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
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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
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If you practice law long enough, you see the pendulum shift between the respective rights of patent owners and accused infringers. The pendulum seems to be shifting, at least somewhat, back toward the inventors. In October of last year, John Squires, Director
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Not only do we help our clients get U.S. patents, but we help them get patents in places like Europe, Canada, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil. In order to prosecute a patent in a foreign patent office, we have to retain counsel
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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
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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
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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
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It is sometimes the case that the real driver of value in a patented machine or system is in the aftermarket for replaceable components. The problem is that, on their own, the replaceable components often lack any unique functionality and are unprotectable with
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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
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Patent cases are very discovery intensive, and many courts now have “patent local rules” that provide regulated process by which plaintiffs disclose their infringement contentions (i.e., explanations of why the defendant’s acts infringe the plaintiff’s patent) and by which defendants disclose their
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