The Business of Patents
Software is the redheaded stepchild of intellectual property. It is not well protected by any of patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret law, and the reason is not hard to find – none of those regimes was built with software in mind, and they seem to protect all but what is most important to a […]
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 →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 to do so because they think they “know” the market for their invention. […]
Read more →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 article. If the article has never been made with those materials, and if […]
Read more →In February, I wrote a post called “Have You Checked Your Pending Patent Applications Lately”. The post concerned the evolving nature of technology as products are commercialized and the need to ensure that pending patent applications remain relevant and tuned to the products they are intended to cover. Some time later, I was contacted by […]
Read more →So, you hired a brilliant engineer to design a new medical device for your company. He used your computers, your staff, your vendors, your testing equipment, and developed it on “company time.” He received the salary that was agreed-upon for his efforts. The device looks promising. It could be a real game-changer. Realizing this, your […]
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