Posts Tagged: "patents"

Recently I was searching for some fun and exciting patent news to write about and I came across a press release put out by Research & Markets announcing that they have initiated coverage of Avon Products, Inc.  Curious due to the fact that my wife recently started selling Avon, I thought I might as well take a look to see…

The code itself and how it is written is protected via copyright, if at all, not through a patent. So when you are trying to define the invention so that it can be described adequately in a patent application you do not need to detail every language that could be used, and you do not need to provide an outline of the routines or subroutines, but what you do need to provide is enough information so that the computer programmer could translate your description into code, so you want to provide enough to allow the computer programmer to create the outline themselves, understanding that the actual approach employed by the computer programmer will be as unique as they are.

John McCain has a broad and cohesive vision for the future of American innovation. His policies will provide broad pools of capital, low taxes and incentives for research in America, a commitment to a skilled and educated workforce, and a dedication to opening markets around the globe. He’s committed to streamlining burdensome regulations and effectively protecting American intellectual property in…

I am frequently asked the same or similar question with respect to patent applications by independent inventors — How much information do I have to include in a patent application?  Sometimes this question is prefaced by something like — I have the concept but I am no scientist and I don’t know how to actually create the invention. The first…

Over the years I have written quite a bit about invention scams, and in fact one of my most popular pages is The Truth About Invention Promotion Companies, which typically comes up in the top few sites in Google and Yahoo when a search is done for invention promotion companies. It is sadly true that there are a lot of…

When you file a patent application it is always necessary to file an application that completely and clearly describes the invention so that others would be able to understand the invention.  For new inventors it is sometimes difficult to understand the so-called description requirement to patentability.  It is not an overstatement to say that the description of your invention must…

A trade secret is any valuable business information that is not generally known and is subject to reasonable efforts to preserve confidentiality. One of the world’s most famous trade secrets is the formula for Coca-Cola. A trade secret will be protected from misappropriation from exploitation (through state law) by those who either obtain access through improper means or who breach…

Over the weekend both Motorola and Research In Motion sued each other.  On Saturday, February 16, 2008, Motorola sued RIM in United States Federal District Court for the District of Delaware, and also filed suit against RIM in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.  I wonder if that $432 million plaintiff’s verdict against Boston Scientific had anything to do with Motorola’s decision to…

By far, most inventions are improvements upon other known devices or solutions. Even Thomas Edison, the most prolific inventor in US history, rarely came up with pioneering inventions. What Edison had the knack for was taking something that someone else had come up with and making it extraordinarily better.

I have been away on an extended business trip, and I have now just returned.  One of the stops on this trip was the headquarters of the Practising Law Institute (PLI) in New York City.  As some of you may know, I am the editor and blogger for the PLI Patent Practice Center.  On Monday and Tuesday of this week…