Kudos to you for wanting to do the right thing. The answer is that you need to work with a patent attorney to do a freedom-to-operate (sometimes called clearance) search. The attorney or a contractor working for the attorney will look for patents that that have not expired or published... Read more »
My patent lawyer also did a search (we both did), and there was nothing similar in the patent library.
Just last week in Jan. 2022, a product entered the market very similar to mine, claiming to have a pending patent.
I'm not sure if my idea was stolen or if they also came up... Read more »
It depends. You need to have a deep conversation with your patent attorney.
IF the other guys filed before you, it is possible that they have an upper hand.
If you filed first, they would not have a way to know about your invention unless you made it public.
If you get the... Read more »
With the tips in this slide set, you can use Google Patents and the USPTO patent database to answer this question and to additional questions that might arise.
Good luck
https://bit.ly/Patent__Searching
Kevin E flynn
You need to find a manufacturer that will make what you need.
I have filed a provisional US patent 11+ months ago (I have about a week remaining to file full patent). I know in the US there is no way to extend this without loosing my priority date of May 2020. However, can I refile this as a PCT, claiming the May2020 priority date, and then file the full... Read more »
This works, if international filing is important. However, there are better alternatives.
Like a lot of things in life, it is hard to know the best way to do something until you have at least done some pilot projects. My slides at https://bit.ly/Patent__Searching give some tips.
It is hard to pick the perfect terms since some patents were translated into English and have a... Read more »
So I design and print custom sports cards myself and recently I have been getting a lot of interest in them. I understand Panini has the sole rights to create and sell NBA cards. Is there a way to sell the cards I create without infringing on Panini’s rights? I’ve heard altering existing... Read more »
There is not enough information here to answer this fully, but here are some areas of potential concern:
1) The NBA's rights to the trademarks of teams and their own marks
2) The Teams' rights to their own marks
3) Copyright rights to the photos you're using... Read more »
You can research this yourself at https://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/
Use different keywords to research your invention - you may find more than one class that makes sense.
Keep in mind that regardless of what class you think your invention comes under, the patent... Read more »
Which patent?
There have been a number of questions of this type. There is often confusion between two different concepts: inventorship and ownership.
An inventor is someone that made a non-obvious contribution to the project that ended up in at least one claim in the issued patent. The inventors are... Read more »
Usually not. But, the analysis is often more complex than a simple, "Yes" or "No" answer. There are numerous factors to consider.
and hurts people with it. whom can you file suit with if they are trying to not get caught using it but you know they are using it. If we find out who funds it to bring about harm then they deserve a law suit coming their way.
If someone creates a device, and patents that device, then he can keep others from making, using, selling, or offering for sale of that device.
The patent owner can keep almost anyone from using it, whether it is for a good use of an evil use. The patent owner can say, hey, I am going to... Read more »
Being that the question remains open, at this point, the best way to find out could be to contact several attorneys and ask about their fees. Combined with some online research, that should provide a reasonable ballpark. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
I used to work for a firm that defended the original Bell telephone patent court (long long before I was born). So I am well aware that improvements to a particular device such as a telephone may continue to come out for a hundred years or so. It is possible that your patent claims one set of... Read more »
If he was a resident of Puerto Rico and left a Will, it will need to be probated in Puerto Rico. If he left it to you some other way there may be other ways to deal with it.
Whether you infringe a pre-existing patent(s) with your product/method can likely be greater informed by completing a prior art search.
If you do not have a product and want to file a patent application based on your invention, a prior art search should still be completed.
If you... Read more »
It is handmade cat toy wand with wire and some attractive toy at the end.
Thank you in advance,
That is a tough question. You can hire an attorney to give you a good answer, but it will cost you much more money than you could ever make on the toy.
Here is a safer bet: if there is toy that has been around for the past 20 years or longer, then you should be safe from patent... Read more »
I want to know if I can prevent other vendors or manufacturers from replicating my idea .
I assume that you have designed some sort of a bottle or a container for holding nail polish, hair gel, mascara, body lotion, etc.
You have several options.
First, you should trademark the name of your product, and possibly the logo.
Second, you may want to get a design... Read more »
Even though you can't physically see air, it is composed of several components that it's created from such as nitrogen and oxygen.
You cannot claim something natural. It has to be manmade.
You can claim a machine or device that uses air. For instance, a hot air balloon.
I am dealing with an unscrupulous inventor who tries to sell his software patent. He tries to sell it with development done by a 3rd party. That 3rd party has already confirmed to me they are not interested in working on it, because the inventor is ineligible. Also, I was hired by the inventor to... Read more »
Once the patent issues or a patent application is published, then you should be able to see details in the assignment database at https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search . You will also be able to see the relevant information in Public PAIR once you know the application... Read more »
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