Patent Fundamentals (Part 2)
Guest Blogger: Arthur S. Cookfair, Registered Patent Agent WHAT CAN BE PATENTED The patent statutes (35 U.S.C. 101) specify four classes of subject matter suitable for the grant of a patent. To be patentable, an invention must be directed to a: process machine manufacture, or composition of matter Often a close look at the creative […]
Patent Fundamentals (Part 1)
Guest Blogger: Arthur S. Cookfair, Registered Patent Agent “A country without a Patent Office and good patent laws is just a crab and can’t travel anyway but sideways and backways.” Declared Mark Twain (speaking through his character, Sir Boss, in a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court). In his homey way, Sir Boss was simply […]
Buffalo Law Journal/ Business First “Who’s Who in Law”
I would like to thank the Buffalo, New York legal community for selecting me as one of the “Who’s Who in Law” in the 2010 edition of the award published by the Buffalo Law Journal and the Buffalo Business First. “Who’s Who in Law” is an annual feature by the Business First of Buffalo, in […]
Is Facebook an Abstract Idea? Watch the Movie
Today is Christopher Columbus Day and if you remember he invented America. No that’s not right… he discovered America. Of course he thought he landed in India and we’ve been mistakenly calling Native Americans Indians ever since and today we celebrate his mistake. It used to be you would plant a flag into the ground […]
House of Pancakes Prays for Trademark Help
The International House of Pancakes has a filed (.PDF)a trademark lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against a Kansas City, Missouri based religious group that calls itself the International House of Prayer over the acronym “IHOP.” The pancake house is going after the church group for trademark dilution and trademark infringement. If you […]
50 Years of Invention
Well I turn 50 years old today and I am looking forward to the next 50 years. I was wondering what were the best inventions in the last 50 years. Computers, VELCRO®, video games or is it something else? There was a list in Popular Mechanics. But there wasn’t anything listed for 1960 the year […]
15th Annual Independent Inventors Conference
The 15th Annual Independent Inventors Conference, co-sponsored by the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO), and Invent Now® will be held in Alexandria, VA at the US Patent and Trademark Office campus on November 4 – 5, 2010. A pre-conference workshop (November 3, 2010 from 5pm – 7pm) is included with your registration for anyone […]
USPTO Patent Dashboard Tracking Tool
The United States Parent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just launched the beta version of a USPTO Data Visualization Center in a web page that looks like a bunch of speedometers on dashboard. This patent dashboard tool will provide statistical measures to track patent pendency. The new dashboard, which will be updated monthly, will also be […]
“Patent Pending” Provisional Rights
What gives an inventor provisional rights? Recently a client asked me to sue a competitor for infringement on her patent application. I told her that even though you can mark articles with the terms “Patent Applied For” or “Patent Pending” these phrases have no legal effect, but only give information that an application for patent has […]
Nike “Back to the Future” Patent Application
The question answered here is whether or not you can patent an idea? Remember you can get a patent for the “thing” you make not the idea. “Thoughts become things…choose the good ones!” “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” […]