You don't always have to choose between patenting your invention and keeping it as a trade secret. By filing your U.S. patent application with a nonpublication request under 35 U.S.C. § 122(b)(2)(B)(i), you can keep the invention out of the public record while you decide which form of protection serves your business best. Most patent attorneys frame this as either/or. In my … [Read more...]
Patent application process
The patent application process includes three main time frames: 1) before filing patent application, 2) after filing a patent application and 3) after patent grant. Browse related articles below.
How to Write a World-Class Invention Disclosure With AI in One Afternoon
Last Updated: April 2026 Most advice about using AI to write an invention disclosure tells you to be careful about how much AI you use. That’s the wrong question. You can use AI from the very first minute. Ask it anything. Let it interview you. Let it reorganize what you’ve written. At the end, let it shorten the whole thing down to the most important points. There is … [Read more...]
AI Can Draft a Patent Claim. But Can It Draft the Right One?
The short answer to whether AI can write a valid patent claim is yes. If by “valid” you mean the antecedent basis is correct, the independent and dependent claims follow proper format, and the prose reads cleanly — AI handles all of that. Capability is not the question. The real question is whether the claim it drafts actually protects the invention. The … [Read more...]
AI Patent Drafting: Why You Still Need a Patent Attorney
I use artificial intelligence to help me draft patent applications. I also use it when responding to office actions, refining claim language, and summarizing prior art. I want to be upfront about that — AI is part of my practice, and it genuinely saves time. But here is what I have learned after working with these tools: AI is useful precisely to the extent that I tell it … [Read more...]
Don’t Trust the Handshake: How to Protect Your Patent Rights When Working with Chinese Manufacturers (2026)
In April 2026, the Federal Circuit handed down a ruling that every U.S. business owner sourcing products from China should read carefully. In Fortress Iron, LP v. Digger Specialties, Inc. (2026), the court invalidated two fully issued patents — not because the invention was obvious, and not because of a flawed prior art search. The patents died because one coinventor, an … [Read more...]
Inventor’s Notebook: Essential for Documenting Invention Development and Establishing Patent Priority
Under prior U.S. patent laws, the first-to-invent rule determined who would be awarded a patent, rather than the first-to-file rule, which is currently in effect. The first-to-invent rule awarded patents to the inventor who could demonstrate the earliest date of invention, not necessarily the first person to file an application with the Patent Office. This rule often required … [Read more...]
When to File a “Full-Up” Patent Application
(And Why “Quick” Filings Are Often a Trap) In the world of intellectual property, inventors are constantly told they must file immediately. The message is always the same: you are in a race, and if you do not get something on file today, your idea will be stolen tomorrow. Much of this urgency comes from patent attorneys who benefit from pushing inventors to spend money sooner … [Read more...]
Understanding and Responding to Obviousness Rejections in Patent Prosecution
An obviousness rejection is a determination by a patent examiner that a claimed invention is not patentable because it would have been obvious to combine two or more prior art references together. See Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 2141. The Low Bar for Obviousness Rejections Rejections based on obviousness is a very low bar for the patent examiner to make. … [Read more...]