All posts by: Robert Yarbrough

On-line patent searching has profoundly improved the patent system.  An inventor can use free Internet resources to search for patents and published applications relevant to his or her invention.  The mother of all free on-line patent databases is that of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).   The PTO database has the advantage that it […]

The backlog of pending patent applications at the PTO is important to inventors because a large backlog results in long wait times before a patent application is reviewed by an examiner.   During the last years of the last administration, the backlog at the PTO grew so large that the average time to first office action […]

Your competitor newly advertises its product as ‘patent pending,’ but you know that the product or a similar product has been in use or on sale for a long time.   You fear that if your competitor is successful in obtaining the patent, the competitor may be able to prevent you from making, using or selling […]

The USPTO has launched “Inventors Eye,” a bimonthly on-line publication for independent inventors.  Here is a link to the most recent edition.  “Inventors Eye” leans toward encouragement, anecdotes and success stories, but includes valuable information in a non-technical style.  We recommend that you check it out. — Robert J. Yarbrough, Esq.

June 28, 2010 — In an a unanimous opinion on the result, though fractured on the reasoning, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision today on patentable subject matter.  The Bilski v Kappos decision is important for inventors and owners of software, Internet and particularly business method patents. Under the law, even if an invention […]

The delay between the filing of a utility patent application to the first office action by the PTO averages three years.  The PTO is considering whether to offer multiple options for patent application review in an effort to reduce the delay.  The proposal would allow the applicant to select fast, medium or slow review.  For […]

Our economy is global and an invention that is valuable in the U.S. likely is valuable in other countries as well.  The Patent Prosecution Highway allows for expedited review of corresponding foreign patent applications upon the allowance of a U.S. patent application. If a patent applicant receives a decision from the U.S. PTO that at […]

Reps. John Conyers (D – Michigan) and Lamar Smith (R – Texas), the chairman and ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, are trying to resolve the problems of patent pendency and the current revenue shortfall at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”).  “Pendency” is the time from filing a patent application until […]

The reports of the death of patent reform have been greatly exaggerated. A bill labeled ‘patent reform’ has been proposed for each of the last several years, but has never been able to garner the votes necessary to pass both the House and Senate. The reason is that the various patent constituencies have very different […]

The PTO needs more examiners and better information technology infrastructure to bring down pendency of applications and improve the quality of issued patents, but does not have the money to pay for them.  For years, Congress has taken the fees paid by applicants for patents and trademarks and used those funds for other purposes, leaving […]