Disclosure of a prior art reference, whether express, implicit or inherent, may be relied upon to reject claims for lacking novelty under 35 USC section 102 or PCT Article 33(2)[ii]. Determination of lack of novelty is simple when the prior art reference expressly and unambiguously...
On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the AIA into law to bring the patent system into the 21st century. Several key provisions of the AIA went into effect at the one-year anniversary, September 16, 2012. A timeline has been created by Cardinal to keep...
35 USC section 121 provides a safe harbor from double patenting rejections against a patentee on claims that were a result of an earlier restriction requirement because it would be inequitable to reject divided claims on the ground of double patenting when the division was...
The micro entity provisions of 35 U.S.C. 123 are currently in effect (see current fee schedule: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee031913.htm). To qualify as a micro entity, an applicant must meet either of two sets of conditions. As a first option, an applicant can establish a limited income (“gross income”)...
A patent owner or licensee can recover damages when exclusionary intellectual property rights are violated. A patent can be infringed directly and indirectly, because it is unlawful to make, use, sell, or offer to sell a patented thing or process without the patent holder’s permission[ii]. Direct...
President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)-the most significant change to U.S. patent law in almost 60 years – on Friday, September 16, 2011. Some provisions of the law, such as the increased patent office fees took immediate effect (on September 26, 2011),...
A patent owner – whether a non-practicing entity (NPE), troll or competing practicing entity – typically begins patent enforcement with either a demand letter or a lawsuit addressed to or naming the accused infringers. It may involve a single patent, a portfolio of patents or...
If a party loses on an issue, it may not re-litigate the issue before the examiner or in a subsequent Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (Board) proceeding. The time for the party to make all pertinent arguments is during the interference, unless the Board...
Innovation—the process, through which new inventions are generated and successfully introduced in the marketplace—is a primary driver of U.S. economic growth and national competitiveness. Intellectual property is used everywhere in the economy, and IP rights support innovation and creativity in virtually every U.S. industry. A...
In an effort to expand coverage of worldwide patent collections, the USPTO announced the launch of the Global Patent Search Network (GPSN) to make the patent research easier and more comprehensive by providing streamlined search capability to multiple international patent collections. The GPSN is the...