Employers do not automatically obtain legal ownership of the patent rights to their employees’ inventions simply because of the employer-employee relationship. Thus, it is a standard practice to require employees to assign their patent rights to their employers in an employment agreement.
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Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Clients often assume that they are entitled to a patent because no single piece of prior art shows all of their invention. In that case the invention may be novel. However, it does not
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Under U.S. law, improved articles of manufacture may be patentable if they are novel and non-obvious. Sometimes, an inventor comes up with a new article that is faster, stronger, more flexible, more rigid, lighter, etc. by using new materials to make the
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Pros and Cons of Apparatus and Method of Use Claims Devices or apparatuses can often be protected by using two kinds of patent claims: apparatus and method of use claims. Each approach has its benefits and drawbacks. In general, apparatus claims expand
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Since we have been living with managed medical care for some time, many people have become accustomed to the idea that they need to act as their own advocate when dealing with medical professionals. Thus, we have become more comfortable with questioning
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The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) has had a variety of procedures to enable applicants to speed up the examination of their applications. However, they’ve generally been limited in some fashion or had burdensome requirements. That has changed with the introduction
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The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) recently requested public comment on how applicants can improve patent quality. The PTO’s Notice describes possible procedures such as requiring applicants to correlate claim terms to the specification and state whether examples are intended to
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Failure to take certain required actions can result in the abandonment of a U.S. patent application or issued patent. For example, if an office action is not replied to within six months of issuance or if an issue fee is not paid
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Although the America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law in September 2011, the “first inventor to file” provisions did not immediately take effect. However, they will take effect in less than two months. Are you ready? The shift to a first
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Clients often want to know how long it will take them to get a patent. Of course, whether they get one at all will depend on whether their invention is novel and non-obvious as well as how broadly their claims are drafted.
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