PowerPatent Hosts Free Webinar for Independent Inventors: How Computerized Tools Can Help Inventors Handle Upcoming Revisions to Americas Patent Laws


Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) September 19, 2012

PowerPatent, the company that empowers entrepreneurs and innovators to protect their intellectual property, is hosting a free webinar for inventors and entrepreneurs who are considering ways to cost-effectively patent their intellectual property.

Titled The AIA First-To-File Law: How Computerized Tools Can Help Inventors Handle Upcoming Revisions to Americas Patent Laws, the webinar is a great opportunity to learn how important revisions to the America Invents Act (AIA) will change how and when inventors should file their patents. The webinar will also discuss patent search techniques and software that can help inventors quickly prepare high quality provisional applications for their inventions.

Under the AIA, the United States is changing from a first to invent patent system to a first inventor to file patent system. This change in filing will take effect in March 2013, and has implications that will require inventors and businesses to update their patent development and filing strategies.

Webinar details

Over the course of one hour, nationally known patent attorney Bao Tran and Mark Reyland, executive director of the UIA, will examine the new law and assess what steps entrepreneurs should take to ensure their patent strategy maximizes protection of their ideas. For an inventors perspective, Dr. Phi Nguyen of MIBA Medical Inc. will share what he learned to cost-effectively develop a robust IP portfolio for his start-up company.

Some of the items well cover:

1. First to invent vs. first inventor to file: whats the difference in practical terms?

2. What is rules development and what is the official position of the USPTO in that process?

3. Best practices for using inventor notebooks in light of the new law.

4. Tips to determine which patents to file and the best way to file them using free search tools.

5. How technology can reduce the cost of writing and filing provisional patent applications.

When: Friday, September 21, 2012, 4:00 PM PDT. Register here:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2467300039746569216

About PowerPatent

PowerPatent Inc. is a privately held software applications company headquartered in Silicon Valley. Our companys products are designed and developed by a team of legal, software, user experience, and Web design professionals.

Our mission is to democratize the intellectual property (IP) ecosystem. Our tools provide a cost-efficient framework for inventors to participate in the IP system and be recognized and rewarded for their ingenuity. For more information, visit http://www.powerpatent.com, follow us @powerpatent on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.







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Fortressing Against the Upcoming Hurricane Season: Building a Modular Home on Cape Cod


Westport, MA (PRWEB) June 18, 2012

During hurricane season, vacation homes along the shore can take a terrible beating from wind and waves. In recent years, the government agency FEMA has determined how we must engineer our homes in each area of the country to ensure quality standards. FEMA has also divided the U.S. shore regions into zones that include especially stringent requirements for home construction. FEMA regulations always supersede local zoning.

But one particular new home, whose construction was initiated this spring, is in whats called the North Zone, the worst wind zone in the Northeast. This area blankets the entire lower arm of Cape Cod because storms here can be very severe with wind loads of 120mph, or more. The Perfect Storm is a perfect example, but not the only example of the battering these stretches of beach have endured. The law requires that structural framing of shore house in this zone must be engineered to resist winds of this magnitude. The owner of this particular property, a doctor with a family including several young children, chose to go with a Modular Architect just to be sure his home was as strong as possible. Modular designs are thought to be stronger than traditionally built homes because modular construction has redundancy in the framing where the sections fit together. One of these fits is called the marriage wall, which is a sheer wall that inherently resists sideways forces of wind.

The chosen architect, Douglas Cutler A.I.A., founder of Modular Architecture in Wilton, CT, also engineered and designed this vacation home with impact resistant windows to keep the residents safe from shattering glass in the event that they were unable to evacuate before a storm. If the home is, hopefully, unoccupied, these windows will also protect the furnishings from wind and water damage.

Waves and Flooding

The government, in an effort to gain support for the new construction rules, has studied paths of hurricanes and determined minimum floor levels above high tide lines. They also determined how strong foundations must be in order resist wave action. When the doctor of the Cape Cod Modular decided to replace the existing bungalow on his property, the replacement floor had to be built 10 feet higher than the previous floor. The higher the floor, the less waves can chew away at it.

The foundation, too, is literally a pillar of strength. Douglas Cutler designed a series of 18 concrete piers, each one 12 feet high that come vertically out of the ground. The pillars are about 18 inches square, poured with 500 lb. reinforced concrete and adhered to the grade beam horizontal which lies 3.6 feet below the finished grade. The home is then placed above these pillars. This is code for the pillar depth and height in this area and even though there may be local regulations limiting the height of home. Once again, FEMA regulations always supersede local zoning for safety purposes.

Calm Weather Advantages of Modular

The doctors family wanted a vacation home with spectacular views. Douglas Cutler designed them a modular home that turns tradition on its head sleeping rooms on the bottom, living area on the top so that the family can take advantage of the breathtaking views from about 30 feet off the ground. On a clear day they will be able to see Marthas Vineyard and Cuttyhunk.

This Cape Cod home, set earlier this Spring, should be completed by midsummer 2012 right in time for hurricane season. The furniture will be moved in and the lobsters will be served, dripping with butter on one of the beautiful decks. There are carports beneath the piers, 4 bedrooms with 3 baths, decks and an open floor plan on the top. The lot is small, 1/4 acre or less which makes it ideal for building a modular home.

The differences between building a modular home and traditional stick-built construction can be confusing, but just remember that custom modular is simply a hybrid form of construction, says Douglas Cutler. The foundation is built conventionally but the rest is built in a factory except for the detailing In order to meet code and get the safest home available, designed to resist the main natural forces that exist, the architect must always lead in the planning. When is comes to strength, beauty and the latest amenities, home buyers and builders will have a super advantage if they call their modular architect first.

Learn more about Douglas Cutler Architects and their award winning modular designs at http://www.modulararchitecture.com