Sorry, the question as passed on to attorneys does not include the patent number. The answer to the question is based on what is in the issued claims. Not the title, not the drawings, not the specification, not the initial set of requested claims but only what is in the issued claims.

I... View More

A process, a machine, an article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. 35 USC 101

Almost any new and non-obvious invention can be patented. You can't patent things like new mathematical formulas, or something that is just purely a mental... View More

A patent is good only in the jurisdiction that granted that patent. So US patent is good only in the US.

Now, it is possible that Open Table filed the same patent in other jurisdictions. Usually, these patents have the same inventor, and the same priority. You may search for them at... View More

To answer this correctly, a patent attorney would need to read not just the claims but also the complete specification and likely at least a portion of the documents exchanged back and forth with the patent examiner in response to initial rejections of the claim.

This sort of very detailed... View More

Yes, that sort of a solution to a technical problem should be patentable.

From your question that this might not even be a business method subject matter (which may or may not be patentable), but a technological solution to a scientific or engineering problem (which would be patentable... View More

That patent case is dead. No reply to the first office action was ever filed, so the patent application went abandoned. You should be able to practice what is described in the invention.

From the engineering point of view, the invention makes no sense (unless you are a believer of... View More

Yes. That's the idea behind patents -- inventors get a patent for their invention, which gives them the right to exclude others from using their inventions, but when the patent expires or is abandoned, other people can use it. You have to be careful that the inventor does not revive the... View More

Yes. This happens all the time.

For example, if you invent something that already exists or was already published, then you cannot patent it because of 35 USC 102. Or, if you did not invent it, then you cannot patent it either.

Or, if you invent something that is obvious in view... View More

This is going to be a bit tricky since you are in California. The reason is that California has a law about the Right of Publicity (Calif. Civil Code 3344), which prevents a person from appropriating for his/her own advantage another person's name or likeness. This is somewhat unique to... View More

So, what is your question?

Custom zippers can be patented as far as religious symbols it depends on a few factors.

Hard to answer as your question as conveyed did not include any indication of the patent family. Sometimes one patent application leads to several applications as the USPTO has a request for the applicant to pick one of several claim clusters in the original application. For example choose... View More

It is possible to sell an idea to a company but it is difficult without a patent or at least a patent application so that you have something to sell.

The company could seek a patent listing you as an inventor but it may be hard to get traction with them. Many companies will not talk to an... View More

Patent term is more confusing than it should be. The one part that is simple, is that patent term is not a function of the technology. There is not a way for the applicant to apply to extend the patent term (unlike trademarks or copyrights). (but as noted below, there are things that can shorten... View More

See my searching tips on forward chaining in my slide set on patent searching -- http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching.

Google Patents shows the patents and applications that cite to a particular patent.

I hope this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

There are only two in the Google Patent system for that name but sometimes folks use a formal legal name when filing legal documents.

Here is a link to the two that show up as Jack

https://patents.google.com/?inventor=jack+g+ohringer&oq=jack+g+ohringer+

It is not clear... View More

Learn all about it: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics

Part of the patent process is accurately listing the inventors. So deleting your name if you are truly an inventor would be against the rules. If you wanted to preserve privacy, you might have been able to provide a work address instead of a home address.

If you used a non-publication... View More

That is fine. Pretty much every invention somehow builds on what already exists.

But not only does your invention be new (novel, i.e., nobody has ever made the same thing), but it has to be really new (nonobvious, i.e., nobody could have come up with the same thing knowing what they... View More

If your patent has issued and is still in force, then you can prohibit others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell devices within the United States that fall within your patent claims.

To the extent that you have information about potentially infringing activity, you should... View More