Posts in Patent Basics
WIPO’s INSPIRE Offers a New Way to Select Databases for Patent Searches Involving Machine Translations
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched their INSPIRE (Index of Specialized Patent Information Reports) “database of databases” on November 4, 2020. It provides useful summaries of patent databases …
Understand Your Utility Patent Application Drawings
While it has been said that the how and why of patent application drawings are usually best left to the professionals, I do think it is important …
Why It’s Time to Board the PCT Train: The Benefits of Filing U.S. Patent Applications via the PCT First
I am going to make a bold statement: every non-provisional patent application for an invention originating in the U.S. should be filed via the Patent Cooperation …
Implications of Filing Subsequent Patent Applications in the United States (Part III)
In Part I, the authors reviewed the law behind subsequent patent applications. In Part II, we reviewed the different types of subsequent applications. Part III will discuss …
Types of Subsequent Patent Applications in the United States (Part II)
In Part I of this five-part guide to U.S. subsequent patent applications, the authors reviewed the law governing such applications. In Part II, we review the …
Getting a Patent: The Devastating Consequences of Not Naming All Inventors
Naming the correct inventors is critical when drafting a U.S. patent. Patents must have all inventors properly named. Deciding who is an inventor is a complicated …
Getting A Patent: Who Should be Named as An Inventor?
Every time a patent application is filed, we have to ask, “Who are the inventors?” It is a simple question, but the answer can be complicated. And …
Make Your Disclosures Meaningful: A Plea for Clarity in Patent Drafting
Legal writing has long attracted criticism. In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift complained of lawyers’ “peculiar cant and jargon of their own, that no other mortal can …
Applying for a Patent in Germany
This year, Germany shot to the top of Bloomberg’s rankings for the most innovative nation worldwide, breaking South Korea’s six-year winning streak. Germany is a …
Autopilot or Advocate? Raising the Bar in Ex Parte Appeals at the USPTO
Despite their best efforts, patent practitioners may reach an impasse during negotiations with patent examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). If an applicant …
Time to ‘Think PCT’: Rethink Your Global Patent Strategy to Preserve Your Seat at the Table
Greetings; John White here. It is time for you to “Think PCT” [Patent Cooperation Treaty] anew. If the last thing you remember hearing me say about the …
Patent Office Insights from Two Former Examiners
In the United States patent system, patent applications are handled by two separate, yet equally important, groups: the patent practitioners, who prepare and prosecute applications on behalf …
Conventional Patent Wisdom Revisited
The time is upon us when young patent professionals, many of them fresh out of law school (or out of engineering school) begin their professional lives as …
Develop Your Database of Templates for Responding to Office Actions
Beginners in answering office actions may find it intimidating and hope to learn from similar cases. If they are able to learn from the formats and arguments …
Background Pitfalls When Drafting a Patent Application
Generally speaking, the first section of a patent specification will be the Background. The Manual of Patent Examination and Procedure (MPEP) recommends that the Background be broken …
