Did you miss the deadline for responding to an office action or pay a maintenance fee? Don’t despair; you’ve got options. Before December 18, 2013, applicants who missed the deadline for responding to an office action but wanted to continue prosecuting their application would have filed a petition to the Commissioner for Patents requesting that…
Should I file a provisional patent application? Source: USPTO.GOV Rob Hodge, Office of Innovation Development One of the most frequent questions independent inventors ask is whether they should file a provisional patent application. But there is no surefire answer. Every situation is unique, and what works for one inventor might not work for another. Only…
Models, Exhibits, and Specimens Models or exhibits are not required in most patent applications since the description of the invention in the specification and the drawings must be sufficiently full, clear, and complete and capable of being understood to disclose the invention without the aid of a model. A working model, or other physical exhibit,…
Source: USPTO.GOV The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking nominations for the 2017 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking nominations for the 2017 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The medal is presented each year…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) utilizes PAIR – Patent Application Information Retrieval System. PAIR has a private site that provides a USPTO/Internet infrastructure capability to securely provide patent application status information to USPTO customers with a customer number associated with the correspondence address for their application and the appropriate software tools. PAIR also has…
JOAN E. HIGGINBOTHAM NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER) PERSONAL DATA: Born in Chicago, Illinois. She enjoys body building (weightlifting), cycling, music, motivational speaking. EDUCATION: Graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1982; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, in 1987, a Masters of Management…
The companies that do this best, according to Beckley, are the ones that will ultimately have sustained success.”In the vast sea of innovation, companies that take the largest risk, close the biggest gaps and identify the newest opportunities are rewarded with the title of true innovators and leaders by their consumers and peers,” he said….
The United States Patent Code makes provision for an inventor who is the first to file a patent application for an invention. The first-to-file system was effective on March 16, 2013 after the enactment of the America Invents Act. In a first-to-file system, the first person to file a patent application for protection of an…
About Patent Maintenance Fees Source: USPTO.GOV A maintenance fee is a fee that is required for maintaining in force all utility and reissue utility patents based on applications filed on or after December 12, 1980. Generally, utility patents expire after 20 years from the application filing date subject to the payment of appropriate maintenance fees….
USPTO Fights Fraudulent Trademark Solicitations The USPTO has worked hard to fight solicitations from companies fraudulently promising to protect trademarks, and we have taken a number of steps to help raise awareness of these schemes in an attempt to limit the number of victims defrauded. Our agency works closely with federal agencies, including the Department…
