Posts in Invention Basics
How J.E.M. and Chakrabarty Make the Case for DABUS
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that plants could be protected with utility patents. J.E.M. Ag Supply, Inc., …
Fit to Drive: Three Inspiring Office Action Responses from the USPTO’s Art Unit 3668
Every patent practitioner has faced the same obstacle — a client's application is assigned to an unfamiliar art unit. This presents two challenges: unfamiliarity with the examiners and …
Design Patents 101: Understanding Utility Patents’ Lesser-Known Cousin
Design patents provide powerful protections both on their own and as a complement to their more well-known cousin, utility patents. The highly publicized Apple v. Samsung lawsuits …
Starting the Patent Process on a Limited Budget
If you are an inventor new to inventing, you undoubtedly believe you’ve come up with an idea, or two or three, that could really be successful. …
Artificial Intelligence Will Help to Solve the USPTO’s Patent Quality Problem
About a month ago, Steve Brachmann authored an article concerned with a brief given to Capitol Hill staff by Professors Frakes and Wasserman. The article highlighted fundamental, …
What to Know About Drafting Patent Claims
In order to obtain exclusive rights on an invention, you must file for and obtain a patent. Many inventors will initially opt to file a provisional patent …
Beyond the Slice and Dice: Turning Your Idea into an Invention
The patent process actually starts well before you file a patent application or seek assistance from a patent attorney. Every patent application starts with an invention, and …
Why Engineering Companies Get into IP Trouble: Five Tips to Mitigate the Risks
Too often, engineering companies are in such a race to come up with the next big thing that they forget to consider the crucial step following their …
Congress Must Work to Understand the Language of Inventors
One of the more dramatic moments in my $20 million dollar patent brawl occurred in the pivotal preliminary injunction hearing at the courthouse in downtown Tyler, Texas. I …
Your Developers Could Be Publicly Disclosing Source Code By Using Third-Party Code Repositories
Recently, I met with a potential client to discuss key points that developers and management should keep in mind in taking the first steps to begin developing …
Seven Steps to Success in Business or Entrepreneurship
There really is no one-size-fits-all approach entrepreneurs and business executives can follow, and there is no roadmap to success that will work in all cases. That doesn’…
Mitigating ‘Justified Paranoia’ via Provisional Patent Applications
As mentioned in Part I of this series, many inventors will seek to obtain some kind of patent protection so they can stake claim to their invention. …
Justified Paranoia: Patenting and the Delicate Dance Between Confidentiality and Investment
Most inventors understand that a certain amount of paranoia goes a long way when dealing with an idea or invention. Ideas cannot be patented, but every invention …
Anatomy of a Valuable Patent: Building on the Structural Uniqueness of an Invention
From a conceptual standpoint, it would seem logical to assume that writing text to describe a particular invention ought to be easy for the inventor of that …
How Can I Sell an Idea for Profit? Unlocking the Idea-Invention Dichotomy
Selling an idea and waiting for lottery-like winnings to arrive at your doorstep seems to be the American dream. It is certainly the dream of every inventor, …
