Thursday, October 22, 2009

About US Provisional Applications

Provisional applications for a patent are not examined, so they cost less to file. To get actual coverage from a provisional filing, during the one year after filing, the applicant has to either file a regular utility application claiming the priority of the provisional case, or convert the provisional application to a regular one.

A provisional application is occasionally a good patent tactic. Usually it is not. A US inventor should consider a provisional filing if both of the following conditions are met::

1) there is an urgent deadline for putting the product on the market or publishing a technical description of it; and

2) foreign patent applications will probably be filed if the new product is successful.

In these cases, a provisional can "buy time" to test the market, do a patent search, and generally to see if the invention is worth patenting. US patent laws have always allowed an inventor a grace period in which to file a patent application after the product has been offered for sale or after it has been publicly disclosed, but other countries generally do not provide a grace period. Part of Congress' reasoning for setting up the provisional was that it could be used to extend the same grace period to other countries.

There are several traps for the unwary built into the provisional application:

  • There is a temptation to file too soon, or to file an overly brief description. If the application fails to describe the invention in enough detail that someone "ordinarily skilled in the art" can use the application's description to practice the invention "without undue experimentation", it does not offer any protection whatever. This is the same standard applied to regular applications. Because the law requires this level of completeness, anyone who is ready to file a provisional application is also ready to file a regular utility application.
  • The high costs of foreign filings may have to be faced earlier in the process. If international coverage is desired, but there are no immediate deadlines looming, one is almost always better off filing a regular application and hoping that the Patent Office starts the examination during the first year. With some luck, one can get the benefit of an Examiner's search and evaluation before having to file equivalent foreign applications or an international application.
  • The good arguments for filing provisionally are all predicated on your being in a rush. So, how do you minimize the risk of failing to provide an adequate disclosure of the invention? One approach is to figure that a provisional is going to be less well organized than the regular application that follows it. This means that the provisional should be bigger – NOT smaller. It will have more drawing figures. Not fewer. Good organization lets one cut down the size of a document. Haste requires either discarding material (a potentially fatal choice), or putting in everything that’s on hand.

How to Patent Your Invention

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is the government agency responsible for examining patent applications and issuing patents. A patent is a type of property right. It gives the patent holder the right, for a limited time, to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing into the United States the subject matter that is within the scope of protection granted by the patent. The USPTO determines whether a patent should be granted in a particular case. However, it is up to the patent holder to enforce his or her own rights if the USPTO does grant a patent.

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with basic information about filing a utility patent application. A patent application is a complex legal document, best prepared by one trained to prepare such documents. Thus, after reviewing this guide, you may wish to consult with a registered patent attorney or agent. Additional information is available:

  • by calling the USPTO's General Information Services Division at 800-PTO-9199 or 703-308-4357,
  • from the USPTO's Web site at www.uspto.gov, and
  • at your nearest Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL). You will find information on PTDLs at the end of this guide.

There are various types of patents -- utility, design, and plant. There are also two types of utility and plant patent applications -- provisional and nonprovisional. Each year the USPTO receives approximately 350,000 patent applications. Most of these are for nonprovisional utility patents.

If you have questions about:

  • other types of patent applications,
  • locating a patent attorney or agent,
  • obtaining the most up-to-date Fee Schedule, or
  • obtaining copies of other USPTO publications,

please contact an experienced Patent Attorney by calling 661-310-7999

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Los Angeles Patents,Trademarks and Copyrights

The following information regarding Patents, Trademarks and Copyright is brought to you as a public service of 1000Attorneys.com - Bar Certified Los Angeles Intellectual Property Attorney Referral Service. The material presented is general legal information intended to alert you to possible legal problems and solutions.

Patents are intended to protect inventions of a functional or design nature. Trademarks provide protection for indicators of the source of products and services used in commercial trade, such as words or logos. Copyrights provide protection for literary and artistic expressions. Patents, trademarks and copyrights are collectively referred to as intellectual property.

Patents are granted by the federal government to protect inventions for a limited period of time. There are three types of patents: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. A utility patent gives the patent holder the right to exclude others from making, using, importing, offering to sell and selling his or her invention for a period of 20 years from the date of filing a patent application. A utility patent may be obtained for processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or compositions of matter if the invention meets three basic criteria. (1) It must be useful; (2) it must be novel, in that it has not been previously known by others; and (3) it must be sufficiently different from what was previously known that it would not be obvious to someone having ordinary skill in that field.

Design patents are available for new and original ornamental designs for an article of manufacture. A design patent protects the design for 14 years from the grant of the patent. Plant patents may be obtained for certain types of asexually reproduced plants that do not occur naturally, for example, new varieties of roses.

An inventor may prepare and file a patent application directly with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, the availability and scope of protection depend on how a patent application is prepared, so it is recommended that an inventor first consult a registered patent attorney or agent.

At the outset, the attorney or agent may suggest that a novelty search be performed to see if a similar invention has been described in a previously issued patented. If an invention appears to be sufficiently different from what is known to exist, he or she can prepare the necessary papers to apply for a patent.

Utility patent applications include a detailed description and drawings of the invention, as well as claims that legally define what protection is requested. It is possible to file a temporary application, referred to as a provisional application, before filing a regular utility application. A provisional application also must have a detailed description and drawings of the invention, but is not examined. A regular utility patent application that is filed within one year of the provisional application will be treated as though it was filed when the provisional application was filed. A patent attorney or agent can inform you of the advantages and disadvantages of filing a provisional application.

There are strict statutory requirements in the United States regarding the time within which a patent application must be filed after an invention has been publicly used, or sold, or offered for sale. It is important that an inventor be prompt in seeking help in protecting his or her invention. If your invention has been in public use, offered for sale, sold or otherwise commercialized for more than one year before your patent application is filed, the inventor is barred from obtaining a patent in the U.S. unless the inventor can show that the public use was primarily experimental. Other countries have different bars, which are generally much more strict than those in the U.S., so it is best to consult a patent attorney or agent before you do anything to commercialize your invention or disclose it to others.

The words "patent applied for" or "patent pending" mean that an application has been filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Such notices create no legal rights, however, as patent rights are created when the patent is granted.

A United States patent provides no protection in foreign countries; however, filing a patent application in the United States prior to any non-confidential disclosure of the invention will temporarily preserve the inventor's rights in most foreign countries, so long as applications are filed in those countries within one year after the U.S. filing date. However, so long as inventions are kept confidential, applications can be filed in other countries at any time.
A patent is a property right that may be held for one's own use, sold outright to another, or licensed to others.

After a patent is issued, the federal government does not police the market for violations or infringements. If others infringe the patent, it is up to the patent owner to assert his or her rights.

A trademark is a word, a name, a symbol, a device, a combination of these, or other indicator used exclusively to identify the source of products and distinguish them from others. Examples are "Kodak" for cameras, and "Chevrolet" for automobiles. Service marks are like trademarks, except that they identify services. Examples of these would be "McDonald's" for restaurants, and "Holiday Inn" for motels.

There is a hierarchy of protection for trademarks and service marks. The strongest are coined or arbitrary marks that in no way suggest or describe the product or service. An example is "Kodak" which was a coined or made-up word when first adopted.

Next, and also protectable, are marks that merely suggest the product or service or suggest some characteristic or quality of the product or service.

At the bottom of the list, and generally not protectable, are descriptive marks. Generic terms can never become valid trademarks.

Rights in a trademark or service mark are acquired in the United States by being the first to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods or services. Rights also may be established by filing an application for trademark registration in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on a bona fide intention to use a mark at a later date. A mark is not registered until it has actually been used on a product or service.

It is not necessary to register a trade or service mark. It can be protected under state and federal laws without registration. However, it is beneficial to register the mark, either with the Oregon Secretary of State, or if interstate commerce is involved, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

When a mark is registered, particularly at the federal level, the registration provides to others notice of the registrant's claim of ownership, and it gives federal courts jurisdiction to hear infringement claims. Once a trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it may be accompanied by an "R" in a circle, or by some other notice indicating that it is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Before you adopt a mark for use on either a product or service, you should have a search performedto determine if someone else has previously established rights in the same or a similar mark. Again, an attorney may be helpful to you in making such searches before you adopt a mark and in later registering your mark.

Additional information on patents and trademarks is also available at the web site of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, www.uspto.gov.

Copyrights seek to promote literary and artistic creativity by protecting what the U.S. Constitution broadly calls "writings of authors". Copyrightable works include literary works, musical and dramatic works, sculptures, motion pictures and other audio-visual works, sound recordings and computer programs.

A copyright protects only the particular expressions of ideas and not the ideas themselves. To be protectable, a work must be original and it must evidence some creativity. Depending on the nature of the work, the owner of copyright has the exclusive right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies of the work, to perform the work, to display the work, and to authorize others to do these things.

Once a copyrightable work has been created and fixed in a tangible form, such as being written down or recorded, it is protectable, whether it has been published or not. If it is to be published, all copies of the work that are published should preferably bear a copyright notice. The statutory copyright notice consists of the symbol of a "C" in a circle or the word "copyright," the year of first publication, and the name of the owner of the copyright. In the case of sound recordings, a "P" in a circle must be used in place of the "C" in a circle. Audio-visual works should bear both the circle "P" and circle "C" indicators.

Copyrights may be registered with the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress. As of 1989, it is no longer necessary to place a copyright notice on a work, nor is it a requirement to apply for registration with the Library of Congress, but such notices and filings are strongly recommended to obtain advantages in the event that a copyright is to be enforced in a court of law. For example, registration is still to bring a lawsuit, and the existence of a registration prior to an infringing act may entitle the copyright owner to additional monetary awards by a court.

An individual's copyright lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years. A copyright registered anonymously, under a pseudonym or as an entity lasts 120 years from creation or 95 years from the date it is first published, whichever expires first.