The Business of Patents
It is often necessary or desirable for two companies to partner up to develop technologies. One context that frequently arises is when a component supplier is developing a product for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In these cases, the design of the component is driven by the OEM’s needs and specifications, but the component supplier […]
Read more →The International Energy Association (IEA) released its 2026 Report on the State of Energy Innovation in February. A copy can be obtained here: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-state-of-energy-innovation-2026. It contains extensive data on the global patenting of energy technologies and has some surprising findings for companies in this space. The first finding that was of note to us was that […]
Read more →Patenting inventions that involve web-based interactions between a business and customers or other third parties can be particularly challenging because of a problem called “divided infringement.” The problem is that in order to distinguish the prior art, you often have to identify system components or method steps in your claims which are the responsibility of multiple […]
Read more →Inventors typically come to us with an idea of what they think is new about their invention. Usually, they have not done a prior art search, and as a result, are sometimes overly optimistic about the breadth of a patent they might ultimately obtain. Once we do a search, the scope of what is “new” – and […]
Read more →Patents are not cheap, and the process can be frustrating and time consuming. So, it is important to think about why you want a patent in the first place. It may turn out that patenting is not an optimal way to achieve your goals. For example, if your invention is not one that leaves a “fingerprint” in a […]
Read more →In our experience, many clients are under the impression that the naming of inventors on a patent application is discretionary and that they can simply select whom they wish to name. We have seen situations where, for internal political reasons, someone wants to name or omit inventors. The listing of inventors on a U.S. […]
Read more →Lately, we have had several inquiries about whether it is possible to patent a new way of using an existing product. The answer is “yes”. This type of patent is typically called a “method of use” patent.” A method of use patent has claims that recite a sequence of steps, and in some cases, the […]
Read more →I want to talk to you today about how to get technical help for your business without losing your patent rights. I want to start out with a quiz. Let’s say you have an employee and that employee does some technical work and ends up developing a patentable invention. Who owns the rights that patentable […]
Read more →Today, we want to discuss something you can do in your patent applications to drastically increase your chances of getting them granted as patents. In order to get a patent, an invention has to be novel, and it has to be non-obvious. An invention is “novel” when no single piece of prior art discloses all […]
Read more →One very powerful aspect of US patent law is its continuation practice. The patent statute allows applicants to file an additional patent application based on an earlier still-pending application and pursue different claims as long as those claims are supported by the first application. The key is that in order to file a continuation there […]
Read more →With many businesses closed or having scaled back operations, now is a good time to revisit your intellectual property strategy. One good starting point is to look at how you distinguish yourself from your competitors. Here are some key questions to ask: 1. How does your company create value and differentiate its products or services […]
Read more →Clients often ask about the differences between design and utility patents. The phrase “design patent” confuses some people because in everyday usage, the term “design” frequently connotes the structure, function, and properties of a product. Not so with design patents. Design patents protect the “ornamental appearance” of an article of manufacture. Utility patents protect the […]
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