How Not to Write a Patent


If you have received a cease-and-desist letter asserting a design patent, or if you are already a defendant in a design patent infringement lawsuit, your first instinct may be to wonder whether the patent is even valid. It is a…
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…
An Application Data Sheet is a sheet or sheets that may be voluntarily submitted in either a provisional or a nonprovisional application, which contains bibliographic data, arranged in a format specified by the Patent Office.
In the past 6 months, I’ve noticed in my own practice that the Patent Office has increased the speed with which a first office action is issued, compared to historical numbers. However, the sequester has had an effect on the…
The Patent Office has started a new Automated Interview Request program which allows patent attorneys, agents, and applicants to request interviews with Examiners in their cases online.
The Patent Office is relatively generous when it comes to tolerating accidents in patent applications and patents. Revival of a PCT application is more difficult. Patent applications can sometimes go abandoned when an applicant fails to submit a reply or…