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Brannen Law
Office LLC |
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General Information
Regarding Patents:
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 | A patent is a type of intellectual
property. In the United States, a patent right is an
exclusionary right that allows the patent owner to prevent
others from making, using, selling and importing into the
United States anything that infringes the patent. |
| The two most common types of patents
are utility patents and design patents. Generally, a utility patent seeks to protect
the structure and operation of an invention.
Alternatively, a design patent seeks to protect ornamental
design of an invention. |
| The basic requirements for being able
to obtain a patent are that the invention is new, useful
and non-obvious to people having ordinary skill in the
relevant art. There are many events that can occur that
may result in a loss of right for an otherwise patentable
invention. One such loss of right event is termed the “On
Sale Bar.” This bar comes into play when an inventor fails
to file a patent application within one year of the first
sale, offer for sale or public disclosure of his or her
invention. Inventors and companies should keep in mind that many other
potential bars to patentability exist. |
| Patent Search: Many inventors and companies elect to have a patent search performed at the outset of the patent process. A patent search is not required by the patent laws of the United States, and the decision whether to conduct a patent search depends on many factors, including the relative knowledge and experience of the inventor or company in the relevant art. The goal of the patent search is to uncover the most closely related prior art relevant to the invention. |
| I recommend and always do use an
independent patent searcher to physically conduct the
patent search. Independent patent searchers can conduct an
efficient search while maintaining their independent
credibility. That is, the patent searcher is driven to
provide the best results possible, and is in no way
affected by whether you decide to proceed with a patent
application. |
| It is important to understand that a
patent search is not 100% determinative. Why not? Well,
frankly, there is a relationship between cost and search
quality. In theory, the more time and effort the searcher
spends searching for relevant prior art, the better the
results are likely to be. Yet there is a point of
diminishing returns. I have found that a cost
effective patent search will aim to achieve a confidence
level of about 80 to 90% that the most relevant prior art
will be uncovered by the search. Iit
usually takes about one month for the searcher to complete
the search. |
| After receiving the patent search results, I study and evaluate each uncovered reference. I then prepare a written patent search report, which contains two opinions. First, I provide you with my opinion as to whether I believe that your invention infringes any patent uncovered in the search. Second, I provide you with my opinion as to whether I believe that your invention is patentable over the references uncovered in the search. It usually takes me about two weeks complete the patent search report after receiving the patent search results from the patent searcher. |
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About this Site |
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This web site is provided for informational purposes only. This web site does not contain legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by you reading the information contained on this web site, nor by you sending unsolicited email to this web site. |
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Questions ? |
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I welcome your comments and questions, either by telephone or by email. However, please do not send confidential communications to me without first providing me with your full name and the general subject matter of your inquiry. It is of the utmost importance that I perform a conflict of interest check prior to having an in depth discussion with you, as I may already represent a party adverse to or somehow connected to your matter. In such a case, I may have a duty to disclose any information that you provide to my existing client. |
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