How Not to Write a Patent

In honor of the Rubik’s Cube craze that has recently hit the Galvani household, we decided to take a closer look at how this iconic toy was created and what type of intellectual property protection it has enjoyed over the…
I was talking with a client about two weeks ago and explaining the benefits of a provisional application. I was telling him that a provisional application is place holder – it keeps your spot in line – but he had…
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…
Patent reform has been making its way through Congress. The Senate passed a bill, the House passed it in a slightly different form, and it is now going back to the Senate. If approved by that chamber and then approved…
Today in the Explaining Patents series: the background and field of invention section. The background generally comprises two parts: an explanation of the field of invention and a description of the prior art. The Patent Office rules suggest that it…
Professor Andrew Beckerman-Rodau has recently written in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology that intellectual property protection has expanded beyond its intended, or appropriate, scope. This has resulted in the lines between subject matter (and their corresponding intellectual property)…