Upon filing a patent application or issuance of a patent, a product disclosed by the patent application or covered by the claims of the issued patent may be marked either “Patent Pending” or “Patented” together with the patent number. The benefit of marking a product as patent pending is that it provides a warning that [...]
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Penalty for False Patent Marking
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Misconceptions of Provisional Patent Applications
After an inventor conceives of an invention, an application seeking patent protection may be filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The first or initial patent application may either be a provisional or non provisional patent application. The provisional patent application is described as a lower cost option compared to the non-provisional patent [...]
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What Types of Inventions are Obvious?
Inventors frequently ask whether the Patent Office will grant them a patent on their invention. The general answer is that the Patent Office will grant a patent on inventions that are novel (i.e., new) and non-obvious in light of technology existing at the time the patent application was filed. The government does not have an [...]
Claims – Most Important Part of the Patent
The claims section of a patent defines the metes and bounds of what the inventor is claiming as their invention. As such, the claims section is an important part of the patent. The claims are located at the back of the patent document and usually begins with “What is claimed is:”, “We claim:” or “I [...]
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- Posted in: Infringement, design around
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Patent Assignments for Independent Contractors
Patent rights initially vest with the person that conceives of the invention. For example, if a company hires an independent contractors, patent rights initially vest with the independent contractor. If the company hiring the independent contractor wants to exploit the invention, the company must acquire the patent rights from the independent contractor through an assignment. [...]
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Pitfalls in DIY Patent Drafting
Some inventors attempt to draft their own patent application. However, in my opinion, doing so is not advised. The reason is that many different legal principles must be applied when drafting the patent application. A self help book may be able to discuss these principles but inventors may not be able to assimilate these principles [...]
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CONTINUATION, DIVISIONAL , CONTINUATION IN PART APPLICATIONS
Continuation, divisional and continuation-in-part (CIP) applications are related to the filing of the prior filed patent application by a claim of priority. The prior filed patent application may be referred to as the parent or base application. The continuation, divisional and CIP application may be referred to as the child application. The simplified definition for [...]
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- Posted in: definitions, design around, patent strategy
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When is a document a “Printed Publication”?
The United States follows a first-to-invent rule wherein the first person to invent is awarded a patent. For example, if an inventor can prove that he or she conceived of the invention before someone else and diligently worked toward making a working model or filing a patent application, then that inventor will be awarded the [...]
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Pitfalls of Online Assisted Patent Filings
Many online websites provide assistance in filing a provisional patent application at a low price. Based on my understanding of these online sites, the website prompts the user with a series of questions. Your answers are placed into a patent application format and filed with the Patent Office. However, no legal advice is provided. In [...]
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What is the term of a patent?
The general rule is that the term of a patent is 20 years upon filing or 17 years upon issuance depending on the date that it was filed and whether it was enforceable on June 8, 1995. The term may be adjusted to account for delays caused by the Applicant or the Patent Office. If [...]
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Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product? (Design Patent)
Companies may base their existing and future product lines on new products produced by their competitors. However, businesses must be careful not to infringe upon rights of others when doing so. For example, your competitor may have rights in the utilitarian features (e.g., runs faster, stays cooler, etc.) through a utility patent or the ornamental [...]
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Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product?
Businesses track new products and developments of their competitors. They attend trade shows, receive information from mutual clients about new products offered by others. In response, companies may attempt to introduce a competitive alternative. In doing so, they may reverse engineer (i.e., purchase and take apart) their competitors products. When they base their products on [...]
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Avoid Problems: Get an Invention Assignment Agreement
Companies acquire invention rights by one of three ways from employees. A formal Invention Assignment Agreement is typically executed when the employee begins employment. The Agreement assigns certain inventions of the employee to the company. Invention rights can also be acquired by way of the Employed-to-Invent doctrine. In particular, to the extent that the employer [...]
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- Posted in: assignments, ownership
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