Intellectual property is often the most valuable asset of a business. Intellectual property laws play a significant role in promoting and protecting innovation by affording legal rights to creators, inventors, and businesses to their inventions, brands, works of authorship, and trade secrets. The Importance of Intellectual Property For Your Business Intellectual property protection can enhance a business’s valuation and attractiveness …
What You Should Know About the Patent Disclosure and On Sale Bars
The journey to securing a patent is fraught with legal nuances and requirements. Two significant considerations that can impact the patentability of an invention are the “public disclosure” and “on-sale” bars. What Is the Public Disclosure Bar For Patent Applications? One of the fundamental principles governing patent eligibility is the requirement of novelty. An invention must be novel, meaning it …
Do You Need a Copyright, Trademark, or Patent?
Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are different types of intellectual property. It is important to know the differences between them in developing a protection strategy. What is a Copyright? A copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original creative works. A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, publish, perform, and display the original works, as well …
What is a ‘Poor Man’s Patent’?
A “poor man’s patent” has been thought to be a cheap and quick way of securing rights to an invention. But what is a poor man’s patent? A ‘Poor Man’s Patent’ Defined The phrase “Poor Man’s Patent” is used to describe the process of mailing a postmarked written description of an invention to oneself as evidence of the date that …
How to Protect My Jewelry Designs
Jewelry designs may be protectable under US intellectual property laws. Jewelry designs are generally unique and intricate works of art that require creativity, skill, and craftsmanship and can consist of a wide range of elements, including the arrangement of gemstones, the shape and form of various metals, and their overall aesthetics. There are a few possible ways of securing intellectual …
Pros and Cons of Provisional Patent Applications
Inventors who wish to receive a patent on their invention and the patent attorneys who represent them are faced with deciding which type of patent application to file. When seeking protection for the way the invention is used and how it works (versus how it looks), an inventor may decide to start by filing a provisional application or they may …
Design Patent Protection for Jewelry Designs
Design patents tend to get overlooked as a means of protection for jewelry designs. This may be a result of the stigma associated with patents as being very costly and taking very long to obtain. However, design patents are substantially less expensive and take a shorter period of time to obtain than utility patents and as such can be a …
Brexit and Your IP Rights
On June 23, 2016 Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union. However, Britain’s exit from the European Union, coined as “Brexit,” will be no small feat. According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty the separation may not take effect for a few years while an exit agreement is being negotiated. Thus, the vote will have no immediate …
Patent vs. Trade Secret
There is no blanket answer to the much asked question: Do I seek patent protection for my invention or maintain a trade secret? Every situation will vary depending on what is sought to be protected. While a trade secret can theoretically last forever, as long as the invention remains a secret, a patent granted in the U.S. provides the patent owner with the right …
New Rules: International Design Patent Applications
On February 13, 2015 the United States took the final steps to becoming a member of the Hague Union. The USPTO recently published the final rules governing the implementation of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“Hague Agreement”), which take effect beginning May 13th 2015. Much like the Patent Cooperation Treaty for the international submission of utility applications, under the …
