• Home
  • About
    • Client Reviews
    • Patent Samples
    • Accolades
    • About Firm
    • Technologies
    • FAQs
  • Services
    • Patent
      • Utility Patents
      • Design Patents
      • Patent Application
      • Patent Defense
      • Patent Enforcement
      • Working with In-House Attorneys
    • Trademark
      • Trademark Search
      • Trademark Application
      • Trademark Enforcement
      • Trademark Defense
    • Licensing
    • Worldwide IP
    • Risk Management
    • Due Diligence
  • Industries
    • Browse Patent Samples
    • Automotive Patents
    • Construction Patents
    • Consumer Products Patents
    • Electronics Patents
    • Food, Beverage, & Other Culinary Patents
    • Manufacturing Patents
    • Medical Products & Devices Patents
    • Optics Patents
    • Software & App Patents
    • Tools & Equipment Patents
  • Learning Resources
    • First-Time Inventor?
    • Why Patent Your Invention in a Bad Economy?
    • Videos on Patents
    • Search 180+ Articles
      • Patent process
        • Overview of Patent Process
          • Patent process timeline and major milestones
          • Patent Process: Invention to Patent Granted (Simplified)
          • Patent process, overall steps and procedures
        • Overview of the examination process within the USPTO
          • Highs and lows of securing patent protection for your invention
          • What is the Patent Office procedure after filing a patent application?
        • Benefits of a Patent Search
          • What is a patent search and How to do it?
        • Patent attorneys, agents and the USPTO can help with the patent process
        • USPTO Website
      • Invention Agreements
        • What is an NDA and when to use them?
        • How to use a contract to protect your invention?
        • Working with others without losing your IP rights
        • Patent Assignments for Independent Contractors
        • Losing Invention Rights When Hiring or Collaborating with Others
        • Avoid Problems: Get an Invention Assignment Agreement
      • Protect Inventions
        • Misconceptions of Provisional Patent Applications
        • Do you need to get your patent attorney to sign an NDA?
        • Can a confidentiality agreement protect me like a patent application?
        • Four types of intellectual property to protect your idea and how to use them
          • Overview of Patents and Intellectual Property
          • Patent protection benefits and why every inventor should consider getting one
          • 8 tips to successfully protect your idea
          • Benefits of Patent Protection
          • Best uses for design patents
        • Reasons to only market your invention after securing patent pendency
          • Dangers of 1 yr grace period under first-inventor-to-file system
          • File a patent application before telling others about the invention
        • Risks and benefits of securing software patent protection
          • Strategy to overcome patentable subject matter rejection
        • Pros and cons of filing a continuation-in-part application
          • What is a continuation patent application?
      • How Patent Applications Work: the Basics
        • How to respond to an office action?
        • Request for non-publication of a patent application
        • Anatomy of a Patent Document
        • How to write a broad patent application?
        • Design patents: pros and cons
      • Patent costs
        • How much does it cost to get a utility patent?
        • Provisional Patent Application: Cheap Alternative?
        • Patent Cost Framework and cash flow
        • Provisional patent application: a cheap option?
        • Cheap provisional patent applications
      • Patent infringement
        • Basics of writing a patent claim for a patent application
        • Patent Marking: Everything you wanted to know
        • Avoiding Patent Infringement
        • Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product?
        • Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product? (Design Patent)
      • Worldwide patents
        • Pros and cons of securing worldwide patent protection and their steps
        • Foreign patent filing to secure protection in other countries
      • Responding to Office Actions
        • Overview of Office Actions
      • Trademarks
        • Trademark Registration: common law, state and federal
        • How to obtain a federal trademark registration?
        • How to select a trademark?
          • Protect your idea when pitching to an investor, potential licensee, or buyer
  • Schedule Consultation
  • Contact

Top-Rated Orange County Patent Lawyer | Helping Inventors in Orange County, Los Angeles County & Beyond | OC Patent Lawyer, Irvine CA

Orange County Patent Attorney

(949) 433-0900
You are here: Home / Learning Resources

Learning Resources

Getting to patent pending from scratch is frustrating and confusing.  How do I know?  I've spoken to thousands of inventors over my 17 year career as a patent attorney.  This page provides the fundamentals to get patent protection and the basic strategy.

Getting to Patent Pending

1. Invention Agreements: These articles introduce the types of agreements you need to protect your invention from others when you tell others about your invention.  For example, when you are launching your inventive product, you may need to share your idea with investors, potential licensees, independent contractors and employees.  You need to mitigate complications (e.g., inadvertent that might arise as you engage others.  The types of agreements that will help to protect your idea include:

  • Should muliple people (e.g., co-inventors and investors) jointly own a patent?
  • How to prevent losing your invention when hiring an independent contractor?
  • How to avoid ownership problems? Get an Invention Assignment Agreement

2. Protecting Your Inventions: The articles in this section discusses the benefits for protecting your invention and strategies for securing and strengthening patent protection for your invention.  For example, the articles discuss:

  • What are the benefits of patent protection?
  • What are the pros and cons of filing a continuation-in-part application?
  • What are the risks and benefits of securing software patent protection?
  • Why you should file a patent application before telling others about the invention?
  • How broad patents spread a wide net but are more likely to be invalid?

3. Patent Applications: These articles are an introduction to the basics of preparing a patent application.  Just the basics.  The patent application is an intricate document. The document needs to be simple and clear enough for a jury to understand it.  It also needs to be sophisticated and robust enough so that engineers can make and use your invention.

  • How to write a broad patent application?
  • What is the anatomy of a patent? 
  • What are the differences between a provisional and nonprovisional patent application?
  • Is a provisional patent application a cheap alternative?
  • Why you should avoid disparaging prior art in your patent application?
  • Patent Drafting Tip: Alternative embodiments create prior art

4. Patent Process: In this section, you will find out what happens and what to expect when dealing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  These articles are centered around:

  • What is the overall view of the patent process?
  • What are the highs and lows of securing patent protection for your invention?
  • Who can help you through the patent process?
  • What is a patent search and How to do it?
  • Overview of the examination process within the USPTO

5. Patent Costs: These articles discusses the costs in terms of realistic budgetary estimates and strategies for minimizing legal costs when patenting your invention.  When you are starting to cost your patent legal needs Primarily, the information warns about the dangers of a cheap provisional patent application.

  • How much does it cost to get a utility patent?
  • How to get free help from a patent attorney?
  • How to get a patent? (cost-effectively)
  • How much does a quality patent cost?
  • Is a patent worth getting?

6. Worldwide Patents:These articles cover the basic strategy for protecting your invention overseas.  In general, for solo inventors and startups, I'm not a strong advocate for securing patent protection in foreign markets because of the difficulties you need to overcome to make money.  However, larger companies with established marketing channels and those that might want to license to a larger company with established marketing channels might consider it desireable for you to have the option for seeking foreign patent protection.  These articles discuss the basic strategy for seeking patent protection in foreign countries.

  • What are the basics of foreign patent filing to secure protection in other countries?
  • What are the pros and cons of securing worldwide patent protection and their steps?

7. Responding to Office Actions: The articles will teach you the arguments for patentability of your invention to convince the examiner to grant you a patent on your invention.

  • What is an Office Action?
  • How to disqualify non-analogous references cited in an office action
  • What is a restriction requirement and how to respond to them?
  • How to argue that the prior art teaches away from the claimed invention? It requires more than a preference away

8. Patent Infringement: These articles explains how to avoid infringing other people's patents.  When you launch your inventive product, you need to mitigate against theft of your invention by others but also be concerned that you are not infringing on the rights of others and their patent.  How do you copy an existing product without infringing on their rights? These are the topics discussed in this section.

  • How to avoid patent infringement? 
  • What are the patent marking requirements and its benefits?
  • Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product?
  • Who can be sued for patent infringement? Everyone in the supply chain could be sued for patent infringement
  • Can I Copy My Competitor’s Product? (Design Patent)

Trademarks

9. Trademarks: The articles in this section explains the basics of selecting, search and securing a trademark.  The process of securing your trademark is a two step process, namely, searching for prior marks then filing a trademark application to register your mark.  These articles discuss the basics of protecting your trademark.

  • How to obtain a federal trademark registration?
  • How to select a trademark?
  • Trademark Registration: common law, state and federal
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Popular Posts

  • Patent process overview
  • Patent process explained
  • How much does a patent cost?
  • Why patent your invention in a bad economy?

Patent Book

Navigating the Patent System - new book by Orange County patent attorney, James Yang

Navigating the Patent System: Learn the patent process and strategies to protect your invention

Read for Free
Buy at Amazon

RECEIVE PATENT ARTICLES

Stay up to date on major changes and get tips on the patent process.

We respect your privacy.

Popular Posts

Patent process overview
Patent process explained
How much does a patent cost?
Trademark process and costs
Patent process and costs

 

Services

Utility Patents
Design Patents
Patent Prosecution Services
Patent Defense Services
Patent-Law Counsel for In-House Attorneys
Trademark Prosecution Services
See All Services

Industries

Automotive Patents
Consumer Products Patents
Culinary Patents
Manufacturing Patents
Medical Patents
Optics Patents
Software & App Patents
See All Industries

Contact

James Yang
OC Patent Lawyer
2372 Morse Ave., Suite #178
Irvine, CA 92614
Tel: (949) 433-0900

Connect

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Sitemaps

Sitemap: Pages | Sitemap: Posts

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

By accessing this blog, you agree that no attorney-client relationship is formed except by a subsequent written retainer agreement. Also, you agree to not send confidential information unless directed by me to do so. The information posted on this blog is legal information and not legal advice.
Complete Terms of Use
Complete Privacy Policy

ADA Compliance

OC Patent Lawyer aims to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities.
Accessibility Statement

Service Area

From our office in Irvine, California, we serve clients from all areas within Orange County and Los Angeles County, California.

© 2023 · James Yang, Your Entrepreneur and Mid-Size Business Patent Attorney