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I have a new design for an Advanced SOS Beacon light and am interested in securing intellectual property rights. Three months ago, I checked for existing patents and found none similar to mine. However, I recently rechecked and discovered a patent claiming to have existed since 2010. How is this... View More 
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answered on Apr 20, 2025
It is pretty common to find patents and prior art that may have been previously overlooked. So this is quite possible. You can check for authenticity by looking up the patent online.
Here, the details of what this other patent teaches become very important. If there is 100% overlap with... View More
If a product is not marked that it has a patent nor does it say anywhere on the product page, website etc. can the patent owner still file for patent infringement?
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answered on Dec 28, 2023
This is covered by Federal law 35 USC 287.
The law limits the patent holder's ability to recover for past patent infringement damages to the first point in time when the infringer was notified about the patent. By contrast, by marking the product, the infringer is legally assumed to... View More
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answered on May 28, 2024
Not yet. According to a quick search of copyright law. Copyrights last a long time, often 95 years from the publication date. In this case, "The Little Prince" will become public domain in the US in 2039.
So, come back in 15 years.
I discovered a production protocol that worked well with a protein interesting as a biomaterial. I modified protocol and want to patent it. Is it possible?
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answered on Sep 25, 2023
A lot will depend on whether your modified protocol is legally "obvious" or not. Here, the legal question is if the modification would appear apparent to a person of average skill in the art (here, "average skill" in biotech is Ph.D. level).
If you did something unusual... View More
Design patent I hold already 7 years
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answered on Sep 6, 2023
Unfortunately, the time to apply for a US version of your Malaysia design patent has passed. Generally, you need to apply for a US design patent no later than six months after initially applying for a foreign design patent.
tissue contiener for pap smear surePath
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answered on Aug 13, 2023
The status of a printed patent application like this can be checked online. This can be done either at the US patent office, https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/, or using alternate sources such as patents.google.com.
In this case, the answer is that the patent application was abandoned.
I have a product that cant not include the claims of another patent... but my product has a more broader use case, plus, it has several non-obvious improvements that give it WAY more functionality. How might I go about being protected if I want to pursue this product. Can I patent? do I get a... View More
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answered on Jul 9, 2023
Speaking generally:
It is possible to patent an improvement on an existing patent, so long as the improvement is considered novel and not obvious. Usually the applicant for the improvement will cite the original, and then explain the improvements. This allows the patent office to judge the... View More
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answered on Jun 2, 2023
Inventors often assign their patents to a company, which then becomes the patent holder. The USPTO keeps a record of these assignments, which you can access at: https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search
The patent holders are usually represented by a law firm or... View More
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answered on May 18, 2023
Patents are subject to many different laws and judicial exceptions. Some of these may make it difficult to get a patent in this area.
35 USC 101 ("Alice") patent eligibility issues: Since the 2014 Supreme Court "Alice" case, the courts have declared many topics to be... View More
Only want to create the product in Canada. Worried about future patents / liability.
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answered on May 12, 2023
You would need to check to see if the US patent holder also filed for any international patents. For example, the US patent holder might have filed a PCT patent application in 2021 or 2022, and have reserved the right to then file into Canada at a later time.
Even if this particular US... View More
The company has been out of business for several years and I want ithe Patent back in my name. I want to make a revision and apply for another Patent with the revision.
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answered on Apr 25, 2023
When a company goes out of business, the company assets (like patents) usually end up reverting to the company creditors and company stockholders. So unless this is your company, and you had no creditors or other stockholders, you may be out of luck.
In terms of filing a revision -- unless... View More
This idea is an innovation in building automation systems and isn’t necessarily just a MA patent, but I am not sure how this process works.
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answered on Apr 19, 2023
You can do a quick and free feasibility test by trying various relevant key words at:
https://patents.google.com/
Although this is no substitute for a professional search, you can at least get some feedback as to if further funds and effort are a good idea, or not.
if the patent has not passed on FER then what shall we do with that patent published , who is having rights?
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answered on Apr 9, 2023
I'm going to assume that you are the inventor and that we are talking about US patent applications.
It is common for patents to be rejected on the First Examination Report (FER). The USPTO assumes that if you still want to get the invention, you will respond to the report (office... View More
We have an innovation in the field of 3D food printing that comes with multiple new tech features and we would like to find the best strategy to patent everything that is paternable at this project.
Until now, we have not yet find someone to help us with a clear advice about the patent... View More
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answered on Feb 24, 2023
The international patent process starts simple, but then gets more complex.
Ultimately most countries (with the EU acting as a block) want to process patent applications through their local offices and correspond to local law firms.
By treaty, the initial patent application in... View More
Our Indian patent has been granted in USA. But our entity was not disclosed as small scale unit while filing application through our agent in US. Is it possible to change now by ourself in order to pay the renewal fee that is applicable for small scale unit. What are the document required for... View More
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answered on Feb 13, 2023
The USPTO classifies applicants as large entity, small entity, and micro entity. Assuming you qualify, then even after the patent was granted, it is possible to change your status to small or micro entity and get a substantial discount on the renewal fees.
Small entities are often small... View More
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answered on Feb 3, 2023
It depends on how ownership of the patent is structured, and the terms of the investment.
For example, investors often require that the inventor assign the patent to a company. The inventor will presumably own shares in the company. When the investor invests, then the investor owns shares... View More
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answered on Jan 28, 2023
Given that you are talking about your grandfather, I am going to assume that you are talking about a patent that issued more than 20 years ago. Perhaps even in the 1950s or earlier?
Patents don't last forever. These days they last about 20 years from filing. Earlier US patents lasted... View More
Worlds Inc. (OTC QB:WDDD) is a leading intellectual property developer related to 3D online virtual worlds. The Company has a portfolio of 9 US patents (6,219,045; 7,181,690; 7,493,558; 7,945,856; 8,082,501; 8,145,998; 8,161,385 8,407,592& 8,640,028) for multi-server technology for 3D applications
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answered on Jan 27, 2023
A quick way to check the USPTO assignment database is to check at the URL:
https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search .
Here you enter in the name of the owner (Worlds, Inc) as the "Assignee name." When you do this, the system lists various companies... View More
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answered on Jan 24, 2023
One good way to research this is to use patents.google.com, type in various relevant keywords, and see what you find. For example, try: https://patents.google.com/?q=helmet+baseball+cap&oq=helmet+in+baseball+cap and various other variations.
With Hasbro updating the Open Game License, this means that community projects becoming commercial products like Pathfinder and Critical Role have to adapt.
I would like to create an open source alternative to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition but I want to know if I am allowed to adapt the... View More
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answered on Jan 12, 2023
For printed material like this, patents don't apply, but copyrights do. This is most likely under copyright. This means that can't borrow the text or illustrations from the original. However you can try to make up your own game under a different name and different rules.
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