21 Nov 2016
In my many initial client consultation meetings, this is the first question: Should we do a search first? The short answer is yes, but not always. A patent search usually means searching the USPTO database to see if the invention has already been disclosed by another patent or patent application. If it has, there is...
28 Oct 2016
[su_box title=”DOWNLOAD PDF – Patent No.: US 9,439,457 B2″]Click here to download the PDF document for this patent. [/su_box] ARCH-SUPPORTING SOCK TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates in general to an arch-supporting sock, and more specifically, to a sock which provides additional support and stability to the arch of the...
2 Aug 2016
[su_box title=”DOWNLOAD PDF – Patent No.: US 9,402,453 B2″]Click here to download the PDF document for this patent. [/su_box] MOBILE DEVICE TRANSMISSION APPARATUS WITH INTEGRATED TOOL PRIORITY NOTICE [0001] The present application is a continuation of Application No. 14/482,683, filed September 10, 2014, which claims Priority from Provisional Application 61/913,841 filed on December 9, 2013,...
19 Apr 2016
[su_box title=”DOWNLOAD PDF – Patent No.: US 9,317,985 B2″]Click here to download the PDF document for this patent. [/su_box] PRIORITY NOTICE [0001] The present application is a continuation of Application No. 14/729,533, filed June 3, 2015, which is a continuation of Application No. 14/621,233, filed February 12, 2015, which claims Priority from Provisional Application 62/084,471,...
1 Feb 2016
[su_box title=”DOWNLOAD PDF – Patent No.: US 9,247,916 B2″]Click here to download the PDF document for this patent. [/su_box] PRIORITY NOTICE [0001] This present application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. Non-provisional Patent Application 14/151734, filed on January 9, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein...
12 Aug 2014
Entrepreneurs and independent inventors benefit from doing their own research and learning about the patent process before seeking guidance from a patent attorney. While a patent attorney should always be consulted prior to filing a patent application, there are several steps that can be taken by individuals before investing in the often expensive procurement process...
11 Aug 2014
Filing a Utility Patent Application Generally, the government will grant you a utility patent when you can show that you have developed something new, useful, and non-obvious. The standard for showing something new is pretty straight forward- that is, that the exact idea has not been developed before. Thus, if you have a new device,...
19 Dec 2013
Last week, on December 11, 2013, in Galderma Labs., L.P. v. Tolmar, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Newman, Bryson, Prost*) reversed the district court’s judgment that U.S. Patents No. 7,579,377, No. 7,737,181, No. 7,834,060, No. 7,838,558, and No. 7,868,044, (the Patents) were not invalid for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §...
7 Nov 2013
Patent practitioners refer to communications regarding a successfully filed patent application from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Office that require the patent applicant to respond as an “Office Action.” A successfully filed patent application is one that has received a filing date from the USPTO. Further, patent practitioners actually only refer to...
28 Oct 2013
In the context of obtaining a patent, a “search” is a professional search of various online databases for inventions that are similar to your invention. The name of such searches varies within our industry, but at our office we simply call such searches a “Patent Search,” and is also often called a novelty search. Patent...
14 Oct 2013
In a case that should serve as a warning to anyone looking to overcome Office Actions by making misleading or false statements to the PTO, an infringement action was dismissed after a patent was found unenforceable due to inequitable conduct during its prosecution. A patent involving wireless transmission of caller identification information, owned by Intellect...
12 Jun 2013
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that omission during prosecution of “comparative data” that is not at issue in a prior art does not constitute inequitable conduct. However, the court reversed the lower court’s ruling that found the patent to be invalid as anticipated. Impax Laboratories...