Recent Posts

1

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: Lawyer cost

« Last post by Brad on February 14, 2019, 01:49:32 PM »

You can try searching by location either here:
https://www.napp.org/find-a-practitioner

or here:
https://oedci.uspto.gov/OEDCI/practitionerSearchEntry

Another trick may be to call up any university in your area that has an "office of technology transfer" and ask them who they suggest for a good local patent attorney.

2

Patent Questions and Advice / Lawyer cost

« Last post by Eric Williams on February 13, 2019, 01:11:48 PM »

Could someone direct me to a good patient lawyer located in the St. Louis area?

Thank
Eric w

3

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: CIP application, but attorney submits the parent issuance fee a day before CIP

« Last post by Brad on February 07, 2019, 09:39:22 AM »

It should all be fine.

The firms like to "docket" the filing of the CIP to be done before the payment of this issue fee in order to play it safe.  In reality you can file your CIP up to the date your older patent actually issues which can often take 5-6 weeks after payment of this issue fee.

I don't think your firm did anything wrong other then maybe not communicating clearly about what they are doing and why.

4

Patent Questions and Advice / CIP application, but attorney submits the parent issuance fee a day before CIP

« Last post by newpatenter on February 06, 2019, 04:09:37 PM »

We have a patent handled by an attorney firm.  The Issuance Fee's due date is today. Our new CIP application for that patent is also handled by the same attorney firm.

We was told the CIP should be submitted before the submission of the parent patent Issuance Fee. But we are notified, from the attorney firm, that the Issuance Fee was submitted yesterday already and the CIP is not submitted yet and will be submitted today.

My questions are the followings:

Q1:

does the new CIP application is still a real CIP?

Q2:

What are the differences for the CIP patent application if we submit it BEFORE we pay the parent Issuance Fee and if we submit it AFTER we pay the parent Issuance Fee?

5

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: USPTO's by date is inclusive or exclusive?

« Last post by Brad on February 05, 2019, 05:24:55 PM »

Sorry I have no idea what form you are asking about as I have never seen that specific language before?   Patents are always issued on Tuesdays so are you certain this form came from the patent office and is not spam or someone trying to get money out of you?

I would call the USPTO help center and they can look up your application number and tell you how to proceed. 
Toll-Free: 888-786-0101

Also note that if the deadline says February 6 you should have until 11:59pm EST on February 6 (tomorrow) to file your reply.   Most deadlines at the patent office are extendable. 

6

Patent Questions and Advice / USPTO's by date is inclusive or exclusive?

« Last post by newpatenter on February 05, 2019, 04:29:19 PM »

If I have the following words from USPTO:

The patent issuance deadline is:
02/06/2019
Failure to perform patent issuance by the deadline will result in forfeiture of your approved patent application.

I have to act before the end of today, 02/05/2019, or I can wait and do it before the end of tomorrow?

7

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: Patent question

« Last post by Brad on January 29, 2019, 09:15:05 AM »

This is actually an interesting (and challenging) question.

Without doing a lot of research on this my initial response would be "no".  A logo cannot be patented and instead you should look into a trademark or service mark:  https://www.logomaker.com/blog/2014/05/13/comes-logo-design-patent-copyright-trademark/

Furthermore, the general idea of using QR codes is no longer patentable using a "utility" patent, even if your code is unique and looks different from other codes.


However, there are cases where you can patent "computer generated icons" using a design patent but generally these have to be displayed on a computer or phone screen:  https://www.bitlaw.com/source/mpep/1504_01_a.html


So to give you my quick (free) non-legal opinion - if you are talking about printing a tee shirt or or some "article" and as part of your new design you want to include a unique QR code I would say "maybe" this could be protected by a new design type patent (not a utility patent).   If however you are just thinking of ways to protect your brand/logo I would say a patent is not used for that purpose and instead look at trademarks. 

*Sorry I don't have a clear answer for you but without doing some real research here (which costs time and money) this is just a best guess. 

8

Patent Questions and Advice / Patent question - Can a QR code be patented?

« Last post by Ahron Krasnow on January 28, 2019, 08:29:32 PM »

Hi,
Can a QR code be patented? Meaning, can you use a QR code as a design/logo for a clothing company and get a patent for that?

9

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: Dimensions in a patent

« Last post by Brad on January 28, 2019, 10:54:08 AM »

In most cases we do not include dimensions in our figures or patent claims.   This is because:
1) it would be really easy for someone to to slightly change the sizes or dimensions to get around your patent, and
2) the patent examiner does not really care about sizes or dimensions and instead will only focus on the actual utility and structural features of your invention

So unless there is something really special about the size or dimensions of your product I would not include them in your figures.

10

Patent Questions and Advice / Re: Overseas Patent or US only or both?

« Last post by Brad on January 28, 2019, 10:51:33 AM »

A US patent would let you stop other people from importing or making or selling the product in the US.   So a patent lets you stop others (it does not give you rights to do something).

Without really researching this further I would think you should choose whatever option makes the most business sense for your product and only file a patent in countries or areas where you think other people may try to sell and compete with you.