NEWS: Patents – Superpowers With an Expiration Date
A recent Supreme Court decision involving Marvel Comic's Spiderman provides a convenient opportunity to compare patents to superpowers, albeit superpowers with an expiration date. Here's the backgroun ...
NEWS: IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR US DESIGN PATENTS
Important changes are coming for US design patents. These changes will be a great boon to US applicants, making it possible to use a single application to simultaneously seek protection of their desi ...
INSIGHT : Another Yoga Patent Controversy
I was recently asked to comment on the current yoga patent controversy surrounding a patent application filed by Yogaglo, a company that provides streaming yoga classes. Subsequent to filing their app ...
NEWS : How does the government shutdown affect USPTO processing?
Without delving into the politics behind the government shutdown, many of my clients are curious about whether and how the current shutdown will be affecting any matters they have pending before the U ...
SEMINAR : Intellectual Property – A Small Business Primer
On Thursday, August 22, I'll be doing a presentation on intellectual property issues that small businesses are likely to encounter. Small businesses put a lot of effort into developing their identity ...
INSIGHT: Originality in intellectual property
Originality plays an important role in both intellectual property and business success. Some degree of originality is required to secure the protection of patent, copyright or trademark law. "Novelty" ...
Patent Fees Revised
The USPTO recently published the new patent fee schedule, as part of the America Invents Act. The new fees are set to take effect on March 19, 2013. The changes should result in overall lower appl ...
Design Patents – rapid turnaround
A recent study by Dennis Crouch over at the Patently-O blog finds that over the last three years, the majority of design patents were examined and issued within about 12 months of application. This is ...
Software – to patent or not to patent
The validity of software as a valid subject matter for patentability has been the subject of much debate of both sides of the Atlantic. The now famous Bilski decision (130 S.Ct. 3218, 3255 (2010)) inc ...
Patent Reform, reformed again
Many patent lawyers, as well as a good number of the talented clients we represent, were disappointed by the America Invents Acts of 2011 (the "AIA"). One of the more commonly discussed provisions, im ...