Determining patent infringement damages is complicated and often borders on the metaphysical. Under U.S. law, a patent holder is entitled to damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a “reasonable royalty.” In some cases, patent holders
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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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This time of the year it is common to publish lists of everything ranging from the top songs to the top movies to the best and worst dressed people. Last year we published a list of the top 10 misconceptions about patents
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How aware are you of your competitor’s patenting activities? Are they seeking patents that could impact your development of future product lines in your technology area? Are they moving into new technologies that could be game-changers? Are new players entering your space?
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We live in a global economy, and foreign markets are more important than ever. In many businesses, protecting intellectual property in foreign markets is at least, if not more, important than protecting it in the United States. Unfortunately, there is no “international
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In our role as patent counsel to big companies, small companies, and individual inventors, we are fortunate to see how certain patent holders are able to obtain strong, valuable patents. Based on our experience, here are five key attributes of those who
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