It is important for a patent application to list the proper inventors. An inventor is not just someone that you want to put on a patent application, but must be someone that contributed in some way to at least one claim in the patent application.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Pinterest, the latest thing in social networking sites, could potentially pose major legal problems for individuals or businesses using this service. With the tremendous growth Pinterest has seen since its inception in 2010 (as of February 2013 the site had over 48 million users), it is just a matter of time before some companies may […]
Kate Middleton is making news this week and it has nothing to do with her baby bump. The Duchess of Cambridge has applied to the U.K.’s Intellectual Property Office to trademark her name for charitable goods. She and her husband, Prince William, started The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge back in […]
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 […]
Entrepreneurs who are starting up their own businesses should be careful in protecting their IP inventions from former employees. They should not take for granted that the IP work they create off company hours is theirs to keep. Employers may be able to stake a claim in ownership. Here are five ways employers can claim […]
Does Facebook have the right to use your photos without your permission? Are your intellectual property rights over personal photos and videos forfeited when posted to Facebook? I am going to address both of these questions separately. Let us start with the first question. Can Facebook use your photos without your consent? No. Facebook does […]
