If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, then you know that a sale or offer for sale of your invention will terminate your patent rights unless you first file a patent application. Did you know that the on-sale bar also applies to commercial sales of the invention to you, as from a contract […]
The past 15 years have seen an unprecedented attack on patents and patent-owners in the United States. Orchestrated by foreign nations, multinational corporations, and a variety of other groups, largely funded by similar vested interests, this attack has reduced much of the value formerly associated with patented innovations. In past issues of our newsletter we […]
In the issue that will not die, the Supreme Court again considered what can or cannot be patented. This time the question was whether human genes can be the subject of a patent. The U.S. Constitution at Article One, Section 8 gives Congress the power “to promote science and the useful arts, by securing for […]
Once upon a time, a farmer purchased a magic bean. The farmer planted his magic bean, as farmers do. The magic bean grew into a magic beanstalk and made more magic beans. The farmer harvested the magic beans, as farmers do, and saved the new magic beans for the next year. For eight years, the […]
Pardon the quote of the Bard, but there is one area of patent law that, indeed, ponders “that is the question.” Bear with us for a moment while we try to set the stage. To qualify for a patent, the patent law statute passed by Congress states that an invention must meet three criteria: it […]
You have conceived of a wonderful new invention and you want tell everyone, but you are not ready for the expense of a patent application. Should you open your mouth? Every inventor feels the tension between the need to maintain secrecy and the need to disclose the invention. If you are a regular reader of […]
As of March 16, 2013 the PTO stopped accepting or reviewing applications for SIRs. Before March 16, the SIR was a technique to notify the world of an invention that the invention owner did not wish to patent. The effect of the SIR was to dedicate the invention to the public so that anyone could […]
According to a chart released by the U.S. PTO, about 26,500 provisional and non-provisional patent applications were filed on March 15, up from the about 2,500 applications that are filed on a typical day. The reason: inventors and their patent lawyers (including us) were racing to beat the March 16 deadline. As we have said […]
We’ve said it before, but there is an absolutely crucial patent deadline coming up on March 17, 2013 due to a change in U.S. patent law. Contact us immediately to avoid complete and permanent loss of your patent rights if (a) you have an invention for which you have not yet filed a patent application, […]
As an individual or small business inventor, do you feel really, really small? The good news: after March 16, 2013 you may qualify as a ‘micro entity’ and be entitled to patent fee discounts from the PTO of 75% off large entity rates. The bad news: large and small entity rates are going up at […]