That Which Is Known – “Prior Art” is one of the most important concepts in any statute-based system of granting a patent to an applicant. Stated succinctly, “prior art” is “that which […]
Crowdsourcing of Prior Art – A New Road to Patent Quality?
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. […]
Patentability and the “Long-Felt Unmet Need” – The Christmas Tree Stand as a Case Study
The Law, Statistics, and Anecdotes – One of the key laws for patentability of an invention is that the invention must be unobvious1. In making a determination with respect to obviousness, certain […]
Patentability and Infringement
— Two Separate Concepts PART ONE We occasionally see our clients interchange the concepts of patentability and infringement with regard to their inventions and/or issued patents. They are separate matters; thus a […]
The Duty of Candor in Proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Basic Principles – The prosecution of a patent application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an ex parte proceeding. This means that with few exceptions, the process of examination of […]
What is a Patent?
There is certainly no shortage of technically talented and inventive people in our area who could answer this question. Rochester consistently ranks at or near the top nationally in many measures of […]
In Search of the Perfect Christmas Tree Stand (Part 2)
A Recap of the Christmas LM Past – Readers of our column last month(1) will recall that it was the first of two installments on basic patent searching in the USPTO. We […]
Non-Patentable Subject Matter – Obnoxiousness Not a Bar
Patents and the Public Interest – As regular readers of this column may recall, our patent system was founded to serve both the interests of the inventor and the general public.1 A […]
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 […]
Examiner Interviews and Their Place in Patent Prosecution
After your patent application has been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you will most likely receive an Office Action. When this happens, you have now entered what is […]
