This blog post has been updated due to the America Invents Act enacted September 16, 2011. See Virtual patent marking and false patent marking post. 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 [...]
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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 [...]
Dangers of Strategic Partnerships
To be liable for patent infringement, a “single” entity must sell a product or perform all of the steps of a claim in a patent. If “two” different parties provide different components or different steps of the patented product or method, then there is no liability unless one party control or directs the other party. [...]
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Solution for Dealing with “Unrelated” Prior Art
During examination of a patent, an examiner searches a number of databases in search of “analogous” prior art references which either disclose the same or is sufficiently close to the invention so that the examiner can make a determination of patentability of the invention. At times, a reference cited by the USPTO may appear to [...]
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Liability for False Patent Marking
This blog post has been updated due to the America Invents Act enacted September 16, 2011. See Virtual patent marking and false patent marking post. The benefit of marking a product with a patent number is that damages accrue upon infringement and not upon actual notice of the patent. However, if the product is incorrectly marked [...]
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Assignments of Inventions by Former Employees
Departing employees pose a problem for former employers. These employees may have been on the verge of discovering a new patentable product, formula, etc. during employment with the former employer. When they depart, the information acquired during research and development by the employee belongs to the former employer and should not benefit competitors or others. [...]
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Stop Infringing Products at the U.S. Border
A patent provides the patentee the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale and importing the patented invention into the United States. The right to exclude others from importing the patented invention can be enforced in federal court but also at the International Trade Commission (ITC) which stops the importation at [...]
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Ramifications of a Cease and Desist Letter
After patent issuance, the patentee has enforceable rights in that he/she can sue another entity for damages and/or an injunction to stop that entity from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented invention into the United States. The ability to sue for past damages goes back six (6) years from the date [...]
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Claims are most important part of 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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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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