Blog – Adam Garson Law

Designs for patents

Google is running what it calls a ‘patent purchase promotion.’  From May 8 through May 22, 2015, you can offer to sell your issued U.S. patent to Google.  You must provide the patent number, contact information and a take-it-or-leave-it price along with the submission contract.  Google will let you know if it is interested by […]

Question on a Keyboard

Ask Dr. Copyright … Dear Doc: You wrote about the legal fracas over the song “Blurred Lines” in a prior issue of your column. What’s up with that? Sincerely, Farel Thick Dear Sir: That case went to the jury about three weeks ago, and, true to the name of the song, it truly did blur […]

Designs for patents

The PTO intended that its secret Sensitive Application Warning System (‘SAWS’) program would avoid embarrassment to the agency by requiring additional layers of review for potentially controversial patent applications.  The program had exactly the opposite effect and the patent community harshly criticized the PTO for the secret and arbitrary nature of the program.  The PTO […]

Congress

It’s Spring, so the thoughts of the lobbyists representing high-tech heavy weights turn to crippling the U.S. patent system.  Competing bills are already pending in Congress.  Why do the giant high-tech companies do it? The sound-bite reason given is to stop the depredations of patent ‘trolls;’ that is, entities that own patents but that do […]

Question on a Keyboard

Ask Dr. Copyright … Dear Doc: I watched the Big Game (a/k/a SuperBowl®) and though I enjoyed the game (I would report the score, but that might make the NFL angry, since they told us that unauthorized use is strictly prohibited) I really enjoyed the halftime show. My favorite part was the dancing sharks behind […]

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues both ‘utility’ and ‘design’ patents.  A ‘utility’ patent protects how something works (e.g., the better mousetrap).  A ‘design’ patent protects the appearance of the thing (e.g., a mousetrap bait that resembles cheese).  Design patent law in the U.S. is about to change.  The U.S. has taken the […]

Designs for patents

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a secret Sensitive Application Warning System (‘SAWS’) program for extra review of patent applications where action might embarrass the agency.  The problem is how the program functions and which applicants and applications are subject to SAWS are all secret.  We know only the broadest guidelines for the program […]