A Patent is a Tool, not a Ticket
I hear too many people saying, “I’ve got this great idea. If I could just get it patented, I’d make a million dollars.” A patent isn’t a ticket into a life of luxury. It doesn’t mean squat if you don’t…
Patentable Subject Matter – Mayo v. Prometheus
An invention must be of the appropriate subject matter to be eligible for a patent. Appropriate subject matter includes, by statutory definition, a machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter, or process. For most inventions, the determination regarding whether the…
Patent Claims – An Analogy
Understanding patent claims is crucial when you are trying to understand what a patent is and what it can do for you as an inventor. I recently read in Mechanics of Patent Claim Drafting by John Landis a great, easy-to-comprehend…
Open Source Prosthetics Development
After listening to a fascinating interview of double-amputee Scott Rigsby on IM Talk, I began thinking about the world of prosthetics and how it relates to my career in patents. With nearly all medical devices, intellectual property protection can often…
The Duty of Candor and Good Faith in Patent Applications
When a patent application is filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the applicant currently must sign a Declaration attesting to several things. First, that the applicant is the original and first inventor of the claimed subject matter….
America Invents Act Online Guide
I’ve already received many calls from clients about the American Invents Act. For those who want an online reference, the USPTO has created a site that contains some very basic information about the changes it will bring. Some of those…
Patent Reform
You may have heard that a patent reform bill was recently passed by Congress reforming the way our patent system runs. If signed by the President, it will bring the largest changes to the patent system in over a hundred…
First to File Risks to Individual Inventors
David Abrams and Dennis Crouch have published a comparative study on the switch from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system in Canada and applied the analysis to the potential change to the US patent system by the America Invents…
Sampled “Success” Rates of Patent Applications, Courtesy Patently-O
Patently-O did a brief post yesterday on a selected group of patent applications to see how the applications have proceeded through the PTO. Of the applications filed in February 2006, 57% have matured into a patent, 28% are abandoned, and…
Ornamental and Fuctional Aspects in the Same Invention
My invention has both functional and ornamental aspects – can I file for both utility and design patent protection? Absolutely. Both aspects of the invention can be protected. Some considerations (there will probably be others): Timing: Ensure that both applications…