One of the more frequent questions I get asked is “Can I extend provisional patent application?” or “Can I renew provisional patent application”. The short answer to this question is “NO”. However, there are some tricks and other cheap options which may work for you instead. First a quick reminder that a provisional patent application […]
Who is better, a Patent Agent vs Patent Attorney? In many cases there is no winner as both patent agents and patent attorneys can handle most everything that is needed to write and file a patent with the US Patent Office (USPTO). For about 95% of all inventors choosing either a patent agent or a […]
A common question I get is “Can I put more than one invention into my patent application?”. The short answer is “yes”. The more complex answer is “yes – but the patent examiner may ask you to split them out later”. When you file your patent application you have to pay the patent office a […]
There are plenty of articles out there written by patent attorneys about the legal reasons for filing a patent. There are also many articles on the misuse and abuse of the patent system, particularly in the area of software, which this author happens to agree with. However, this article is meant to cover the under […]
It’s been a long time in the making but it looks like certain types of software related patents are no longer being approved at the US Patent Office. At a recent seminar I was fortunate to listen to Robert Sachs (author of the Bilski Blog) speak about patent rejections in the software and e-commerce space. […]
The patent office realizes that many inventors and small businesses cannot afford to hire a patent attorney or agent to represent them and have provides several programs and resources for these “pro se” inventors. The term “pro se” means that you are representing yourself before the patent office instead of having an attorney or agent […]