Posts Tagged: "Patent Attorneys"

It is true that math itself is not protected, because it has been deemed (and rightfully so) an abstract idea, but the use of math in other processes and inventions is different. If you or I come up with a useful process that includes a mathematical calculation as one of its essential steps, then that calculation can be patented as part of the process.

Just because algorithms are processed mathematically by a computer, doesn’t mean the results have any mathematical value. The electrical charges that zip around inside a computer only have value because we assign it to them, not because they have any inherent value of their own. A piece of software is usually not designed to make mathematical calculations for the purpose of obtaining numerical results, but rather to transform information represented numerically into other pieces of information that do have value to us.

If you ever thought of starting a patent software company, I have some good news for you. Unlike the general software markets for, say, antivirus or mp3 software, the legal software market is just not very saturated. A lot of the existing software for patent lawyers is outdated, ridiculously expensive, and frankly, not that good. There is definitely room for…

Happy National Be Kind To Lawyers Day!  What, you’ve not heard of it before?  Is it too much to ask to be nice to lawyers for just one day???  That was the question Steve Hughes, Creator of NATIONAL BE KIND TO LAWYERS DAY and the author of  bekindtolawyers.com asked himself one day.  Steve, a non-lawyer from St. Louis and founder of Hit Your…

Intellectual Property Today has once again come out with its much anticipated list of the top patent law firms. At the top of the list was Oblon Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, LLP, with 4043 utility patents, 72 design patents, which represents an increase of 6.5% in 2009 over 2008.

We do understand that the decision who to hire as your attorney is a very personal one, and you should make the selection carefully. At the same time it is at least a little insulting for individuals to ask us to recommend a patent attorney for them, as if they have already ruled out our services out of hand. It also is a big turn-off when it is clear that those who call or e-mail want us to read to them what we have written on our website.

Last week Inc.com published an article titled How to Find a Good Patent Lawyer. Unfortunately, if you follow this advice you are likely to do exactly the opposite. If you can believe it, Inc.com suggests that you not ask business associates or others for reliable recommendations, which goes completely against the well established best practices in the industry. The article also suggests that if you have an Internet business you might want to find a patent attorney who also specializes in First Amendment law, almost as if those types of lawyers readily exist, which they don’t.

I have been asked to create a patent curriculum that will have at a minimum 24 credit hours of patent related legal education, perhaps more.  As you might expect, I have some ideas about how to fill the curriculum, but thought I might open this up for discussion here to gain the collective thoughts, wisdom and insights of IPWatchdog.com readers.…

This article was written for the United Inventors Association Newsletter and is reprinted here with permission.  Sign up to receive the free UIA weekly newsletter. ******************************** Over the years I have received quite a number of e-mail inquiries and telephone calls from inventors who are looking for information and advice, perhaps even representation. Typically, the initial communication starts off with…

Dmitry Brant, a DC patent attorney at a top patent law firm, recently launched a new software product aimed at the patent market named Patent ClaimMaster.  Patent ClaimMaster is a Microsoft Word plugin that helps you improve the quality of your patent documents while reducing costs. With Patent ClaimMaster you can turn cumbersome and time consuming tasks into simple tasks…

There are ways that inventors can file for Patent protection on their inventions with a limited budget, but even then you have to be realistic in the costs of this undertaking. Again, this is a process, and in order to do it right, there are several steps that need to take place and each of these steps will take time and money. You cannot simply write down on a piece of paper what your invention is, and get a patent.

UPDATED: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 11:54am Eastern It has come to my attention that the Patent Buddy Top 100 seems to be flawed.  I have been contacted by one firm on the Top 100 list and told that number of patents they obtained in 2008 is at least double what is listed on the list.  I then did a…

    An updated version of this article is available at:   https://ipwatchdog.com/2013/08/17/patent-drafting-what-is-the-patentable-feature/id=44713/    

    An updated version of this article is available at: https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/05/17/patent-drafting-not-as-easy-as-you-think/id=49638/    

Over the years I have received quite a number of e-mail inquiries and telephone calls from inventors who are looking for information and advice. Typically, the initial communication starts off with the inventor saying that they have an invention that they know will be well received in the market and that they are looking for a patent attorney who can…