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Questions Answered by Kevin E. Flynn
1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: Could you please explain the content in the field ‘Type’ in the patent database.

I notice either the word ‘Grant’ or the word ‘Application’ common in the research I am doing. I want to be clear on what distinguishes these applications. Thanks.

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Jan 24, 2023

I am not sure what database you are talking about as I do not use Justia to search for patents.

But in the normal course of things, a patent application is published 18 months after that application (or a priority application) was filed. So for example US20170035603 A1 was a publication...
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2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) for Michigan on
Q: Intellectual property: I provided a product idea to a company. They stole the idea and used it to secure a patent.

...

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Jan 23, 2023

This is going to require that a patent attorney take a deep dive on the material that you provided and the nuances of the issued patent claims. There may be a path to correct inventorship to add you as one of the inventors. If you did not assign over your rights, then being a coinventor makes you... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for California on
Q: Patent lawyer

Hello,

I’d like to get consultation with a lawyer concerning patents. I’m thinking of producing Pickleball balls with further sales. I’m interested if I can do that legally. What is mentioned in the patent? Do I need a license for producing the balls? Etc.

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Jan 11, 2023

In order to obtain a patent, you will need to show that your pickleball is not just different from the existing pickleballs but differs in a way that would be non-obvious to a non-creative expert in pickleball design.

In order to sell pickleballs, you need to be clear of all relevant...
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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for Colorado on
Q: Is someone able to review my business idea to avoid a patent infringement?
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 29, 2022

Not clear how they will get access to your business idea. If you mean will they be able to look at your provisional patent application, the answer is no (not unless you provide a copy). If you mean your US patent application, the default is that the application is published 18 months from the... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: If shipped from the US (patent holder location) to Canada but manufactured in China. Is that legal to sell in Canada?
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 7, 2022

A US patent covers a produce while it is in the US. So if you want to avoid the US patent, you need to avoid the US. That means the product cannot be in the US and you cannot make the sale from the US.

If you open an office in Canada to make sales and import products from China without...
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2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: If a patent exists in the unites states, is that patent active in Canada?
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 7, 2022

A patent only applies to the country that issued the patent. (There are a few regional patent system but none that include the United States and Canada so we will ignore that nuance right now).

A US patent would apply to items made in the US and exported into Canada or to items made in...
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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for California on
Q: Hi - I'd like more information on this patent: Patent number: 8633982

Is this a 20 year patent? How close to the design could a competitor come without violating the patented protection?

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 3, 2022

Google patents lists the expiration date of October 9, 2031 (assumes payment of all maintenance fees).

There are three independent claims. In order to infringe the claims, you need to do what is either literally in claim 1, 8, or 14 or be covered by the slight expansion of scope afforded...
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3 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) for Texas on
Q: Can the formula for a specific type of concrete be patented?

I have developed a type of concrete specifically for my use making Anaerobic Digesters, which exhibits specific properties beneficial to the structure and operation of Mesophilic Anaerobic Digesters intended to be installed and operated as generational (extended time-frame) projects.

Kevin E. Flynn
PREMIUM
Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Nov 9, 2022

Yes. For an example see https://answers.justia.com/question/2022/11/09/can-the-formula-for-a-specific-type-of-c-932358 . The '358 patent was for a form of concrete used to make faux villages for use in military training exercises. The concrete was tuned to receive the bullets so that the... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for New Jersey on
Q: Is it unwise to put foreign language patents in your prior art list when applying for a US patent? Thanks, Richard

I'm wondering if this would require the examiner to have the cited non-english-language patent(s) translated, thereby making their job more difficult and perhaps annoying them. Or would the examiner require me to have them translated since I put them in there?

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Nov 3, 2022

If you are aware of the material in the foreign patent (or other foreign language document) and the material is non-duplicative, prior, and material as defined in 37 CFR 1.56, you need to provide it. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/37/1.56 Whether it may be marginally annoying to the... View More

2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) for New Jersey on
Q: Is this a complete list of patent applications for brass trumpet mouthpieces
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Oct 26, 2022

Your question did not contain the list. But even without seeing the list, I can warn you that some pending applications won't show up on a list. The default is that US applications are published 18 months after filing. So most applications filed within the last 18 months won't show... View More

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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: I am looking for a layer who helped me in the USA. It was NJ TOYOINK.The patent # Application #20210016589.

Who wrote the invention Application #20210016589.

I am now thinking an another patent research from Japan. I lost the name of laywer and I need his name and contact again today.

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 2, 2023

I have provided a link to the files for this application so you can see all the papers associated with it. https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/applications/16516919 The names of the attorneys will be on the papers for the application when they filed the application.

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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) and Intellectual Property on
Q: Patent D968944S - possible to request a photo of the design?

Hello, this is Annie from J & A Essentials. We have received a complaint regarding patent D968944S. Could you kindly provide us with the design in question so that we can compare it to our product and determine if there is any potential infringement? Thank you.

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Aug 1, 2023

You can download the PDF from here https://patents.google.com/patent/USD968944S1/en?oq=D968944

You may want to talk to a patent attorney to sort out what is the distinctive set of features protected by this patent and what is not protect as it is utilitarian.

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1 Answer | Asked in Family Law and Probate for Puerto Rico on
Q: I just found out my biological grandfather is died but I never meet him. My uncle told me he left property behind.

I have my mothers birth certificate that has his name but that’s all how can I find any information on him

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Feb 8, 2023

I am sorry that you did not get to meet your grandfather.

Note -- you have posted this question to paTents not paRents. They look the same but patents is a field where attorneys help inventors protect their inventions.

You need to seek an attorney that works with PROBATE in the...
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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: Hi, ive made an adaptor to fit onto Cookie G35, they claim infringement, but i dont see any patent on utility plate

They manufactered an utility plate to which ive made a custom adaptor to use with other model cameras, which still needs the original product from Cookie composite group. They have claimed that anything i produce which can be used with their helmet and utility system is an infringement, which i... View More

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Dec 3, 2022

I am sorry but this sort of situation deserves a serious answer that will only come when a patent attorney looks at the accused product, the cease and desist letter, and the referenced patents. This is simply not a good candidate for casual comments on a public web site.

As a general...
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1 Answer | Asked in Internet Law for Alabama on
Q: Is it legal for a person to possess many identities and fake documents on-line for public to see of fake patents.

I mean this person has 20 plus identities and he is possessing things online or trying to show that he owns things by creating fake documents for anyone who wants to look at them

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Nov 14, 2022

This does not seem to be a patent issue. When filing a patent application, one needs to submit the true list of inventors. From your description, I don't think that this person has patents that were issued with fake inventors.

I am not sure what type of scam is going on here but...
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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: I owned a patent c/o ISC; however, the assigned lawyer was disbarred and as a result my patent was expired. Please help
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Oct 7, 2022

1) You do not need an attorney to pay a maintenance fee. You can pay directly with a credit card at https://fees.uspto.gov/MaintenanceFees/.

2) There is a process to revive a patent for unintentional failure to pay a maintenance fee. There is a hefty fee for this. The petition is at...
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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for Washington on
Q: Is it legal to add 2 people to my patents who now claim to be inventors when I was the listed0 on my patents for 8 yrs
Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Sep 14, 2022

The process wants the names of the true inventors. Inventors are not always the owners or the people that worked the hardest on making the prototypes. Inventors are the people that impacted the direction of the project so that at least one significant piece of an issued claim would not be there... View More

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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for California on
Q: What would be the cost to have a lawyer file an “Ex parte reexamination” on a patent on our behalf?

We have found a US utility patent that should be invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (b), because the exact product on there was being publicly sold and marketed online for more than one year before the patent filing date. We have collected extensive evidence and are looking for a IP lawyer to writeup... View More

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Sep 12, 2022

Some challenges post-grant have limits on the type of challenge. An ex parte reexamination under 35 USC 302 is limited to challenges based on prior patents and printed publications. Other forms of challenge address an on-sale bar. Often if a product is on sale, there are user manuals, white... View More

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2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: I'm supporting a patient who claims to have several patents related to electric grids. How can we prove this?
Kevin E. Flynn
PREMIUM
Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Sep 7, 2022

You can start by doing a Google Search. Here is the search for looking for patents that I invented. Note that if you do not include the middle name that you will get extra patents that other people invented but you can go through that short list.... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for Minnesota on
Q: I have an invention and I've researched it and there's no one in the world and I need a patent but cannot afford one who

I need help with a invention and companies are calling me and but I don't know what to do as far as them not stealing my idea

Kevin E. Flynn
PREMIUM
Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Aug 19, 2022

This might help. The USPTO has a network of providers that provide pro bono assistance to inventors that cannot afford patent attorneys.

https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/using-legal-services/pro-bono/patent-pro-bono-program

There are also legal clinics at some law schools...
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