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On February 17, 2023, the German government ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA), marking the single most important reform in the history of the European patent system since its founding treaty was signed, the European Patent Convention, in 1973.
Starting June 1, 2023, the new system will (i) enable uniform patent protection across all participating EU member states via a single application and corresponding… Read More »
The Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022, signed into law on 12/29/2022, decreased small entity fees by 10%, and micro entity fees by 5%, to spur innovation among smaller and independent inventors. For example, government fees for a non-provisional patent application (small entity) have decreased USD $150 reflecting a 60% discount (micro entities are now set to an 80% discount). The current fee schedule can… Read More »
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 27, 2020, further extended the time to file certain patent-related documents and to pay certain required fees under its temporary authority provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
The USPTO recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic imposes disruption and hardships to small businesses and individual inventors. This extension allows increased flexibility… Read More »
In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continues to remain open and has extended filing deadlines for parties affected by COVID-19 including deadlines for patent applications, patent reexamination proceedings, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, trademark applications, trademark registrations, and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings. If the initial due date is between March 27,… Read More »
In a recent Federal Circuit decision, Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, No. 18-1154 (Fed. Cir. 2019), Realtime Data LLC’s claims for a system for data compression were invalid as obvious in view of prior art. The Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)’s that the claims involving data compression through “dictionary encoding” were covered by a prior invention and… Read More »
For those students participating in this weekend’s Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC) at UCONN and all inventors everywhere, since March 16, 2013 the United States has joined the rest of the world in using ‘First to File’ for creating patent rights. This changes the strategy of inventors and promotes the filing of provisional patent applications (PPA) with the United States Patent and Trade Office (USPTO). PPAs are… Read More »
Five reasons why patents are important for startups
Especially in this economy, we continue to hear the same question – “Do I need a patent?”
The answer is straightforward enough. The new US patent laws, practically speaking, are centered around a first-to-file system. If your startup is focused on innovation, below are the Top Five reasons why you should should be filing for patents early and… Read More »
If I were to develop a process to narrow the scope of my competitor’s patents and maintain strength of my patent portfolio, I could save on major down-the-road litigation and re-examination costs.
The strategy makes sense where my company has significant revenue from a particular core technology. Moreover, the strategy may work well in pioneering inventions or inventions in rapidly-moving and emerging technology areas. Early… Read More »
