The Meaning of Those Strange Little Sentences – What’s in a Claim Anyhow – Claims, those strangely constructed sentences at the end of a patent or patent application, usually get all of […]
Interpreting Patent Claims
Appeals Beyond the USPTO – the “End of the Line” in Patent Prosecution
Patent Prosecution and Appeal – a Review – As our regular readers may recall, several of our past columns have covered patent prosecution(1) and appeal(2) in the United States Patent and Trademark […]
Appeals in Patent Prosecution – Another Way to Cut the Deck
Reaching the Appeal Decision Point – As regular readers of this column know, after a patent application is filed, a series of proceedings known as prosecution (1) occurs between the Applicant (typically represented by […]
“This action is FINAL.” Or Not – “FINAL” Rejection Doesn’t Mean Final
Forewarned by Four Words – It’s been about four months since your patent practitioner worked with you to file an Amendment in response to an Office Action received from the USPTO in […]
Building The Case For Patentability: Prosecution in the USPTO
The Arcane World of Prosecution – Most engineers and scientists who have had some exposure to patents know that a substantial effort is required to file a patent application in the U.S. […]
Preissuance Submissions by Third Parties Under the AIA – “Getting the Wheels to Fall Off”
The America Invents Act – A Refresher – Patent reform in the United States, known as the America Invents Act (AIA), was enacted on September 16, 2011, creating the most substantial changes […]
Solemnly Sworn – The Use of Affidavits in Patent Prosecution
“Claims 1 – 4 and 11 – 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 …” The words any inventor dreads. Your claims have been rejected. What to do? There are a number […]
The Patent Prosecution Highway…an Opportunity for Faster Patents
The Highway: Why It Was Built – The Patent Prosecution Highway (known also as the PPH), is an initiative that was originally undertaken between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) […]
Don’t Cut Corners… Consider Assigning That Provisional Patent Application
An assignment transfers ownership from one party to another. In the United States, ownership of a patent or a patent application remains with the inventor(s) until such time as an assignment is […]
Diligence in Establishing “Common Ownership” and Joint Research Agreements
A Brief Prosecution Primer – Regular readers of this column may recall a basic premise of patent prosecution(1): after some initial administrative steps, a Patent Examiner in the USPTO studies the Applicant’s […]
