I can give you some help, but you won't find the answer totally satisfying.

1) Good news -- you can work with a competent patent attorney from anywhere. You do not have to use the patent attorney that is in your state. This is because the patent registration is granted by the... View More

I am sorry, your question was posted to Patents (with a T) rather than Parents (with an R). I hope Justia will fix their list to make this easier on people by changing Patents to Patents/Inventions.

I hope you find the right answer from someone with skills in family law.

Good... View More

The short answer is that if what you have is a valuable idea, that you patent it from each viable angle to make it more difficult for someone to design around your idea.

Having claims of different scopes of the product, the material in the product, the method of making the product, and... View More

This is a breach of contract question. Go see a corporate attorney.

It is hard to see how you could fit an acronym into the patent system. To the extent that you are using this acronym in conjunction with the provision of goods or services, you may want to talk with a trademark attorney to discuss whether that tool is appropriate. So if you plan on using the... View More

First -- I am assuming that the disclosure was a public disclosure. A disclosure under a non-disclosure agreement to a potential client does not count as a disclosure in many systems.

For systems that want absolute novelty, you would need to claim back to a priority document that... View More

Depends on the length of time that person has to register as a sex offender. That is separate from parole.

This is a common fear. Unfortunately, if you never tell anyone about the idea it will be hard to move forward.

If you product has new features not found in other products, then you may be able to protect the idea with a patent application. Once you have a patent application on file, then... View More

You can but only if the improvement would not have been obvious to someone else skilled in the art. It would be difficult to patent the same idea, the same function and same application with a different material unless you can show that making it with that material would have been impossible in... View More

You should not be concerned that a patent attorney is going to steal the idea underlying your potential patent application. There are robust legal protections in place to protect your private and confidential information when you discuss legal matters with an attorney. If an attorney were to... View More

Sorry, you do not have any rights in the product. Patents are not like copyrights in this respect.

Moreover, if the invention is legally considered the same or similar enough (which it may not be), and if your packaging is sufficiently descriptive enough (which it may not be), and if the... View More

Under some circumstances, it may be possible. I've seen lots of things produced on a small scale and then they are attached to a ring to make a key chain tab. I've seen miniature flashlights, screwdrivers, tape measures, Rubic's Cube, etc.

But none of those 4 examples are... View More

In Texas, the age of consent is 17. That means 17 year olds can consent to sex, so there is no legal issue there.

However, our legal system also treats those under 18 as "minors." While living under the parents' control, minors are expected to listen to and obey their... View More

Congratulations on your new business venture. I hope that it is profitable.

And congratulations about worrying about this issue now, and not when you are getting cease and desist letters.

Your question has to do with “trade dress”: the appearance, the feel, the packaging, the... View More

Yes, it is possible.

A couple of points, though.

(1) There are different ways of invalidating a patent claim, which is different from invalidating the entire patent. The entire patent can be invalidated if, for example, a fraud was committed on the patent office, or if the wrong... View More

Copyright law used to require that the person seeking copyright for compilations must do more than compiling data. This was the "sweat of the brow" doctrine.

That has changed, however. A compilation of data can be copyrighted, but is must only contain the "facts."... View More

The quick answer is that a bread maker that makes loaves of bread in the shape of the US is patentable subject matter. Unfortunately, the short answer is not very informative because what you really need to know is whether the invention is also both novel and nonobvious. This is where a patent... View More

I am not sure, but likely until July 3, 2030.

(The reason that I am not sure is that such a simple question no longer has a simple answer. It used to be that one can just take a look at the grant date, add 17 years to it, and that would be it. Since then, the law has gotten surprisingly... View More

There is likely nothing to be done now. Depending on the circumstances, the statutes of limitations likely tolled a long time ago.

If you want to be sure, go talk to a litigation attorney.

That patent has lapsed in Sep 1993. His invention is now in the public domain.