A patent for an invention is a grant of property rights by the U.S. Government through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent grant excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States. A utility or plant patent in force on June 8, 1995, is subject to either the 17…
Your patent attorney will keep you updated on the status of your patent application. If you are not assigned to an attorney, the following information might be helpful. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is pleased to present PAIR – Patent Application Information Retrieval System. PAIR has a private site that provides a USPTO/Internet…
What can be patented – utility patents are provided for a new, nonobvious and useful: Process Machine Article of manufacture Composition of matter Improvement of any of the above Note: In addition to utility patents, encompassing one of the categories above, patent protection is available for (1) ornamental design of an article of manufacture or…
A joint inventor is an individual who has not only made a significant contribution to the conception of the invention, but also participated in a “collaboration or concerted effort” towards the invention. If the inventor and another individual contributed to the invention as claimed, each party is a joint inventor. Each party is considered to have shared…
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…
A provisional application automatically becomes abandoned when its pendency period expires 12 months after the provisional application filing date by operation of law. Applicants must file a nonprovisional application claiming benefit of the earlier provisional application filing date in the USPTO before the provisional application pendency period expires in order to preserve any benefit from…
Is a trademark application right for you? Trademarks, patents, copyrights, domain names, and business name registrations all differ, so it is important to learn whether a trademark is appropriate for you. A trademark typically protects brand names and logos used on goods and services. A patent protects an invention. A copyright protects an original artistic…
Provisional Application for Patent Provisional Patent Application Forms SOURCE: USPTO.GOV A provisional patent application allows you to file without a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art) statement. Since June 8, 1995, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional application…
A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the United States government to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the…
