An Exercise for the Reader and the Author

• Author: Ronald D. Slusky
• Pages: 345-350

APPENDIX B

An Exercise for the Reader—

and the Author

Here is an invention-analysis exercise involving the invention of the

backspace key. The reader can use this exercise to try out the invention-

analysis techniques presented in the book—begin from the problem,

draft a problem-solution statement, and then hone it to a sharp edge by

trying it on for size and making changes as needed to make it as broad

as possible without reading on the prior art. If it is not clear whether

some particular feature of the disclosed embodiment should be regarded

as being in the prior art, the reader should make an assumption one way

or the other and go from there.

The exercise is followed by a transcript of the author’s thought pro-

cesses when working the exercise himself. It is presented in the first person

and the present tense to accentuate the stream-of-consciousness thought pro-

cess that plays such a big role in invention analysis. Presenting the author’s

answer in this way will hopefully impart some feel for how the iterative pro-

cess of hypothesizing a problem-solution statement and trying it on for size

can actually play out.

The reader’s train of thought and ultimate conclusions will be dif-

ferent from the author’s. Seeing the invention in different ways, how-

ever, is an important facet of claim diversity.1 Much will depend on what

the reader perceives as the problem(s), if any, solved beyond the problem

explicitly indicated in the exercise itself. A lot will also depend on what

assumptions were made about the prior art.

Backspace Key Exercise

It is some time in the past. An inventor arrives at her patent attorney’s

office carrying the typewriter of Figure B–1. Like prior art typewriters,

it has alphabetic keys and a space bar. However, a feature of this type-

writer that no other typewriter has ever had is a backspace key. The

embodiment includes a mechanical linkage between the backspace key

1. See Chapter Sixteen.

345