Tuesday Night - The Revelation
Tuesday, 11:47 PM. Thirteen minutes before the deadline.
They'd been writing for seventy-two hours straight.
The apartment looked like a legal bomb had gone off. Papers everywhere—photographs from the archive, printouts of constitutional cases, scribbled notes in three different handwritings (Athelia's messy scrawl, her new elegant script, and Alexander's precise attorney notation). Coffee cups stacked in pyramids. Casey passed out on the couch three hours ago, laptop still open beside her.
Athelia and Alexander sat at her desk, surrounded by documentation. Seventy-three pages of response spread across every available surface.
Athelia could read binary fluently now. Didn't even notice when she switched between English and code. The parsing was complete. The downloads fully integrated. Her handwriting shifted mid-sentence between modern and ancient without her conscious control.
She was writing the final section—the claims. The part that defined exactly what they were seeking protection for.
Her hand moved across the page:
Alexander read over her shoulder. His ears perked up slowly. "Wait. That's not... that's not describing protocols. That's describing YOU."
Athelia kept writing.
"And that's me," Alexander whispered, pointing at element (b).
Athelia's hand moved to element (c): wherein said bond enables transfer of examination protocols from attorney to Guardian Queen despite memory barriers...
His hand went to his ears. Her hand went to her chest, where the bond pulsed warm.
Element (d): wherein said bond manifests physically as visible markers in both parties...
Ears. Downloads. Binary. Physical proof.
Element (e): wherein said system operates across jurisdictional boundaries and integrates with modern digital documentation systems.
#WolfCounselor. Viral videos. Public documentation. Evidence.
Athelia's hand stopped. She stared at what she just wrote.
Silence.
"This isn't describing examination protocols," she said slowly. "This is describing... us. The bond. The relationship."
Alexander's breathing had stopped. "The invention isn't the Guardian Queen powers. It's the SYSTEM. Queen plus attorney plus bond."
"The original Queen didn't have this." Athelia flipped back through the photographs from Walnut Canyon. "Look. She operated ALONE. No attorney. No bond. Just her and the examination center."
"Which worked fine when she had full memory of protocols from birth," Alexander said. "But YOU have amnesia. You CAN'T operate alone. You need—"
"You." Athelia looked at him. "I need you. The bond is what makes it work. The bond is what transfers the protocols. The bond is what enables examination despite the memory barriers."
"The bond IS the invention," Alexander breathed.
They stared at each other.
Athelia started flipping through their seventy-three-page response with new eyes:
§ 101 UTILITY:
Specific utility: Enables Guardian Queen examination despite amnesia
Substantial utility: Maintains barrier, prevents jurisdictional collapse
Credible utility: Bond demonstrably formed, protocols transferred, examination completed
"We proved the BOND has utility."
§ 102 NOVELTY - All Elements Rule:
Original Queen: solo operation, full memory, pre-constitutional jurisdiction
Claimed invention: bond-enabled operation, amnesia-resistant, cross-jurisdictional, digitally integrated
Prior art LACKS element (b): Wolf King attorney bond
Prior art LACKS element (c): bond-enabled protocol transfer
Therefore NOT anticipated
"We proved the BOND is novel. The original Queen didn't have an attorney. Didn't have the bond. That's what's NEW."
§ 103 OBVIOUSNESS - Secondary Considerations:
Long-felt need: 253 years without functioning Guardian Queen
Failure of others: 47 candidates tried solo operation, all failed
Unexpected results: Bond formation enabled success despite amnesia
Commercial success: #WolfCounselor 15M views proves public recognition
Skepticism of experts: Council voted against, said it wouldn't work
"We proved the BOND is non-obvious. Nobody thought it would work. Everyone said a queen with amnesia was impossible. But the bond made it possible."
§ 112 ENABLEMENT:
Specification: The bond itself
Teaching mechanism: Protocol transfer through attorney-client privilege
PHOSITA: Wolf King attorney with examination knowledge
Enablement proven by: Examination completed, downloads successful, integration occurring
"We proved the BOND is the enablement. It's not just evidence of the relationship—it's the MECHANISM that makes everything work."
Alexander's ears were flat against his skull. "We're not defending a patent application about examination protocols."
"We're defending a patent on US," Athelia finished. "On the bond. On the relationship. On the system that is Guardian Queen plus Wolf King Attorney."
"The invention is us. Together."
Athelia looked at the claims she just wrote. At the seventy-three pages of response. At Alexander sitting four feet away with wolf ears that proved the bond was real.
"If we submit this," she said slowly, "and Malacar accepts it... and Issac withdraws his objections... and we get a Notice of Allowance..."
"The bond becomes permanent," Alexander said. "Recognized under patent law. Protected. A granted patent on the attorney-client relationship between Guardian Queen and Wolf King."
"We become permanent."
His ears perked up. Then drooped. "Only if that's what you want."
"Do I GET to want it?" Athelia's voice cracked. "Or is the magic deciding for me? The downloads, the integration, the bond—I didn't CHOOSE any of this. It just HAPPENED."
Alexander flinched. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't—I didn't know it would be like this. That the bond would be so—"
"Absolute," Athelia finished. "That's what you said. Old Law is absolute."
They sat in silence.
Casey stirred on the couch. Mumbled: "Did you finish the thing?"
"Yeah," Athelia said. "We finished it."
"Cool. Submit it. I wanna sleep in my own bed." Casey rolled over, already asleep again.
Athelia looked at Alexander. At the bond humming between them. At the seventy-three-page document that claimed THEM as an invention.
"What happens if we don't submit it?" she asked.
"Application is abandoned. Bond dissolves. I go back to my realm. You stay here with amnesia and no memory of any of this." His ears were completely flat. "You get your life back."
"And you?"
"I wait another three hundred years for another Guardian Queen who probably won't manifest because the barrier will collapse first." He tried to smile. Failed. "But you'd be free."
"Free," Athelia repeated. She looked at her laptop. At the binary code she could now read fluently. At the handwriting that shifted between hers and someone else's. At the knowledge downloaded into her brain against her will.
"I don't feel free now. I feel like someone else is wearing my body and learning to walk in it."
Alexander's ears drooped further. "I know. I'm sorry."
Athelia pulled up the document. All seventy-three pages. Claims. Arguments. Evidence. Federal jurisdiction and patent law woven together like they're the same language.
Mendez's homework assignment and the Office Action response—they turned out to be exactly the same thing.
She hovered the mouse over SUBMIT.
"If we're the patent," she said quietly, "then we get to decide what we claim. Right?"
Alexander's ears perked up slightly. "What do you mean?"
"The claims define the invention. We wrote them. So we can CHOOSE what they mean." She scrolled to Claim 1. Read it again.
"This doesn't say the bond controls us," she said. "It says the bond ENABLES us. There's a difference."
"Is there?"
"In patent law? Yes. An element that 'enables' is a tool. An element that 'controls' is a limitation." She was thinking in patent law terms now. Fluently. "We claimed a bond that enables protocol transfer. We didn't claim a bond that eliminates choice."
Alexander stared at her. "You just parsed that like an examiner."
"I AM an examiner." The words came out automatically. Then she froze. "I... I am. Aren't I? That's what the downloads were for. Guardian Queen = patent examiner for Old Law jurisdiction."
"Yes."
"And you're the attorney."
"Yes."
"And the bond makes the prosecution possible."
"Yes."
Athelia looked at the claims again. "Then this patent is claiming OUR JOBS. Not our choices. The bond enables us to DO the work. It doesn't control WHO WE ARE."
She highlighted Claim 1, element (c):
wherein said bond enables transfer of examination protocols from attorney to Guardian Queen despite memory barriers;
"Enables. Not forces. Not controls. ENABLES."
Alexander's ears were perking up slowly. "You're arguing claim construction."
"I'm arguing that we get to define what we claimed. And we claimed a TOOL. Not a prison." She scrolled to Claim 2:
The system of Claim 1, wherein said bond formation prevents identity loss during protocol integration.
"Look. We explicitly claimed the bond PREVENTS identity loss. That means I get to stay ME. That's IN THE CLAIMS."
Alexander read the claim. Then read it again. "You're right. Claim 2 explicitly states the bond is a protective mechanism against identity loss."
"So when the protocols try to overwrite who I am, the bond stops it. Keeps me Athelia. That's the INVENTION. That's why it's patentable."
"The original Queen didn't have that protection," Alexander said slowly. "She integrated completely. Lost herself. That's what the inventor's note warned about. But YOU won't. Because the bond—"
"Prevents it. Claim 2. Right there in the claims."
Athelia scrolled to the § 103 obviousness section. To the secondary considerations:
Unexpected results: Bond formation enabled success despite amnesia
"Enabled. Past tense. It already happened. The bond formed. The protocols transferred. The examination completed. That's the INVENTION. That's what we're claiming protection for."
"And after?" Alexander asked quietly. "After the patent issues? What happens to us then?"
Athelia was quiet for a long moment. Then: "I don't know. But I know what happens if we DON'T submit this."
She gestured at the apartment. At Casey sleeping on the couch. At the window where dawn was starting to break. At the world she'd lived in for twenty-six years.
"I lose all of this. You go back to your realm. The barrier collapses eventually. And nobody ever knows that we figured out how to make it work. That the bond—that WE—were the solution to a three-hundred-year-old problem."
She looked at Alexander. At his ears. At the exhaustion in his face. At the bond that pulsed between them.
"We're not a love story," she said. "We're a patent application. And patent applications are about protecting inventions so other people can learn from them."
"You want to submit it," Alexander said. Not a question.
"I want to FINISH it. I want to prove it works. I want Issac and Severen and the Council and Mendez and the entire federal government to see that we solved this." Her voice strengthened. "And then—after the patent issues—we figure out what we are. As people. Not as claimed elements."
Alexander's ears were fully upright now. "That's... actually brilliant claim construction."
"I'm an examiner. It's my job." She smiled slightly. "Apparently."
11:58 PM.
Two minutes until deadline.
Athelia clicked SUBMIT on Malacar's portal.
Then attached the same document to an email to Professor Mendez with subject line: "Patent Law Homework - Winters - FINAL"
Sent both.
11:59 PM.
They waited.
Midnight.
Malacar's response appeared on Alexander's phone:
And below that, a second notification:
Athelia and Alexander looked at each other.
"We just filed a patent on ourselves," Athelia said.
"And turned it in as homework," Alexander added.
"And now we have to defend it to both the magic database AND the patent law professor."
"While the Council prepares their own objections."
"And the federal government investigates #WolfCounselor."
They started laughing. Exhausted, slightly hysterical laughter.
Casey sat up on the couch. "Did you submit it?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now can we PLEASE sleep?"
"Yes," Athelia said. She closed her laptop. Looked at Alexander still sitting on the floor in the corner. At the blankets he'd been sleeping on for four nights.
The bond hummed between them.
They're the patent. The invention. The claimed system.
But they haven't figured out what that means yet.
"Goodnight, Alexander," she said.
"Goodnight, Athelia."
She climbed into bed. He stayed on the floor. Four feet apart.
The bond didn't care.
It pulsed warm and steady. Patient.
Because the claims have been filed.
The invention has been disclosed.
And now they wait to see if it's allowable.
***
In his office at Ponderosa University, Professor Mendez sat at his desk reading seventy-three pages of the most extraordinary document he'd ever seen.
Federal jurisdiction interwoven with patent law. Binary code with translations. Ancient legal frameworks merging with modern USPTO procedures. And at the center of it all: two people claiming themselves as a patentable invention.
He reached for his phone. Dialed a number he rarely used.
"Director? It's Mendez. We have a situation. Remember that hypothetical I asked you about last year? About what happens if someone files a patent application that challenges federal sovereignty?"
Pause.
"It's not hypothetical anymore. One of my students just submitted it as homework. And it's... it's actually legally sound. I need someone from OED to look at this. Immediately."
He hung up. Looked at the document again.
At Claim 1: A system for maintaining jurisdictional barriers...
At the evidence of secondary considerations spanning centuries.
At the binary code that suggested this was more than just a legal argument.
This was real.
All of it.
And if the USPTO granted this patent...
Mendez reached for his coffee. Took a long drink.
Wednesday at 2 PM was going to be very interesting.
***
Forty miles away, in a palace hidden behind its own jurisdictional barrier, the council convened in emergency session.
A projection shimmered in the center of the chamber. Not Twitter feeds this time. Legal documents. Patent claims. Office Action responses.
Marcus stood to one side, reading. His expression carefully neutral.
Elder Karenth read aloud: "Claim 1, element (b): A Wolf King attorney bonded to said Guardian Queen through attorney-client privilege under 37 CFR Section 11.106."
Silence.
"They claimed the BOND," another council member said. "Not just examination protocols. The RELATIONSHIP."
"And if this patent grants," Karenth said slowly, "the bond becomes permanent. Recognized. Protected under human patent law."
"Which gives it standing in human courts," a third member added. "Federal courts. The very courts that have exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases."
"This is strategic litigation," Karenth said. "The prince isn't just protecting the Guardian Queen. He's establishing LEGAL PRECEDENT for Old Law jurisdiction within the human legal system."
Marcus finally spoke. "He's integrating our law with theirs. Making Old Law ENFORCEABLE in federal court. If this patent grants, any challenge to the Guardian Queen becomes a patent infringement case. Which only federal courts can hear. Which means—"
"—we can't touch them," Karenth finished. "Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. We'd have to operate within THEIR legal framework. On THEIR terms."
Silence.
"Clever," someone murmured.
"Dangerous," Karenth countered. "If this succeeds, it sets precedent. Other beings will follow. Other realms will seek patents. Federal recognition. Integration with human law." He looked at the assembled council. "Three hundred years of careful separation ends. Permanently."
"So we object," another member said.
"On what grounds?"
"Sovereign jurisdiction. Claims 1 through 4 affect our realm without consent. We are an affected party. We have standing to file objections."
Karenth nodded. "Draft the objection. We have forty-eight hours."
Marcus watched them work. Said nothing.
Because he knew Alexander had planned for this.
The prince wasn't just protecting his bond.
He was changing the world.
One patent claim at a time.
— END CHAPTER NINE —
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
(f) ELEMENT IN CLAIM FOR A COMBINATION.—An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The Director shall cause an examination to be made of the application and the alleged new invention; and if on such examination it appears that the applicant is entitled to a patent under the law, the Director shall issue a patent therefor.
(a) Whenever, on examination, any claim for a patent is rejected, or any objection or requirement made, the Director shall notify the applicant thereof, stating the reasons for such rejection, or objection or requirement, together with such information and references as may be useful in judging of the propriety of continuing the prosecution of his application; and if after receiving such notice, the applicant persists in his claim for a patent, with or without amendment, the application shall be reexamined. No amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention.
(b) The Director shall prescribe regulations to provide for the continued examination of applications for patent at the request of the applicant. The Director may establish appropriate fees for such continued examination and shall provide a 50 percent reduction in such fees for small entities that qualify for reduced fees under section 41(h)(1).
Upon failure of the applicant to prosecute the application within six months after any action therein, of which notice has been given or mailed to the applicant, or within such shorter time, not less than thirty days, as fixed by the Director in such action, the application shall be regarded as abandoned by the parties thereto.
(a) IN GENERAL.—If it appears that an applicant is entitled to a patent under the law, a written notice of allowance of the application shall be given or mailed to the applicant. The notice shall specify a sum, constituting the issue fee and any required publication fee, which shall be paid within 3 months thereafter.
(b) EFFECT OF PAYMENT.—Upon payment of this sum the patent may issue, but if payment is not timely made, the application shall be regarded as abandoned.
(a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents, plant variety protection, copyrights and trademarks. No State court shall have jurisdiction over any claim for relief arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights. For purposes of this subsection, the term "State" includes any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(a) A reply to a non-final Office action must be filed within the time period provided in § 1.134 and § 1.136. The reply by the applicant or patent owner must be reduced to a writing which distinctly and specifically points out the supposed errors in the examiner's action and must reply to every ground of objection and rejection in the Office action, except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
ISSUE: What is the proper standard for construing patent claim terms?
HOLDING: Claim terms are given their ordinary and customary meaning as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, in the context of the entire patent including the specification.
Key principles:
1. Claims are interpreted from perspective of PHOSITA
2. Specification is "single best guide" to claim meaning
3. Intrinsic evidence (specification, prosecution history) > extrinsic evidence
4. Dictionary definitions helpful but not controlling
5. Context matters - read claims in light of whole patent
APPLICATION IN CHAPTER 9:
Athelia argues claim construction of "enables":
Claim language: "bond ENABLES transfer of examination protocols"
Ordinary meaning: "Enables" = makes possible, facilitates (not "controls" or "forces")
Specification support: Bond described as mechanism for transfer, not control system
PHOSITA understanding: Wolf King attorney (Alexander) reads "enables" as tool, not prison
Different claim language = different scope. "Enables" (facilitates) ≠ "controls" (dominates). Patent drafter's word choice determines protection boundaries.
ISSUE: Is claim construction a question of law for the court or a question of fact for the jury?
HOLDING: Claim construction is a question of LAW for the COURT to decide, not a question of fact for the jury.
Reasoning:
• Claims are legal documents defining property rights
• Uniformity and predictability require judicial interpretation
• Judges, not juries, interpret legal documents (contracts, deeds, patents)
• Prevents inconsistent claim interpretations across juries
APPLICATION IN CHAPTER 9:
When Athelia argues "enables" vs. "controls" claim construction:
• This is LEGAL QUESTION for Malacar (examiner/judge) to decide
• Not factual question about what bond physically does
• Interpretation determines SCOPE of patent protection
• If patent grants and later litigated, federal judge construes claims (not jury)
Athelia is making legal argument about claim scope. Malacar and Isaac must interpret claims as matter of law. This parallels Mendez's role - patent law professor must interpret legal document (the patent application submitted as homework).
ISSUE: What is the difference between "comprising," "consisting of," and "consisting essentially of" as transitional phrases in claims?
HOLDING:
"COMPRISING" = OPEN-ENDED (allows additional unclaimed elements)
"CONSISTING OF" = CLOSED (excludes all unclaimed elements)
"CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF" = PARTIALLY OPEN (allows elements that don't materially affect basic and novel characteristics)
APPLICATION IN CHAPTER 9:
Athelia's Claim 1: "A system for maintaining jurisdictional barriers... COMPRISING:"
COMPRISING = Open-ended transitional phrase
Listed elements (a)-(e) are REQUIRED but additional elements allowed
System can include more than Guardian Queen + attorney + bond
Example applications:
✓ System with GQ + attorney + bond + digital documentation = Still infringes (additional element allowed)
✓ System with GQ + attorney + bond + Council oversight = Still infringes (additional element allowed)
✗ System with only GQ + attorney (no bond) = Doesn't infringe (missing required element)
If Athelia had used "CONSISTING OF," claim would be narrower (only exactly listed elements, nothing more). "COMPRISING" gives broader protection.
ISSUE: What is required for the specification to provide adequate written description support for the claims?
HOLDING: The specification must describe the claimed invention in sufficient detail that one skilled in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time of filing.
Requirements:
• Claims must be supported by specification disclosure
• Cannot claim more broadly than specification supports
• Test: Would PHOSITA recognize that inventor possessed claimed invention?
APPLICATION IN CHAPTER 9:
Athelia's amended claims must be supported by specification:
Claim 1 element (c): "bond enables transfer... despite memory barriers"
Specification support: Barrier crossing scene in Chapter 2 describes bond formation and protocol transfer mechanism
Claim 2: "bond formation prevents identity loss during protocol integration"
Specification support: Chapter 3 examination scene shows Keeper blood enabling dual consciousness, bond preventing erasure
Claim 3: "Guardian Queen operates WITH attorney partnership"
Specification support: Throughout prosecution, parsing together, shared response drafting
Malacar's acceptance: "Amended claims properly supported by specification." Each new claim draws from specification disclosure. No new matter added. Inventor demonstrated possession of claimed system.
35 U.S.C. § 112(b) - Claim requirements (particularly point out and distinctly claim)
35 U.S.C. § 112(f) - Means-plus-function claiming
35 U.S.C. § 131 - Examination of application
35 U.S.C. § 132 - Notice of rejection; reexamination
35 U.S.C. § 133 - Time for prosecuting application (abandonment)
35 U.S.C. § 151 - Issue of patent (Notice of Allowance)
28 U.S.C. § 1338 - Federal court exclusive jurisdiction over patents
37 CFR § 1.111 - Reply to non-final Office Action
Phillips v. AWH (2005) - Claim construction standard
Markman v. Westview (1996) - Claim construction is question of law
Ex parte Lundgren (2005) - "Comprising" vs. "consisting of"
In re Donaldson (1994) - Specification must support claims