Vision’s design engineers recently invented a new type of adjustable golf tee and filed one application for a patent for this invention and a new type of microwave oven to be used in the hotels’ restaurants. The microwave oven is a variation of Vision’s original microwave oven patented five years ago. After the application was filed, the USPTO refused some of the claims relating to the golf tee although most of the claims were approved. During the prosecution process, the USPTO temporarily lost the application file for the golf tee. Finally, once the patent was issued for the golf tee, Vision noticed a USPTO error in the spelling of the inventor’s name and also noticed that one of the claims was invalid.

Activities. Discuss any likely USPTO objections to Vision’s application and any possible strategies Vision could adopt to obtain patent protection as expeditiously as possible and for the longest period of time. Discuss also how the errors in the issued patent should be handled.