The meaning of innovation has moved a lot in the past few years from the dictionary definition. Let us start with “invention”. This is defined in contemporary patent law as something not publicly used, unpublished and non-obvious that also fits within an accepted definition of subject...
Continue ReadingPharma often try to evergreen the drug coming off-patent through follow-on patents. Examples include researching better production processes, producing better forms of the drugs (e.g. getting rid of impurities or combining them with other drugs). Pharma often do this research shortly after a drug is...
Continue ReadingThis assumes you have the product actually to sell. If you start selling the product without first getting a patent on it, then you are likely to lose the ability to protect it and your competition could muscle in on your invention. You need to do...
Continue ReadingI have a really good idea that could triple the revenue of a specific company. How do I reach with minimum effort (so I can have other ideas) a situation where: The company uses/considers this idea; I get some recognition/compensation/consultancy position. How far can an...
Continue ReadingB2B Unfair Standard Form Contracts If you do business with small businesses after 12 November 2016 then a new contracts regime will apply to your standard form contracts. This applies whether you are a small or large business. If you have a standard-form contract (e.g. Terms...
Continue ReadingThe biggest challenges depend on the inventor/applicant and the industry that they work in so there is no one major challenge. This is my list of the biggest challenges built up from my experience in my years of practice: Converting an idea/concept into one...
Continue ReadingAre there any benefits, compared to self-filing? Example: if I file a provisional with a patent attorney, can it be used as "proof" later in a dispute (with another party claiming inventorship), even if the provisional had expired? Could my patent attorney "back me up"...
Continue ReadingWhen a patent is examined whether another product that your invention relies on is patented or not is irrelevant. The test comes down to whether your invention is new and inventive given the things that have been known and used before your patent was filed. If...
Continue ReadingPatents are effectively a social contract. In exchange for you revealing your invention to the public so they can replicate it, you get a time-limited monopoly on that invention. Renewals are there to ensure that monopolies are not left in place if they are not commercially...
Continue ReadingThis is not advisable. I have been a patent professional for 20 years, and the self-filed applications I have dealt with have not once met the requirements for a valid and commercially useful patent, often resulting in a loss of patent rights. The trouble is...
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