As was discussed in last week’s blog, a US design patent is an alternative way to get some protection for an invention in the United States. A design patent is valid for 14 years and protects the ornamental design of the invention.
Read articleA design patent covers the ornamental design of a product, and only the exact design shown in the drawings.
Read articleDo you need international patent protection, and when do you have to decide? This post describes the method used to file in foreign countries with a timeline for filings. In a nutshell, you have one year from filing a US provisional or *non-provisional (utility) application to decide if you want to do foreign filings, and 6 months for design patents. *(Assuming no provisional application was filed for this case). The filing is done under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT.
Read articleA small bakery in New York is selling fried croissant dough in the form of a doughnut and calls the pastry a Cronut™. Cronuts™ have become so popular that people are lining up outside the bakery in the mornings to get their Cronuts™.
Read articleGenetically modified foods are slow to gain acceptance in some quarters – some argue that no one knows exactly how the natural foods have been changed and what they’ll do to our bodies and health if we ingest them.
Read articleDo you know where the United States ranks on the Global Innovation Index for 2013? The answer is below.
Read articleFireworks are patentable and have been around for awhile. The figures above are from US Patent No. 001,217,544 granted to William H. Willson of Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 1917.
Read articleBack in the 1990’s, Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics discovered the location and sequence of two human genes, the mutation of which can cause increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad obtained several patents based on these discoveries including claims toward the healthy and mutated gene sequences.
Read articleThanks to Skype, it’s now possible to make virtual visits to foreign cities. On one such recent adventure, I discovered that all London is agog about “The Patent Box”. At least the Intellectual Property community in London is.
Read articleAs of August 3rd, 2013 Saudi Arabia (SA) will become the 147th country to join the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Read articlePatents have fixed, finite lives. As savvy inventors and entrepreneurs know, since 1995 US patents are valid for twenty years from the date of the first US filing of the patent. Not hard to calculate that – so why has the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) just released a new online patent term calculating app?
Read articleInventor? Entrepreneur? Investor? Whatever your role, if you’re in business, you need to be aware of Intellectual Property (IP). How it could hurt you – or how it could help you. And just what are your options anyway?
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