The America Invents Act changed up a lot of the paperwork typically filed initially with an original patent application. One of the changes allowed “applicants,” or assignees, to directly file an application. Previously, an inventor would file the application, and…
Inventors and attorneys rushed to file patent applications before March 16, 2013. That date marked an important change in patent law, with applications filed before being subject to the old patent law, and applications filed after being subject to the…
Today, as the last bit of the America Invents Act goes into effect, the Patent Office introduces a new fee structure. Some fees are going up, some fees are going down (Patently-O has a nice article comparing new fees to…
Information Disclosures Statements are used to notify the Patent Office of the art (inventions, publications, etc.) that may bear on the invention that the Applicant is trying to get patented. They should be used anytime a search is performed before…
International preliminary examination of an international application may be requested by filing a demand under Chapter II of the PCT to obtain a preliminary and non-binding opinion on the questions whether the claimed invention appears to be novel, to involve…
Each patent is published with a patent number upon issuance. The patent number is frequently followed with a kind code, which conveys information about the patent or its prosecution history. Other patent documents include kind codes as well. In 2001,…
We made it through the Mayan apocalypse, and to reward us, the USPTO has raised some of its fees. Beginning January 1, 2013, fees due to foreign offices under the PCT system will change according to: 1701 – International filing…
It is a rule we all learned in school: don’t procrastinate, don’t wait until the last minute. It is one I adhere to in my practice. There are enough complexities in the practice of patent law – adding poor timing…
As he often does, Dennis Crouch has created a chart to help better understand the patent process. This one shows the average time between filing a patent application and receiving a first action on the merits (“FAOM”). Generally, this FAOM…
Just thing to get your kids excited about inventing – the USPTO has released a set of trading cards. I think? Features classic like George Washington Carver and Thomas Edison. They can be seen here.