I am sorry, all that Justia passed along was three statements. I did not see a question.

1) Good morning, I am researching the patent for Cookie Break Cookies by Nabisco.

2) They changed the receipe.

3) I found that P&G sued them over the patent for Soft Baked... View More

Unless you request expedited prosecution, you will wait about 18 months after you file a patent application before your application is examined. The typical prosecution phase is about 36 months. The best way to move it forward is to respond to USPTO office actions as soon as possible. You get 6... View More

Your friend's patent will only protect him/her from the competition within Mexico. If your friend did not patent it with the USPTO, anyone will be able to practice the invention in the US, but so nothing for your friend to sell. What does your friend want to sell?

Step 1 -- make sure that you are looking at an issued patent not a published application (Justia did not pass along whatever you are looking at).

Step 2 -- make sure that the patent has not expired, lapsed, or been invalidated.

Step 3-- be sure that you need the patent. Do you plan... View More

Try: https://patents.justia.com/patent/5677539

I think you need to look at actual patents that have been issued for apps. The Supreme Court does not like mere efforts to organize human behavior with a marketplace or other app to modify human behavior. You need to show that what you did would impress an engineer that makes apps.... View More

The focus needs to be on the patent claims. Not the title of the patent. Not the drawings. Not the abstract. Not the details in the specification. You cannot make something that has all the nouns, verbs, and other requirements that exist in an independent claim in a patent. Some claims are... View More

First, you are lucky as there are far fewer patent attorneys than attorneys as a patent attorney needs two different things, a bar license from a state and a patent registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. But, you can pick a patent attorney from anywhere in the country.... View More

Hire an attorney to conduct a prior art search and provide an opinion about whether your design is patentably distinct over the prior art. I recommend you budget about $2,000 for this work. Good luck!

Buying a patent, or a portfolio of patents, is in many ways similar to buying a business, or a car, or a house. Before you agree to purchase the patent, you really need to have someone look at it. Someone who understands patent law, understands patent prosecution, patent litigation, etc. This... View More

Yes. A patent is a personal property that one can assign in a will just like an art collection, a car, or a stock portfolio.

How often does a patent pass through will in practice, is a different question. Typically patents are owned by companies, and not by the inventors themselves.... View More

You'd just trademark it.

It sounds like you need to do some searching to see if your new idea is already the subject of an issued patent or a pending application that has been published but not yet allowed. If I am right, then you may want to look at my slide set on patent searching. http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching... View More

The ingredient itself, as opposed to the recipe? Yes, you should be able to, provided, of course, that it is new. If you, for example, came up with a new type of a shortening, or new crystalline form of some sugar, etc. then it should be patentable.

You are facing two hurdles, though.... View More

Typically, if there is a merger, the patents will belong to the new company.

But it does not have to be that way. Issued patents are treated just like any other business asset. Your company can sell the patents along with all the other business assets such as inventory, production... View More

There are often families of patents. They may have an initial provisional application or non-provisional application and then a set of branches with divisional applications, continuation in part (CIP) applications, and continuation applications.

Some of these may issue as patents. There... View More

Well, you are going to have to talk to a California employment attorney to get the best answer. I am not a California attorney, nor an employment attorney, but here are a few points.

(1) You are correct that the trademarks, logos, brand names, sales copies, and like, are likely not... View More

There likely is not a patent on stainless steel straws. The Gauchos of Patagonia have been using steel straws for generations. There may be a patent on some small variation of it, but you should be able to make and sell stainless steel straws.

But to make sure, buy a package of them, and... View More

Generally yes. For example, if you created an accessory that could be used with a patented mountain bike, you could sell that accessory even though it is used with a patented product.

What you cannot do is make a mountain bike from scratch that has your accessory as you do not have rights... View More

Sorry, but you don't have a patent. That patent publication has been abandoned over 4 years ago. You may want to reach out to the patent attorney who prosecuted it to see if there is anything that could be done to revive it.

The best that you could hope for is to see if the... View More