James Yang Image

James Yang

is a patent attorney and helps inventors and mid-sized businesses secure intellectual property protection for their inventions. He also publishes articles relating to the patent system at OC Patent Lawyer and is a a principal at Stetina Brunda Garred and Brucker.

Recent Articles by James Yang

A Claim of priority Cannot Be Made With an Incorporation by Reference

Upon filing a patent application, the USPTO mails a filing receipt.  The domestic and foreign claim of priority is stated and should be checked to make sure that it reflects the claim of priority that the inventor intends.  Otherwise, the patent owner may not be able to cure the defect when trying to sue an infringer after it issues as a patent.  If it can be fixed after it matures into a patent, the costs are much higher than the costs to fix while the patent application is still pending. 

Claimed and prior art ranges must have meaningful difference for nonobviousness

Patent claims can recite a numerical range and a patent can be awarded based on the novelty and nonobviousness of the claimed range. Normally, compositions are claimed in this manner but other types of inventions can be defined in terms of a numerical range such as a length as well. In re: Brandt (Fed. Cir. March 27, 2018) explains that very small differences in the respective ranges can support an obviousness rejection unless the inventor shows a meaningful difference exists.