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IP RESOURCES
This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.
A utility patent covers the concept or idea behind a device or process, whereas a design patent protects only the appearance of the invention. After issuance, a utility patent has a term of 20 years from the date of filing. A design patent is good for 14 years. A design patent application consists primarily of a drawing, whereas a utility patent application includes drawings accompanied by a detailed text and carefully written claims.
To be eligible for patent protection, the invention must be new, useful and non-obvious. The most common reason for rejection of an application is that the invention would have been obvious to a person skilled in that particular area of technology who is aware of all printed material and patents that have ever been published relating to that particular field.
No. Although sales or other public disclosures of your invention prior to filing a U.S. patent application can cause the loss of foreign patent rights, you may file a U.S. patent application within a year of your first sale, offer for sale, or other public disclosure.
Not necessarily. If two patent applications are filed claiming the same subject matter, the Patent Office begins a special proceeding to determine who was the first actual inventor. The Patent Office considers the following factors to determine who receives patent rights: (i) the first to conceive of the invention; (ii) the diligence with which each inventor attempted to reduce the idea to practice; and (iii) who was the first inventor to actually reduce the invention to practice.
No. The issuance of a patent is not an indication of marketability or commercial use of the invention.
Yes. Method or process patents are quite common, especially in the fields of chemistry, materials and data processing. |
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Yes. Trademark rights are based on the extent of actual use of a mark in commerce. However, obtaining federal trademark registration is recommended because it is treated as prima facie evidence of use of the mark throughout the United States.
Yes.You can file a federal trademark application along with the required "intent to use" statement.
No. A corporate name can never take on trademark status until that name is used in association with specific goods and services.
No. State trademark laws vary from one state to another, but generally the state performs only a cursory examination to determine if your mark is similar to other marks registered in that state. Some states perform no examination whatsoever, and it is quite possible to obtain a state trademark registration for a trademark that is identical to an already existing federally registered trademark. In such a case, a state trademark registration is of little or no value.
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Nothing. Copyright protection attaches at the moment the work is fixed in tangible form (e.g., written down). In order to preserve your copyright, you should (but are no longer required to) mark it with a copyright notice, which includes the word "copyright" and or the symbol ©, the year of creation, and your name. Therefore, an appropriate copyright notice could appear: © 1996 William Smith.
Registering a copyright offers procedural advantages if you should ever attempt to prevent the unauthorized copying of your work. Copyright registration may be accomplished by filling out a form available from the register of copyrights, Library of Congress and submitting it along with appropriate specimens and fees (usually $20).
No. A trade secret loses its status as a secret if it can be discovered by members of the public by inspection and analysis of the product. No action may be taken against anyone discovering the trade secret by such methods.
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