Patents
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General Information Regarding Patents:
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 called utility patents and design
patents, respectively. 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 should keep in mind
that many other potential bars to patentability exist.
Patent Search:
Many inventors 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 in the relevant art. The goal of the patent search is to uncover the
most closely related prior art relevant to the invention. It is important to keep
in mind that a patent search is never 100% determinative of patentability
and/or non-infringement.
Provisional Patent Application:
A provisional patent application is an application that remains pending for
only one year. A provisional application can be prepared relatively quickly
and at a significantly decreased cost compared to the preparation and filing
of a utility patent application.
A utility patent application must be filed within one year of the provisional
application in order for the applicant to take advantage of the provisional
application filing date.
The legal fees spent on the preparation and filing of the provisional
application do not need to be duplicated when filing the utility application. In
this regard, it is commonly said that the filing of the provisional application is
a cost delaying, but not significantly increasing, measure.
Utility Patents:
A utility patent seeks to protect the structures and functions of an invention.
This is the most common type of patent. There are three distinct phases
associated with the process of obtaining and maintaining a utility patent.
Those phases are the application preparation phase, the application
prosecution phase and the patent issuance and maintenance phase.
The patent application process begins with you, the inventor, providing a full
disclosure of the invention to me. I, in turn, then provide you with a firm
estimate of the legal fees involved with the preparation of the application,
which I will not exceed under normal circumstances.
The next phase of the application process is the prosecution phase. This
phase comprises tasks such as disclosing potentially relevant references to
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) and
responding to one or more communications from the USPTO, called office
Actions. In the first office Action, the Examiner most always rejects at least
some and sometimes all of the claims. We then have an opportunity to
amend your application in an attempt to resolve the Examiner’s concerns or
simply provide legal arguments without amending the claims. It is typical for
the prosecution phase to last from about one to three (1-3) years.
After the prosecution is completed, the next phase is the issuance and
maintenance phases. A utility patent is valid for 20 years from the earliest
filing date of the application. Maintenance Fees must be paid periodically in
order to keep the patent in force for the full patent term.
Design Patents:
A design patent seeks to protect the ornamental design of an invention, i.e.,
how it looks. There are three distinct phases associated with the process of
obtaining and maintaining a design patent. Those phases are the
application preparation phase, the application prosecution phase and the
patent issuance phase.
The patent application process begins with you, the inventor, providing a full
disclosure of the invention to me. I, in turn, then provide you with a firm
estimate of the legal fees involved with the preparation of the application,
which I will not exceed under normal circumstances.
The next phase of the application process is the prosecution phase. This
phase comprises tasks such as disclosing potentially relevant references to
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) and
responding to one or more communications from the USPTO, called office
Actions. In the first office Action, the Examiner may reject the application. We
then have an opportunity to respond to the Examiner’s concerns. The
prosecution process can last from about 9 months to about 2 years.
There are no Maintenance Fees associated with design patents.
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 called utility patents and design
patents, respectively. 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 should keep in mind
that many other potential bars to patentability exist.
Patent Search:
Many inventors 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 in the relevant art. The goal of the patent search is to uncover the
most closely related prior art relevant to the invention. It is important to keep
in mind that a patent search is never 100% determinative of patentability
and/or non-infringement.
Provisional Patent Application:
A provisional patent application is an application that remains pending for
only one year. A provisional application can be prepared relatively quickly
and at a significantly decreased cost compared to the preparation and filing
of a utility patent application.
A utility patent application must be filed within one year of the provisional
application in order for the applicant to take advantage of the provisional
application filing date.
The legal fees spent on the preparation and filing of the provisional
application do not need to be duplicated when filing the utility application. In
this regard, it is commonly said that the filing of the provisional application is
a cost delaying, but not significantly increasing, measure.
Utility Patents:
A utility patent seeks to protect the structures and functions of an invention.
This is the most common type of patent. There are three distinct phases
associated with the process of obtaining and maintaining a utility patent.
Those phases are the application preparation phase, the application
prosecution phase and the patent issuance and maintenance phase.
The patent application process begins with you, the inventor, providing a full
disclosure of the invention to me. I, in turn, then provide you with a firm
estimate of the legal fees involved with the preparation of the application,
which I will not exceed under normal circumstances.
The next phase of the application process is the prosecution phase. This
phase comprises tasks such as disclosing potentially relevant references to
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) and
responding to one or more communications from the USPTO, called office
Actions. In the first office Action, the Examiner most always rejects at least
some and sometimes all of the claims. We then have an opportunity to
amend your application in an attempt to resolve the Examiner’s concerns or
simply provide legal arguments without amending the claims. It is typical for
the prosecution phase to last from about one to three (1-3) years.
After the prosecution is completed, the next phase is the issuance and
maintenance phases. A utility patent is valid for 20 years from the earliest
filing date of the application. Maintenance Fees must be paid periodically in
order to keep the patent in force for the full patent term.
Design Patents:
A design patent seeks to protect the ornamental design of an invention, i.e.,
how it looks. There are three distinct phases associated with the process of
obtaining and maintaining a design patent. Those phases are the
application preparation phase, the application prosecution phase and the
patent issuance phase.
The patent application process begins with you, the inventor, providing a full
disclosure of the invention to me. I, in turn, then provide you with a firm
estimate of the legal fees involved with the preparation of the application,
which I will not exceed under normal circumstances.
The next phase of the application process is the prosecution phase. This
phase comprises tasks such as disclosing potentially relevant references to
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) and
responding to one or more communications from the USPTO, called office
Actions. In the first office Action, the Examiner may reject the application. We
then have an opportunity to respond to the Examiner’s concerns. The
prosecution process can last from about 9 months to about 2 years.
There are no Maintenance Fees associated with design patents.
| Cover of a United States Letters Patent |