Identifying fictive points as material objects in invention rights: case of RF patent prosecution for invention N. 2737595

In the course of record-keeping on the application for the invention, it was necessary to substantiate the possibility of identifying the fictive points of point sources of pressure of wave systems from a moving or streamlined object on the boundary (or close to the boundary) of media as material objects. It is known that in the paradigm of patent offices a lack of materiality implies a lack of technical result, which in turn opposes a positive decision to grant a patent for an invention of the Russian Federation and/or another internationally recognized patent office. To prove the materiality of the fictive points stipulated in the claimed decision and explained in the article there were analyzed some well-known technical solutions already protected by the patents for inventions of the Russian Federation. Technical solutions were taken into consideration to find the fictive points that are widely used in practice: the center of gravity of the object, the center of the submerged volume and the metacenter, as well as the value representing the distance between the fictive points, namely a metacentric height (elevation of the fictive point metacenter above the fictive point center of gravity). The validity of the procedures proposed in the application is justified by their publication in a series of articles in a peer-reviewed scientific journal recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of Russia for ship-oriented publications. As a result of the paperwork, understanding was reached on this issue between the expertise and the author, a “fictive point” position was included in the title of the issued security document.