What is ARTICLE ONE PARTNERS (AOP)
all about?
ARTICLE ONE PARTNERS uses the power
of the global online community to discover patent validity evidence
(called Prior Art) that can legitimize or invalidate selected patents. A Patent Study is a request by ARTICLE ONE to the AOP community for prior art for select patent(s). Prior Art is publicly available information in any language from anywhere in the world. What
makes us unique is that we generously compensate our members for their
knowledge, research and network: as an AOP Advisor you can win up to $50,000
for being the first to submit invalidating Prior Art for any Patent Study, and your
contributions to the community are rewarded through our Advisor Profit
Sharing system.
For more information, please visit "About AOP"
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Who is an AOP Advisor?
An AOP Advisor is someone who has signed up on our site. AOP Advisors can work toward our Rewards and profit sharing while enjoying
the benefits of belonging to a community of bright minds and keen researchers:
networking, building teams for more fruitful searching, participating
in forums, and more.
To get involved, please visit "Join AOP"
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Is AOP right for me?
AOP is right for just about anyone
with an interest in or deeper knowledge of science and technology who
can legally participate in our Patent Studies. (See the next question
and "How do I respond to a Patent Study?" for our exceptions.) It
helps if you're a go-getter with a knack for research and a robust
network. We welcome people from all walks of life: the success of our
AOP Advisor community is in direct proportion to the diversity of its
members.
Who
cannot be an AOP Advisor or respond to a particular Patent Study?
We have two important exceptions (don't
worry, 99.9% of you are still eligible): we cannot grant membership
if you are a patent officer currently or recently employed by the USPTO. And you
cannot join AOP on anyone else's behalf. This protects you from receiving
Prior Art from industry "insiders." Also, even if the Prior Art is by definition publicly available information, you as the source of the prior art may belegally obligated not to disclose it (for example, based on your employment agreement). For each Study, you are provided with a Eligibility Questionnaire to complete in order to assist you in considering your personal obligations are a requirement for you to respond to a given Patent Study.
For case-by-case exceptions, see "How to Respond to a Patent Study"
How can I win the Reward?
The key is to submit the invalidating Prior Art as soon as you can. You can claim the full Reward by being the first Advisor to submit all the Prior Art needed to invalidate all patents within your Patent Study. But even if you can't submit all the necessary references, you can still receive substantial compensation: AOP offers partial Rewards to Advisors who submit supporting Prior Art when the Study is won. Seventy percent (70%) of the Reward goes to the first Advisor to submit invalidating art and thirty percent (30%) goes to the second Advisor where supportive prior art is needed to invalidate the subject patent(s). You will also receive a referral award if an Advisor you referred wins a study. This separate referral reward is equal to 5% of the amount the winning Advisor will receive.
For more pointers, see "Advisor Tip Sheet"
What are my chances of actually winning a Patent Study?
In addition to the Reward for submitting all of the Prior Art, you have many ways to "win without winning." The best way is to take on as many Patent Studies as you can. You can submit up to 20 references per Study. With every relevant submission, you'll earn Advisor Points.
With every referral to a friend who joins, you'll receive additional Advisor Points. if one of your referrals wins a Patent Study, you will receive 250 points in addition to a separate referral reward equal to 5% of the amount the winning Advisor will receive.
Finally, where your submitted Prior Art is not relied upon to win a Patent Study, it may still qualify as relevant enough for increased Points and automatic eligibility for Profit Sharing at year's end. So it's really worth your while to participate in Studies and in the AOP community in general.
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What is Prior Art?
Basically, Prior Art can make or break
a patent. Prior Art is the body of knowledge in any language anywhere in the world relevant to a patent's
claims of originality that is publicly available prior to the patent's
date of invention. Examples of Prior Art are previous patents; news or academic publications; non-digitized documents such as textbooks; or any public document provided to others, including conference or academic papers and business materials. Prior art is often found in documents tucked away in a file cabinet years ago, or in the back corner of a library. Invalidating Prior Art is the kind that actually renders (based on a judicial or legislative decision) an existing
patent null and void - and can be worth AOP's up to $50,000 Reward. But
all relevant Prior Art is worth Advisor Points in our community.
For more information, please visit "What is Prior Art?"
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What is a Patent Study?
A Patent Study has two key ingredients:
an invitation to our Advisors to submit Prior Art for one or more patents
listed in the Patent Study, and a Latest Date for Prior Art for each of the included
patents. (Prior Art submissions must predate the "Latest Date for Prior Art"
specified for each patent.) Each Patent Study also contains a description of each patent, links to the actual patent(s) and the Reward amount, up to $50,000.
To browse our list of Patent Studies, please visit "Access Patent Studies"
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How are patents selected for Patent Studies on the AOP platform? ARTICLE ONE PARTNERS supports two types of Studies: Studies sponsored by Clients (members of industry across technology sectors) and Studies suggested by our Advisors or identified by AOP. Coients select Patent Studies most often to defend against patent litigation. For AOP selected Patent Studies, we choose patents that have an impact on the public (which has to pay premium prices during the monopoly period) or on research (when research areas are blocked as a result of a patent). Often times, our Advisors bring Patent Studies to our attention. However, based upon our analytics, we decline to list Studies for patents if we determine on case by case basis that a potential negative may outweigh the benefit to the public. One area we have chosen not to analyze in our Patent Studies is patents tied to medications for "orphan diseases," those rare afflictions suffered by less than 250,000 people. These medications are rare and costly - and if one of them is pulled from the shelves as the result of a patent that turns out to be invalid, patients could be left without treatment. Return
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How do I respond to a Patent Study?
Go to the "Respond to a Study" page or click
on the link in each Patent Study. You'll be presented with a form
where you can easily upload your Prior Art documents (PDFs, scans, etc.). It is mandatory that you provide
proof that the Prior Art was publicly available prior to the Latest Date for Prior Art. We encourage you to include an analysis of the
Prior Art, but that's optional. (Before you respond, please make sure that you won't be
violating any confidentiality or responsibility agreement with your
employer by responding to that particular Patent Study. To assist you in evaluating your personal obligations, we provide an Eligibility Questionnaire for Advisors to complete for each Study to determine their ability to response to a particular Study.) To take a look, please
visit "Respond to a Patent Study"
Where can I find Prior Art?
There is no such thing as a Prior Art
treasure map, but your unique perspective will guide you on your search.
We recommend that you choose your Patent Studies according to your personal
areas of interest and use your individual knowledge, your network for
referrals, and your curiosity as your most powerful tools.
For more information and research resources, please visit "Where to find Prior Art"
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How does the Advisor Profit Sharing
system work?
As an Advisor, you can earn points
for a wide range of activities within our online community. These "Advisor
Points" are redeemable for our active Advisors for a share of the Advisor Profit Sharing fund: about 5% of our net annual profits (pursuant to the Compensation Agreement). You can earn Advisor Points by winning Patent Studies,
participating in third party patent reform activities, referring other
Advisors, contributing to our forums, sending in relevant Prior Art
(even if it doesn't win a reward), and much more.
For more information, please visit "Advisor Profit Sharing"
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How does AOP make money?
The Patent Studies are at the heart of the ARTICLE ONE PARTNERS endeavor. They explore high-profile patents that are often tied up in costly litigation and dispute. The comprehensive prior art we uncover with the help of our Advisor community has a significant market value, as it can provide key information to the industry. AOP has 2 streams of revenue: 1. Clients sponsor Patent Studies on the AOP platform for fees in addition to the Reward to the AOP Advisors 2. Our prior art collections can be sold directly to parties interested in the subject patent(s). These powerful revenue streams ensure that articleonepartners.com can prosper - and through unparalleled compensation and generous profit sharing, we ensure that our Advisors prosper with us. Return
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Didn't find what you were looking for? Please send us your questions and we'll happily answer them.
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