Patentable inventions do not arise in a vacuum. They usually arise in the context of a sales team trying to land an account, often with time constraints and the added pressure of trying to outflank a competitor. The customer is telling the
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It is very common for companies to work with their customers or suppliers in developing products. For example, if you are a supplier, you may work with a customer to provide a component that fits and meets the needs of that customer’s
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When we first meet with a client who is interested in getting a patent, we ask whether they have conducted a patentability search and whether they wish to do so before incurring the expense of preparing a patent application. Many are reluctant
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Companies often want to discuss some of their latest innovations at industry conferences to establish their technical prominence and build their brand. Inventors who are academics often want to describe their work to their peers to develop their reputations in their chosen
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Every patent claim in every patent is its own invention and stands on its own. An accused infringer is liable for patent infringement if it infringes at least one patent claim in one asserted patent. Some patent cases involve large numbers of
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Now you have your shiny, new issued patent, and you want to go forth and profit from it. To do that, you need to let all of those “infringers” (okay, “potential licensees”) know that you have a patent and that they should
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With the implementation of the America Invents Act (AIA), the United States went from a first to invent to a first inventor to file system of determining priority of patent rights. However, that was not all that changed with the implementation of
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Employees Who Assign Patent Rights to Employers May Have Standing to Challenge Omission as Inventors
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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Last week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the May 13, 2015 panel opinion in Akamai Technologies, Inc. et al. v. Limelight Networks, Inc. (Fed. Cir., Slip Opinion Case No. 2019-1372, -1380, -1416, -1417) and issued a new en
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When drafting patent claims for a device, it is often desirable to describe the device based on how it works instead of how it is structured. Describing a device based on how it works is often referred to as “functional claiming.” Claims
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