First Quarter Tech Valley Patenting Sky Rockets with National Quarterly Record

ALBANY, NY (04/06/2010)(readMedia)-- Hoffman Warnick LLC (HW), an intellectual property law firm based in Albany, NY, has released the Tech Valley Patent Indices for First Quarter 2010. 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 and most of the other Hoffman Warnick Tech Valley Patent Indices were up significantly compared to last quarter, rising with a huge increase in the national number of issued patents" stated Spencer Warnick, partner at Hoffman Warnick. Warnick added that: "the rise in the number of issued patents across all of the indices, except one, may be attributable to a change in attitude at the US Patent Office created by new Director David Kappos, a former IBM Chief IP Counsel. Most notably, the national number set a record for the number of patents issued since we started tracking in 2001. It is up almost 13,000 patents compared to the first quarter of last year, a very welcome sign of progress for the Patent 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. 7669753 issued to Thomas West for a "Box Flap Locking System." The patent issued March 2, 2010. The patent is assigned to Norampac Schenectady, which is a client of Hoffman Warnick.

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.