If I Withdrew My Patent Litigation Claim, Can I Re-File It Later on?

In general, there is no statute of limitations on a claim for patent infringement. However, the Patent Act specifies a time limit on monetary relief for patent infringement claims – damages are available only for infringement that occurs within the six years prior to the filing of the complaint. In general, a voluntary dismissal (unless…

When Should I Convert My Provisional Patent Application to a Non-Provisional Utility Patent?

I usually get asked the question: If I rush to convert my provisional to a non-provisional patent filing, does that reduce the risk of someone having a third party receiving a patent on the same subject matter? Typically, there is NO rush in filing the non-provisional utility patent application once you’ve already secured a provisional…

I Received a Provisional Patent Filing Receipt in the Mail – What Does It Mean?

A provisional patent application filing receipt indicates that the USPTO has granted you a patent priority date. The patent priority date is the same day as your patent filing date in the case of a provisional patent application filing. From this date forward, you have 12 months to file a non-provisional patent application claiming priority…

If You’re Making Your Own Board Game, How Do You Protect Your Idea?

How To Legally Protect Your Game Board Idea Say there is a game thats been around. A lot of people are familiar with it. No one has made a board game out of it. How do I protect something that everyone knows but no one is actually selling? In protecting board games, you have the…

What Happens If I Infringe on Someone’s Copyright?

As an attorney for startups and up-and-coming companies, I am often asked questions such as these: “do I need permission to use someone else’s song in my Kickstarter video?” or “what will happen if I just use it?” or “if the band or label catches me, they can just tell me to stop, right?” To answer…

Is My Invention Patentable If It Integrates into an Existing Product?

To begin the analysis, we must first answer the following: Is the “invention” something that exists already and you are applying it to an existing product to improve the existing product’s performance? OR Is the “invention” unique and you are applying it to the existing product to improve the product’s performance? Does the “invention” have…

Can You Add Another Person to Your Patent Application?

“If I filed for a provisional patent as the sole inventor, is it possible to add another inventor when filing for the nonprovisional patent if he makes a contribution to the invention?” You may add additional inventors to your non-provisional application.  The non-provisional must have at least one inventor in common with the provisional patent…

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