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Etherton Law Group prepares
and prosecutes U.S. patent applications for most
technologies. We have extensive experience in
software, Internet, business methods, semiconductor
processing, medical devices, consumer goods, and
golf-related inventions. (Hey!
We live in Phoenix!)
Our practice is to prepare
and prosecute patent applications in a timely
manner. Unless advantageous for strategic purposes,
we usually do not need to file for extensions
of time or make significant amendments to the
patent application. This method saves time
and money, and is safer under the recent case
law that effectively penalizes the patent holder
for delays and amendments.
Patent Basics
The U.S. Patent Code (35 U.S.C.
§ 1-376) governs the issuance of U.S. patents.
In essence, a patent is issued by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office for an invention of proper
subject matter that has utility, is novel and
non-obvious. Each of these terms of art,
utility, novelty, and non-obviousness,
has a specific meaning in the context of patents,
and form the criteria by which your invention
will be judged. It takes an average of eighteen
months from the date of filing for a patent to
issue. Once it does, you have protection for twenty
years from the date the application was filed
against infringers who might try to make, use,
or sell it or a similar invention. You may
transfer these rights to others.
To meet the criteria for
a patent, the invention first must have utility.
An invention that satisfies the utility criterion
is an invention that is useful. It must
have a known use, as opposed to a creation having
only a theoretical use or none at all.
Novelty means that the invention
is new. That is, the invention has never
been manufactured, used, or made public by anybody
in the world. Patents and publications from
the U.S. and foreign countries are used to determine
whether your invention is novel.
Non-obviousness is similar
to novelty and most often becomes the sticking
point for whether a patent issues. Non-obviousness
is also judged against patents and other literature,
which is called "prior art." To
be non-obvious, an invention must have at least
one improvement that differentiates it enough
from prior art to make it worthy of protection
as a unique invention.
There are several bars to
patenting an invention. One is to make public
use of your invention for more than one year before
you file an application. Experimental use
and durability testing is not usually considered
to be public use. Concealing or abandoning
an invention is also a bar to patent rights.
Our Patent
Services
- U.S. patent applications
for
- Utility patents, design
patents
- Business method and
software patents
- Most technologies, including mechanical,
electrical, and chemical inventions
- Domestic (U.S.) inventors
- Foreign inventors
- Coordination of foreign patent application filings,
including preparation of PCT applications
- Patent licensing
- Licensing your company's patents
to others
- Licensing others’ patents
for your use
- Corporate invention disclosure
programs
- Corporate intellectual
property audits
- On-site visit to find valuable
intangible assets
- Patent infringement opinions
- Corporate training programs
for patent and trade secret protection
- Patent portfolio planning
and management
- Coordination of foreign
patent application filings
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