By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
March 6, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
US & USPTO PATENT GENERAL INFORMATION
Introduction
The US law provides for patent and trademark protection. The administrative agencies responsible for this are the US Patent Office and the US Trademark Office, which are combined and called the US Patent and Trademark Office, abbreviated as USPTO. In the following, the abbreviation USPTO will be used throughout.
Preparing a patent application
A US Patent Lawyer, also called a US Patent Attorney, normally prepares a US Patent Application for filing with the USPTO. The US Patent Lawyer works with the inventor to draft a specification having a description of the invention, including drawings when possible. The draft is then studied by the inventor, and changes are made if necessary. When the draft is accepted by the inventor, the inventor signs a form called a Declaration, claiming inventorship of the application. Once it is filed, it receives a Serial Number and an Official Filing Receipt, and thus becomes an official US Patent Application.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/US-USPTO-Patent.html
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
SELECTING, CLEARING, AND PROTECTING YOUR IP AND WHY THIS SHOULD BE TOP PRIORITY FOR STARTUPS
By: Laura Good
As a startup looking for financing and seed money, you not only need to have a game plan for protecting your intellectual property assets, but you also need to consider how you intend to market and sell your products/services. In this session, we will discuss the various ways in which you can select, clear, and protect the intellectual property of your company. We will talk through the options, and also discuss the pros and cons to each option. In addition to discussing how to select the right type of IP protection from the outset, we will cover what could happen if you don’t take the necessary steps to protect your IP and other details regarding the following topics:
1. Types of IP
a. Trademark
b. Patent
c. Trade secrets
d. Copyright
2. Documentation needed for IP protection
3. What Happens When Your IP has not been Protected Properly
This includes not using the proper forum to cover your IP
Read more >> https://startupsac.com/selecting-clearing-and-protecting-your-ip-and-why-this-should-be-top-priority-for-startups-2/
As a startup looking for financing and seed money, you not only need to have a game plan for protecting your intellectual property assets, but you also need to consider how you intend to market and sell your products/services. In this session, we will discuss the various ways in which you can select, clear, and protect the intellectual property of your company. We will talk through the options, and also discuss the pros and cons to each option. In addition to discussing how to select the right type of IP protection from the outset, we will cover what could happen if you don’t take the necessary steps to protect your IP and other details regarding the following topics:
1. Types of IP
a. Trademark
b. Patent
c. Trade secrets
d. Copyright
2. Documentation needed for IP protection
3. What Happens When Your IP has not been Protected Properly
This includes not using the proper forum to cover your IP
Read more >> https://startupsac.com/selecting-clearing-and-protecting-your-ip-and-why-this-should-be-top-priority-for-startups-2/
Sunday, March 1, 2020
How to Patent a Design
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
March 2, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A design
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A design is anything which is not functional. A casing or cover for a working device can be a design. Other things can be designs too. A design can best be protected by a design patent application, and usually costs much less to file than a utility (“regular“) patent application. Even the government filing fee is much lower for a design patent application.
What is needed to get a design patent application? You will normally need drawings showing the design from six different orthogonal views. The application itself is very short, and has text naming the invention, describing the drawings, and ending with a claim. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints; instead, they are simplified. And, it is not necessary to have a working model.
Once filed with the US Patent Office, the design application is examined, and if granted, can mature into a design patent. But why get a design patent? For one thing, a design patent protects not only the design itself, but all obvious variations that are not within the public domain already.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Design.html
March 2, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A design
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A design is anything which is not functional. A casing or cover for a working device can be a design. Other things can be designs too. A design can best be protected by a design patent application, and usually costs much less to file than a utility (“regular“) patent application. Even the government filing fee is much lower for a design patent application.
What is needed to get a design patent application? You will normally need drawings showing the design from six different orthogonal views. The application itself is very short, and has text naming the invention, describing the drawings, and ending with a claim. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints; instead, they are simplified. And, it is not necessary to have a working model.
Once filed with the US Patent Office, the design application is examined, and if granted, can mature into a design patent. But why get a design patent? For one thing, a design patent protects not only the design itself, but all obvious variations that are not within the public domain already.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Design.html
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Five Easy Ways To Protect Your New Ideas And Intellectual Property
By: Michael Gargiulo
I believe Forbes is one of the best platforms in the world for sharing and developing bold vision and great ideas. These ideas of ours are like sudden and unexpected natural events -- a volcanic eruption, a measurable earthquake or an F5 tornado dropping from the sky. They strike without warning and burst through the noisy clutter constantly running through our minds like a bright meteor shooting across a starless sky. When we are rewarded with a great idea, our first instinct is often to share that idea with someone we know and trust.
What is the first thing we do when we want to share work that is good enough to warrant a patent, copyright or trademark? We typically pull out our smartphones and start texting or calling. We may go on social media sites and eagerly inform our real and internet friends about our idea. Unfortunately, our passion to share and enlighten others overwhelms the fact that the world is now like an open book. The world is ruled by Wi-Fi and the internet of things (IoT).
Ideas and work can be stolen unless you take steps to protect them. This especially applies to concepts involving lucrative inventions, industrial secrets or medical abstractions. If a bright, creative lightbulb suddenly illuminates your world in the middle of the night, consider using one of these five ways to safeguard your idea.
Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/12/03/5-easy-ways-to-protect-your-new-ideas-and-intellectual-property/#4a5773024c14
I believe Forbes is one of the best platforms in the world for sharing and developing bold vision and great ideas. These ideas of ours are like sudden and unexpected natural events -- a volcanic eruption, a measurable earthquake or an F5 tornado dropping from the sky. They strike without warning and burst through the noisy clutter constantly running through our minds like a bright meteor shooting across a starless sky. When we are rewarded with a great idea, our first instinct is often to share that idea with someone we know and trust.
What is the first thing we do when we want to share work that is good enough to warrant a patent, copyright or trademark? We typically pull out our smartphones and start texting or calling. We may go on social media sites and eagerly inform our real and internet friends about our idea. Unfortunately, our passion to share and enlighten others overwhelms the fact that the world is now like an open book. The world is ruled by Wi-Fi and the internet of things (IoT).
Ideas and work can be stolen unless you take steps to protect them. This especially applies to concepts involving lucrative inventions, industrial secrets or medical abstractions. If a bright, creative lightbulb suddenly illuminates your world in the middle of the night, consider using one of these five ways to safeguard your idea.
Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/12/03/5-easy-ways-to-protect-your-new-ideas-and-intellectual-property/#4a5773024c14
Monday, February 24, 2020
Unpatentable - No Problem! Tips To Protect Your Idea Anyway
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
February 25, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So your new idea might not be patentable. Don't let that stop you! Here's some tips on what to do when your invention is not patentable.
Tip one: mark everything “confidential” and protect it under trade secret law.
Tip two: anything can be a trade secret. It just depends on the person seeing it. If it's new to them, and it's marked confidential, then it's a trade secret.
Tip three: a trade secret is probably better than a patent when it comes to those you have direct contact with. This is helpful if the idea is misappropriated by a retailer, distributor, developer, investor, and anyone else who sees the idea through you.
Tip four: file a provisional patent application (“PPA”). It documents your trade secret, the date of filing, and the ownership. As a government record, it is evidence. Few things could be as good.
Tip five: mark your materials with a copyright symbol. It triggers at least some degree of copyright protection in many cases. This is done by use of the copyright symbol followed by the date and owner. Here's a made-up example: © 2014 ZYX Corp.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Unpatentable-No-Problem-Tips-To-Protect-Your-Idea-Anyway.html
February 25, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So your new idea might not be patentable. Don't let that stop you! Here's some tips on what to do when your invention is not patentable.
Tip one: mark everything “confidential” and protect it under trade secret law.
Tip two: anything can be a trade secret. It just depends on the person seeing it. If it's new to them, and it's marked confidential, then it's a trade secret.
Tip three: a trade secret is probably better than a patent when it comes to those you have direct contact with. This is helpful if the idea is misappropriated by a retailer, distributor, developer, investor, and anyone else who sees the idea through you.
Tip four: file a provisional patent application (“PPA”). It documents your trade secret, the date of filing, and the ownership. As a government record, it is evidence. Few things could be as good.
Tip five: mark your materials with a copyright symbol. It triggers at least some degree of copyright protection in many cases. This is done by use of the copyright symbol followed by the date and owner. Here's a made-up example: © 2014 ZYX Corp.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Unpatentable-No-Problem-Tips-To-Protect-Your-Idea-Anyway.html
Saturday, February 22, 2020
The Truth Nobody Tells You About Startup Budgeting
By: Tracy Leigh Hazzard
So many startups are so eager to throw money into anything they believe will speed up the launch process. More seasoned experts know that intellectual property, patents, trademarks, copyrights, content, and products should all be assets that hold value, rather than sinkholes. You need to have an investment plan for all of this. That means every single spending point along the way should be detailed in your investment plan and budget. The problem with this is that, unless you are spending thousands on an expert, which you probably cannot afford in the beginning, who knows how much you should budget for things like patents, marketing, prototyping, research, and design? This is what we are going to break down today.
Scrounging and Spending: Why? What? When?
The first thing you need to be able to determine is whether or not an item is an asset or a liability, so you can learn when to scrounge, and when to spend, and when you are spending, how much you should be dropping. Remember, when discerning between the two, assets always add value while liabilities oftentimes eat up resources without adding value back in.
The Importance of Research and Design
It is no secret that startups that spend on research and design, especially forward-thinking research and design in their product categories, out-profit every other brand in their category. Every other brand in their category has less value both in the marketplace and in sales. As you build your brand, compare yourself to bigger brands in your category. If you're competing in a marketplace with Apple, for example, then you're going to have to spend a pretty steep amount on research and design. Apple spends between 20 and 25 percent of its overall revenue budget on research and design. In my early days at Herman Miller, they had an entire research division that built assets for the business.
Read more >> https://www.inc.com/tracy-leigh-hazzard/how-to-budget-your-startup-so-you-dont-run-out-of-money.html
So many startups are so eager to throw money into anything they believe will speed up the launch process. More seasoned experts know that intellectual property, patents, trademarks, copyrights, content, and products should all be assets that hold value, rather than sinkholes. You need to have an investment plan for all of this. That means every single spending point along the way should be detailed in your investment plan and budget. The problem with this is that, unless you are spending thousands on an expert, which you probably cannot afford in the beginning, who knows how much you should budget for things like patents, marketing, prototyping, research, and design? This is what we are going to break down today.
Scrounging and Spending: Why? What? When?
The first thing you need to be able to determine is whether or not an item is an asset or a liability, so you can learn when to scrounge, and when to spend, and when you are spending, how much you should be dropping. Remember, when discerning between the two, assets always add value while liabilities oftentimes eat up resources without adding value back in.
The Importance of Research and Design
It is no secret that startups that spend on research and design, especially forward-thinking research and design in their product categories, out-profit every other brand in their category. Every other brand in their category has less value both in the marketplace and in sales. As you build your brand, compare yourself to bigger brands in your category. If you're competing in a marketplace with Apple, for example, then you're going to have to spend a pretty steep amount on research and design. Apple spends between 20 and 25 percent of its overall revenue budget on research and design. In my early days at Herman Miller, they had an entire research division that built assets for the business.
Read more >> https://www.inc.com/tracy-leigh-hazzard/how-to-budget-your-startup-so-you-dont-run-out-of-money.html
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
How to Patent a Provisional Patent Application
By: Michael J Foycik Jr
February 19, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A provisional patent application
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A slightly better title would be “How to Get a Provisional Patent Application.“ That would be more correct, as explained below. It is easy to get a provisional patent application, which gives “patent pending” status but cannot in itself be “patented.” Instead, a provisional patent application holds the date (as the date of filing), protects the owner against later copiers, and permits later filing of a utility (“regular”) patent application.
Why get a Provisional Patent Application? It is less costly, and has a lower government filing fee, as compared with a utility patent application. It takes less effort to prepare, and needs no formal drawings and no signed Declaration.
Anything can be the subject of a provisional patent application. It provides defensive protection against later imitators. And, it can be the basis of a later utility patent application. It’s very useful to get a provisional patent application!
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Provisional-Patent-Application.html
February 19, 2020
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A provisional patent application
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A slightly better title would be “How to Get a Provisional Patent Application.“ That would be more correct, as explained below. It is easy to get a provisional patent application, which gives “patent pending” status but cannot in itself be “patented.” Instead, a provisional patent application holds the date (as the date of filing), protects the owner against later copiers, and permits later filing of a utility (“regular”) patent application.
Why get a Provisional Patent Application? It is less costly, and has a lower government filing fee, as compared with a utility patent application. It takes less effort to prepare, and needs no formal drawings and no signed Declaration.
Anything can be the subject of a provisional patent application. It provides defensive protection against later imitators. And, it can be the basis of a later utility patent application. It’s very useful to get a provisional patent application!
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Provisional-Patent-Application.html
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