A common law trademark is a trademark used with the offer or sale of products and services. Most trademarks start out as common law trademarks and then the owner later decides to register them federally. Until they become federally registered,…
The Trademark Office may send you an office action or notice after you’ve filed maintenance paperwork in your trademark registration. The notice refuses to accept your maintenance filing until the Office is convinced that you are using your trademark on…
Recently the website IPWatchdog published an article that addressed a topic important enough that I thought I should mention it here as well. It concerns patent maintenance fees and the possible accidental payment of maintenance fees on already-expired patents. Patent…
If a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office believes that your application claims more than one invention, he or she will issue a restriction requirement. Restriction requirements are incredibly common and are a normal part of…
Continuation-in-part patent applications are a strange type of continuing patent application. They are a tool that can extend the life of a patent family and protect improvements to inventions covered by prior patents. They have significant risks, however, and should…
A trademark cancellation is one process available at the Trademark Office for clearing trademarks that, for various reasons, should no longer be registered. Filing or defending a trademark cancellation can be complicated and requires knowledge of nuances of both trademark…
Applicants make amendments in patent applications all the time. Usually, these amendments are made while patent prosecution is active, before a Notice of Allowance. However, you can actually amend the application just before it issues as a granted patent. What…
If you own a registered trademark for a few years, you will receive notices in the mail warning you of a “Pending Trademark Cancellation” or an “Imminent Trademark Expiration.” Be careful when reading these because they may not be legitimate. …
The Patent Office is establishing a separate design patent bar for people to practice design patent prosecution in front of the USPTO. I am generally against this, because I believe it will lead to bad advice being given to inventors…
The Patent Office just announced a SOAR program called “Learn the three-step approach to filing a patent without an attorney and what the USPTO Midwest Regional Office can do for you.” In this program, the PTO teaches inventors how to…