The United States Code provides that the owners of all utility and reissue utility patents filed on or after December 12, 1980 must pay maintenance fees to keep the patents. Maintenance fees are not required for design, plant patent, or statutory invention registrations. Maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges may be paid by the patentee…
The United States Code provides that a product that has been present in the public domain for more than 12 months is no longer patentable. The 12 month anniversary establishes a statutory bar against patentability; you have 12 months from the date that you first made it public to file your patent application. A patent…
There are various types of patents that inventors should be aware: UTILITY PATENTS There are two types of utility and plant patent applications: provisional and nonprovisional. A provisional application is a quick and inexpensive way for inventors to establish a U.S. filing date for their invention, which can be claimed in a later-filed nonprovisional application….
Major findings: The share of patents that include at least one woman as an inventor increased from about 7 percent in the 1980s to 21 percent by 2016. Even with this increase in patent counts, women inventors made up only 12 percent of all inventors on patents granted in 2016. Gains in female participation in…
Under Federal Law, interstate commerce is any commercial transactions or traffic that cross state boundaries or that involve more than one state. “Interstate commerce” as it relates to the sale of goods includes transporting the goods across state lines and the mark must be displayed on the goods or the packaging associated with the goods….
An office action is an official letter sent by the USPTO. In it, an examining attorney lists any legal problems with your chosen trademark, as well as with the application itself. You must resolve all legal problems in the office action before we can register your trademark. In an office action, an examining attorney may…
PROVISIONAL APPLICATION FOR PATENT FILING DATE REQUIREMENTS The provisional application must name all of the inventor(s). In view of the one-year grace period provided by 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) in conjunction with 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), a provisional application can be filed up to 12 months following an inventor’s public disclosure of the invention. (Such a pre-filing…
To expunge information submitted in incorrect application: Where the USPTO can determine the correct application file that the papers were actually intended for, based on identifying information in the heading of the papers (e.g., application number, filing date, title of invention and inventor(s) name(s)), the USPTO will transfer the papers to the correct application file…
What is a trademark-related solicitation? A solicitation is an offer of services, or a notice of an upcoming filing deadline with an offer of services, usually requiring a fee. Private companies often use trademark application and registration information from USPTO databases to mail or email trademark-related solicitations to trademark applicants and registrants. While these solicitations…
Relatedness of Goods and/or Services Even if two marks are found to be confusingly similar, a likelihood of confusion will exist only if the goods and/or services upon which or in connection with the marks are used are, in fact, related. Whether the goods and/or services are related is determined by considering the commercial relationship…
