Practice Areas - patent prosecution, trademark and copyright registration, trade secret, internet domain names, licensing, intellectual property disputes
Patent prosecution
If you have invented something novel and useful, prompt filing of a patent application, in advance of pursuing patent licensing or marketing, is critical to preventing your competitors from utilizing your ideas. In the United States, you have one year from the date of your first public disclosure (which can be as simple as a conversation under non-confidential circumstances) to file a patent application. In most foreign countries, you lose the right to file a patent application in that country if you do not have a patent application on file somewhere in the world by the date of your first public disclosure, or if you fail to meet certain international patent application filing deadlines after filing your initial patent application.
Protecting your intellectual property is critical to the success of your business. When your competitors utilize your inventions, they utilize the benefit of the time, energy, and resources that you spent in developing your innovations, without having to undertake these significant expenses themselves. Patent prosecution therefore becomes critical to maintaining your competitive advantage.
Typically, prior to preparing a patent application, a patentability search should be performed to identify prior art. The prior art can then be compared with your invention to determine which aspects of your invention are patentable. This analysis enables a determination of the scope of the claims (the portion of a patent application that determines the scope and limitation of your exclusive right) that are likely to be allowed by the US Patent and Trademark Office. If these claims are sufficiently broad to provide meaningful protection against attempts to design around them, then a patent application should be filed.
Preparation of the patent application involves describing the invention in great detail, taking into account not only your preferred configuration, but also the changes that a competitor is likely to make when attempting to design around your claims. Identification of these possible changes to your invention is critical to maximizing the scope of protection provided by your patent. My extensive engineering education ensures that these changes will be properly identified and accounted for as your patent application is prepared.
I have extensive experience preparing and prosecuting patent applications for a broad range of technologies, including:
- Magnetic storage disks and read/write heads
- Night vision devices
- Nuclear reactor protection systems
- Computer software
- Electrical circuits
- Optical disks
- Circuit breakers
- Combustion turbines
- Nondestructive inspection equipment
- Railroad maintenance equipment
- Power wheelchairs
- Medical devices such as spinal disk prostheses, gastric bands, and other surgical implants
- Pharmaceutical dispensers
- Automotive engines and engine components
- Fiber optics
- Batteries
- Manufacturing processes
- Recreational equipment
To maximize the value of my services to my clients, all projects receive my personal attention. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your patent prosecution questions and needs.