ARE YOUR PATENT OFFICE MAINTENANCE FEES DUE IN 2020? Who can pay? Maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges may be paid by the patentee or by any person or organization on behalf of a patentee. What to include with payment? You must include both the patent number and corresponding application number with your maintenance fee…
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…
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…
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…
When Patents and Trademarks Go Bump in the Night A post about the USPTO from the Department of Commerce Innovation comes in all shapes and forms, and every October the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) uses social media as a fun and timely way to educate the public about the importance of intellectual property (IP) and…
2016 National Trademark Expo The 2016 National Trademark Expo will be held on October 21st (10:00 am to 5:00 pm) and 22nd (10:00 am to 4:00 pm), 2016 at the beautiful Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium located at 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20240. The Expo is open to any owner of a federally-registered trademark. This free,…
Organization and Staff Classification Standards and Development maintains the patent classification systems. Classification Divisions and Contact Numbers Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) effort is a joint partnership between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) where the Offices have agreed to harmonize their existing…
This week in patent history Ross Clay was granted a Design patent (381781) for a swimming pool leaf and debris removal net in 1997. Abstract: An improved device for collecting and removing debris from a swimming pool, pond or the like comprising a mesh material formed into a net for collecting and temporarily storing the debris. The…
