The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes to the manner in which businesses must operate, including patent offices around the world and the businesses and law firms that file patent applications.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes to the manner in which businesses must operate, including patent offices around the world and the businesses and law firms that file patent applications.
There are a number of different types of protection that can be used to protect a novel plant cultivar – Plant Patents, USDA Plant Variety Protection (PVP), Utility Patents directed toward a particular variety, foreign Plant Breeder Rights (PBR), Trademarks, etc.
Artificial intelligence is being used more and more to develop new inventions without human aid. But as AI capabilities increase at a rapid pace, patent offices around the world face a crucial question: can AI be an inventor for purposes of patent protection?
Say you have a great new invention. What is one major thing you need to do before releasing it to the world and making your millions? Get a patent! Don’t stop there, though. In many cases, it makes sense to get a design patent in addition to a standard utility patent.
Up until recently, breeders of asexually reproduced plants had essentially a single option for protecting their novel variety in the United States: a U.S. Plant Patent. But due to several legal and technological changes, three options now exist: plant patents, utility patents, and plant variety protection certificates.
Congratulations! You’ve just been awarded a patent on your invention, which you are now manufacturing or otherwise using. You want to be certain that you will be able to enforce your patent and to collect any damages to which you are entitled, should someone infringe it. Now what?
Proposed rule changes by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) published on May 27, 2020 may finally help improve patent owners’ odds of avoiding inter partes reviews (IPRs).
One of the most important messages parents convey to their children about their online presence is that the internet is forever. Images and messages posted online are an indelible mark that may be difficult, if not impossible to remove.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) into new and unexpected aspects of modern life turned a new corner in recent months when patent applications were filed in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on behalf of an AI machine named “DABUS” which invented two new products.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), created in 2012 as part of the America Invents Act, a branch of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that hears appeals to adverse examiner decisions and conducts trials, including inter partes reviews and post-grant challenges. Ideally, the PTAB is meant to ensure the predictable, uniform, and unbiased application of USPTO policy to patent applications.