On Tuesday, June 19, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000. This is quite a milestone for the patent office. The first U.S. Patent was issued on July 31, 1790 to Samuel Hopkins for a process of making potash, which is an ingredient used in fertilizer. Fast-forward 228 years […]
A poor man’s patent is not a good way to try to protect your invention. It does not give an inventor the same type of protection as a patent application does, and will not likely be useful to monetize your invention.
USPTO Closed on March 3, 2014 due to weather.
When the Dumb Starbucks store showed up late last week in Los Angeles, there was a lot of media attention on it. One defense that I heard in the media was that it was a parody of a Starbucks store and, therefore, it was probably ok. That’s not exactly the case.
Trademarks can be so confusing. Is it ok to use the same trademark as someone else? A detailed analysis must be conducted before answering such a question. A great example of the type of analysis that occurs in trademark law can be found in the movie Coming to America.
I have been receiving a multitude of questions lately about use of NFL logos. I do give these folks a lot of credit for asking an attorney before moving forward with their ideas of using NFL logos. Most of these folks are asking whether or not they can put NFL logos on certain things and […]
Obtaining Patent Rights For A Deceased Inventor
If an inventor passes away prior to filing a patent application, or prior to executing an oath or declaration, a substitute statement can be filed by the deceased inventor’s legal representative.
Uncooperative Inventors
What happens when an inventor refuses to sign filing documents of a patent application? Remaining inventors may file the patent application without the uncooperative inventor.
The Effect Of Listing An Improper Inventor On A Patent Application
An inventor is someone that has had some sort of input into a claim that is listed in a patent application. If an improper inventor is listed on a patent application, then the patent that may eventually issue may be invalidated. This is also the case when not all of the inventors are listed on the patent application.
