). Published patent applications are an indicator of patent filings within the last two years, as patent applications are traditionally published 18 months after filing.

"The final 2012 Quarterly Index illustrates to us that patent filings in Boston remained strong over the last several years. Issued patent numbers reflect patent applications that were filed within the last handful of years or so, meaning many of the issued patents in the Fourth Quarter of 2012 Index were filed between 2008 and 2010. I believe we can take this as an indicator that the Boston region has kept its faith in innovation as a driver of economic growth," states Matthew B. Pinckney, a patent attorney in Hoffman Warnick's Boston Office.

The "Patent of the Quarter" was awarded to Schlumberger Technology Corporation (a client of HW) and the Trustees of Boston University, for US Patent Number 8,339,897, entitled, "Automatic Dispersion Extraction of Multiple Time Overlapped Acoustic Signals." Three out of the four inventors on this patent are from the Boston Metropolitan Area.

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.

* - The Boston Metro Area is defined for the purposes of this index as those counties/zip codes located within the Interstate 95/Route 128 corridor. All individuals and companies having at least one inventor residing within this Area, or a registration address within this Area, were part of the Boston Patent Index.