There are lots of different types of business entities. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. I’ll begin with a primer on the types of business organizations from which you have to choose. In Florida, a “business entity” means any form of corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, joint venture, business trust, or sole proprietorship that conducts […]
Widerman Malek Law Blog
Getting A Refund From The Patent Office If You Are Now A Small Entity
By: Mark R. Malek This concludes the series of articles that I have been writing on entity status in the United States Patent Office. The first article introduced the new micro-entity status. The next article gave some background information on what would happen if you claimed the wrong entity status before the USPTO, and the latest […]
What Happens If You Claim The Wrong Entity Status In The Patent Office?
By: Mark R. Malek In my last article, I outlined the new filing status in the Patent Office that can save inventors even more money in the patent process – that of the micro-entity. As you may recall from that article, when filing a patent application (and throughout the patent prosecution process), you must pay […]
Patent Office Fees – The Micro Entity
By: Mark R. Malek As many of you may know, the United States Patent System recently went through a little transformation on March 15, 2013. The biggest and most public of these transformations was the transition from a first to invent system to a first to file system (more on that later). One thing that […]
Trademark Law: first to use v. first to file
In the United States, it is not registration, but actual use of a designation as a mark that creates rights and priority over others. Thus, the rule is that ownership of a mark goes to the first-to-use, not the first-to-file. That being said, trademark ownership is not acquired by federal or state registration, although registration […]
Markman and Graver Tank Reshape Patent Infringement Cases
Judges preceding over patent infringement cases, have a very difficult job to do. They must define the scope of the patent protection over an invention and determine whether a company or individual violated that patent. This is easier said than done. Patent language is not cut and dry. The language leaves much room for interpretation. […]
