A good place to start is to look at patents for analogous products. That will help you understand what is already patented and how much effort it takes to secure a patent. My slides at http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching will give you some tips on patent searching using free tools.

The patent... View More

Your question as conveyed to the attorneys did not include the patent number. You may want to ask the question again with the patent number.

Here are some items that may help. If the patent number starts with a "D", then it is for the ornamental design. You can sell a product... View More

An actual patent will include a field in the upper right corner that says Date of Patent. A published application won't. There are other ways to tell but I wanted to give you the easiest one to explain via a post.

I hope that this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

I do not use the Justia site to download patents. You can download US patents at Google Patents -- https://patents.google.com/ or http://pat2pdf.org/. There are other sites but these are two that I use all the time.

Kevin E Flynn

I think that it is great that you are taking the time to check to see if a product has a patent before you try to make a competing product.

A few pointers.

1) The product will usually have a marking on the product or the packaging for the product that indicates an issued US patent... View More

You asked -- So if #2 is obvious, will the PTO be more "understanding" of my argument to distinguish (my second patent application) since I own the original patent?

In general, the USPTO treats your actions (sales, public uses, and public disclosures) the same as the the actions... View More

Ideally, the process would not get that far. The attorney should ask each prospective client to say without disclosing anything proprietary what type of good or service have you improved? When the attorney learned that the second inventor was in the same space as the first client (possibly with... View More

I agree with the first answer.

To further reduce your risks you can go to a plumbing supply store and look at the toilet seat covers. To the extent that any are marked with a patent, take a photo with your phone and look up that patent later. The manufacturers are apt to put their patent... View More

If your father was employed by a company and made inventions as part of his normal job duites, then the employer might consider your father fully paid in that he received his paycheck. As a paid to invent employee, the money paid by the company to your father would serve as consideration for the... View More

One of the hurdles for a patent claim is to show that it is new and thus does not cover anything that has already existed in reality or on paper. That is not the hardest hurdle.

The hurdle that is the toughest is whether the changes from what previously existed to what you disclose would... View More

The patent system does not have special inheritance rules. The property passes in accordance with local law.

Assuming that you are correct that the patent is expired, then the smart move would be to look for newer patents to that cite the patent you have found. Tips on how to do that are at http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching. You may want to check for other patents on this product by checking the assignee... View More

You can file a provisional patent application and say patent pending for a year but that may not be a long-term fix. In order for the patent process to be valuable to you, you need to get claims in a non-provisional application through the examination process. You will need to show that what you... View More

You may want to review this slide set on how to do some preliminary searching on your own. http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching You may find that your idea is patented or was at least published as a pending application.

As noted in the slide set, you will not be able to see all the... View More

If you mean by "take" that you can pursue the patent process and obtain an issued patent and preclude others from practicing the invention. The answer is no as you were not the first to invent whatever is in the abandoned patent.

If you mean by "take" that you can make... View More

We do not have an option for an international patent. (Yes, I know many people write that they have an international patent, but they are wrong). We have a type of patent application that is the front end for many patent system. This is called a Patent Cooperation Treaty Application (PCT... View More

I do not know about this particular case but this is how you can find out the current status and periodically monitor the case.

Most (I hope all) federal courts participate in a system called PACER. https://www.pacer.gov/ You can get a PACER account and see the docket (a list of filings... View More

1) it is ok to file a patent application in the United States even though you do not live here. When you get the US patent, it will only impact people within the US. So your patent can be used to prevent people from using your idea in the US but they would be free to use it in your country.... View More

Assuming that you are seeking a US patent, then the rule is in 35 USC 102 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/102 which was updated in March of 2013.

Under the current rules, any offer for sale (or sale) of your invention immediately ended your option to seek a US patent. A sale... View More

That is what they are asking for. You would need to consult with an employment attorney in your state to see if this would be enforceable under local law.

This is an overreach by the company. Normally, they limit this sort of agreement to inventions or software related to their line of... View More