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Certain countries have formed filing systems, most notably the European patent system, to allow filing in one patent office for several countries. However, since it is often not possible to obtain an opinion on patentability from an examiner in one’s home country, the PCT or Patent Cooperation Treaty, which was entered into in 1970, allows Read More

I’m always asked by small companies that come on in, “I’ve been using my trademark in the marketplace for five years. Why should I bother getting a registration?” And my answer is very simple, you hate when you find out two years later that somebody down the road, maybe even upstate, opened up a similar Read More

You’re going to have to decide what territory you want your mark in. Ideally, you get a federal mark and you get the whole United States. But not all marks qualify. Let’s say I’m just a single restaurant in South Florida, in a town. In that case, I would just get a Florida mark. And Read More

Under the Paris Convention of 1919, an applicant who filed in one member country can file a national application in one or more other member countries within one year of the original filing date. The foreign applications obtain this right of priority so that your effective foreign filing date is the same as your U.S. Read More

There are multiple databases, but the main database, of course, is the federal government. You jump online, you check, you enter your mark, you enter your things that are similar to your mark. But people also forget Google. Google is an excellent place to start. It’ll catch all the major trademarks, but it’ll catch all Read More

Foreign applications which are filed within one year of your U.S. filing date will obtain a right of priority so that your foreign filing date is the same as your U.S. filing date. Maintenance fees will be due 4, 8, and 12 years after the patent issues. If you have more questions, we suggest consulting Read More

We are often asked by inventors if they can file a patent application by themselves, pro se, without the help of a patent attorney. The short answer is, yes, it’s possible, but it’s not recommended. The patent process is a complex set of laws, regulations, policies, and procedures. We therefore recommend that you hire a Read More

After the examiner performs a search, he or she will issue an office action, which provides an initial assessment of the patentability of your invention. The action normally sets a period of three months for response, which can be extended with a fee. The attorney can respond to the patent office with arguments and or Read More

So you’ve just heard that your competitor filed a patent application and he’s about to receive a patent. But, you know his alleged invention is not patentable because you read about it some years ago. You also know that the patent examination is between the applicant, that is your competitor, and the Patent Office. So Read More

Once you decide you’ve got your mark, you’ve got your goods, you want to make sure you’re the first person in the marketplace or the only person in the marketplace with that mark. There’s no reason to have a mark which somebody else has already taken, which means you should do a trademark search.