Blog - Page 6 of 11 - Daniel Law Offices, P.A.

27Feb 2023 by Pat Geddie

An Overview of the Patent Process

Federal law allows you to obtain patent protection for an invention, drawing, design, or utility that is: Novel Useful Non-obvious You must go through an entire process to obtain the patent, which could take almost two years from start to finish. Here are the steps that you would need to follow to obtain a patent. First, you need to verify whether you can even patent your invention. One of the key requirements is that the invention is new. To that end, you would perform a patent search to see if someone already has a patent on your invention or something similar. Next, you would prepare and submit your application. In your package, you would include drawings and a description of your design. You would also include a definition of your…

26Jan 2023 by Pat Geddie

Legal Relief for Trademark Infringement

Trademark

You have invested time and money in building the brand value of your business. You may have even registered the trademark, which represents how people identify your company or products. If someone else infringes on your trademark, you may be entitled to legal relief. First, you should contact an experienced attorney for their guidance. Your attorney may send a cease-and-desist letter to the violator or otherwise communicate your position to them. If you cannot reach a resolution, you may need to take your case to court. You would usually seek two things in a trademark infringement case. The first thing that you would ask is for the court to put a stop to the offending behavior. You would need immediate relief to prevent further damage. Your attorney would ask the…

26Jan 2023 by Pat Geddie

Can You Get a Patent Without a Lawyer?

Patents

Of course, you may be able to get a patent without a lawyer. The real question is whether you should try to get a patent without a lawyer, and the answer is no. Although you could theoretically succeed on your own, an attorney will increase your chances of success and help you avoid pitfalls. Before you can apply for a patent, you should do an extensive search through patent databases and publicly available sources to determine whether there are similar patents out there. An attorney knows where to search and what may be considered similar. It would be a waste of time and money to apply for a patent only to learn that your invention could not have been patented in the first place. Then, the patent examiner may have…

26Jan 2023 by Pat Geddie

Can AI Be an Inventor and Obtain a Patent?

Patents

Everywhere you look today, there seems to be a new application for artificial intelligence (AI). This frontier is the next great one in technology. There have been legal questions about whether AI can qualify as an inventor under federal patent laws. According to a federal appeals court, the answer is no. In this case, the proposed patent listed an AI system as an inventor. The examiner denied the application for the patent, and the applicant appealed. The issue, in this case, is who can be considered an “inventor” within the meaning of federal patent laws. Only an inventor may obtain a patent for an invention. The appeals court sidestepped the complicated question of “the nature of the invention or the rights, if any, of AI systems” and instead focused on…

26Jan 2023 by Pat Geddie

What is the Most Common Type of Patent?

Patents

Utility patents are known as patents for inventions, and they are by far the most common type of patent. Of the roughly 12 million patents issued by the USPTO, roughly 11 million of them have been utility patents. The other two types of patents are design patents and plant patents. It is much more difficult to get a utility patent than it is a design patent. The USPTO has stringent requirements for what must be submitted with your application. One applies for a utility patent for inventions such as machines, processes, compositions of matter, and articles of manufacture. Here, the inventor makes a new or improved product or process. A utility patent gives the inventor exclusive rights to their own invention for a period of time and prevents others from…

05Jan 2023 by Pat Geddie

Violations of Trade Secrets

Trade Secrets

Your confidential business information can be valuable. When it falls into the wrong hands, it can do incalculable damage to your business. If someone else has wrongfully obtained your trade secrets, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them. Even if you do not have a patent, trade secrets are part of your company's intellectual property. You use them to make money. Your company counts on employees to protect Trade Secrets, as you may suffer if the information ends up in the competitors' hands or in the public realm. Not everything is a trade secret violation. Usually, there is some sort of improper action. It could be carelessness on the part of your employees and protecting the information. Trade secret violations could also involve nefarious and dishonest means…

04Dec 2022 by Pat Geddie

Difference Between Patents and Trademarks

Patents

Both patents and trademarks protect your company’s intellectual property, but they apply to different types of ideas. A patent protects your inventions and ideas. You may have devised a product or a process that you want to keep for yourself because you have taken the time and invested the effort to devise it. The goal of a patent is to promote and protect innovation. You would hold the exclusive right to use your patent, or you can license it to someone else in exchange for royalties. The patent process can be difficult and time-consuming, but you need to obtain a patent in order to get the full protection. In order for something to be patentable, it must be a new and useful invention that is not obvious to others. Patents…

03Nov 2022 by Pat Geddie

Do You Need to Register a Trademark for Protection?

Trademark

Your company has worked hard to build its name and brand value with the public. However, if you do not take action to protect it, someone else may be able to benefit from your own hard work. In order to achieve the maximum amount of protection, you should consider registering your trademark. Without registration, you may still have some common law protection, but it would be limited to a certain geographic area. In addition, the scope of your rights may be undefined. When you register your trademark, you may get a permanent right to it., so long as you continue to use your trademark in commerce. The public would have noticed that you have the right to the trademark, and there would be a legal presumption that you own it.…

27Sep 2022 by Pat Geddie

Do You Need a Patent Lawyer?

Patents

While there is no legal requirement to hire a patent attorney, it is certainly a smart move on your part. Intellectual property is a very high-stakes area of the law. If you do not properly protect what you have worked hard to build and obtain, you may lose all the value of your invention or idea. At the same time, you may find yourself on the receiving end of a lawsuit if someone else thinks that you have violated their rights. The patent application process can be complex. Much of the work is done before you would even file with the United States patent and trademark office. You must do a thorough patent search that includes potential ideas that could be similar to yours. The USPTO may not readily accept…

29Aug 2022 by Pat Geddie

Is Your Invention Patentable?

Invention

There's a strict legal definition of what is considered patentable. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you may obtain a patent for any "new and useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter.” A patent means that you, and you alone, have the right to use this invention. Not everything can be patented. Otherwise, you would wrongfully get unlimited rights to something that others should have the ability to use. There are four broad categories of inventions that can be patented: A combination of steps or methods Something that is manufactured from materials A machine that is a combination of parts A composition of matter to make a new substance Your patent should be novel work that you have done. There are certain things that may be…

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An Overview of the Patent Process

Legal Relief for Trademark Infringement

Can You Get a Patent Without a Lawyer?

Can AI Be an Inventor and Obtain a Patent?

What is the Most Common Type of Patent?

Violations of Trade Secrets

Difference Between Patents and Trademarks

Do You Need to Register a Trademark for Protection?

Do You Need a Patent Lawyer?

Is Your Invention Patentable?

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