Introduction There are three (3) types of patents. The most common and most valuable is a utility patent. There are also design patents and plant patents. This article discusses utility patents and the patent application requirements. Utility Patent Application Requirements The patent application requirements for a utility patent are discussed herein. A utility patent application…
patents
REPRESENTATIVE PATENTS
6,597,177 Through Casing Resistivity Measurement In Permanently Installed Downhole Production Environment. A tool installed within a well casing that can saturate a portion of the casing with magnetic flux and send an oscillating magnetic flux that can be used for resistivity measurement of the adjacent geologic formation. 6,630,831 Measurement of Electrical Properties Through Non Magnetically…
PRE BRIEF APPEAL CONFERENCE
Every practitioner has encountered a recalcitrant examiner or an examiner that exhibits an unexplained animus to the invention. Parallel with this observation is the thought the “if I could just get this file in front of someone else, i.e., someone rational, the claims would be allowed.” The Patent Office provides an imperfect remedy. In a…
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PATENTS
Here are links to additional articles that help explain the patent process What is a Patent? The Patent Application Requirements for a Patentable Invention Patenting Flow Chart What NOT to do Before You File Provisional Patent Application Design Patents Duty to Disclose Information to USPTO International Patents Software Patents in Europe Double Patenting Current ‘Opposition’…
REEXAMINATION
Pfizer recently received an adverse determination of the patentability of one patent (of several) for Lipitor. The “Patent Baristas”1 reported that Lipitor is set to become the worlds first $10 billion a year drug. The adverse decision was made regarding an issued patent in response to an ex parte reexamination request. Such a request can…
DOUBLE PATENTING
As explained in the article entitled Patent Applications, a patent provides a 20 year monopoly granted by the Federal government. Not surprisingly, you can’t extend the monopoly by patenting the invention twice. The idea that an invention only is allowed to be patented once, is related to the idea that a patent can cover only…
SOFTWARE PATENTS IN EUROPE
There have been many recent blogs regarding the wisdom of modifying the rules of the European Patent Office to extend patent protection to computer software. Many of the articles imply that neither software nor business method patents are granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). That implication is contradicted by a scholarly article authored by…
INTERNATIONAL PATENT PROTECTION
It must be remembered that US patent prohibit the unauthorized manufacture, use or sale of patented goods within the US. This includes prohibiting the importation of goods manufactured off shore. Filing for patent protection for foreign markets requires separate action. It is a relatively complex and expensive endeavor. However, there are useful guides and summaries…
DESIGN PATENTS
In addition to utility applications and provisional applications, the USPTO also grants patents for ornamental (non-functional) designs. The term of the design patent is 14 years from the date of issuance. (Contrast this to the utility application term of 20 years from the date of application.) It is not possible to file a provisional application…
DUTY TO DISCLOSE PRIOR ART OR CONFLICTING TECHNOLOGY TO USPTO
Revised August 27 2006 “Nothing gives greater joy to an accused infringer than somehow discovering that the (inventor/applicant) failed to disclose material prior art to the examiner.”1 U.S. Law requires an inventor and his/her patent attorney, in applying for patent protection, to promptly disclose any known information to the patent examiner that would be “material”…