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 designs in dozens of countries around the world. This change comes as the US took measures last week
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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 application, the company sent cease and desist letters to numerous other providers of online yoga instruction, including YogaInternational and
Read more →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 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or applications that they’re considering submitting. Because the USPTO generates
Read more →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 and brands. Producing valuable intellectual property can be a significant expense; direct and indirect revenues related
Read more →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” is a fundamental requirement of patent registration. Copyrights require “original works of authorship”. When it comes to
Read more →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 application costs for small business and independent inventors. While these applicants already
Read more →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 not to be confused with the pace of utility patent review –
Read more →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)) included the wise warning “even when patents encourage innovation and disclosure, ‘too much patent
Read more →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, implementation of the new First-to-File regime won’t take effect until March 16, 2013. After
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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 background – an inventor creates and patents a real-life webslinger a la your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. When Marvel began selling their own version of