Patent

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. This is FindLaw’s collection of Patent articles, part of the Intellectual Property section of the Corporate Counsel Center. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

Intellectual Property

Patent Articles

Katz Patent Reexaminations: A Change in Momentum Favoring RAKTL Targets

On March 26, 2004, the Director of the United States Patent & Trademark Office issued reexamination orders regarding four patents from the Katz Patent Portfolio, representing nearly 350 separate claims. 1 Although the orders require reexamination ...
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Make Money By Exposing Secrets: Learn How the Simple Act of Filing a Patent Application Can Make or Break Your Business

A recent law allows businesses to create more value simply by filing a patent application. The 18-month rule deprives patent applications of their secrecy 18 months after they are filed, but in exchange, the patent applicant can recover damages from ...
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Nanotechnology: the Next Industrial Revolution

"Nanotechnology cannot be defined in terms of dimensions alone. In fact, it represents a convergence of traditional disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology at a common research frontier." Nanotechnology, the science and technology of ...
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New Laws Now in Place for Business Method Patents

While method patents have long been available to protect inventors of useful, novel methods of accomplishing particular tasks, such as surgical procedures, business method patents Â– on a particular method of doing business Â– are new to the scene ...
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Northern District of California Local Rules for Patent Cases

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California adopted new Local Rules 16-6 through 16-11, effective . They apply to all civil cases "filed in this court which include a claim of patent infringement," or which seek ...
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Of Genetic Mice and Mental Gymnastics

Last month in this column I reviewed the rationales for intellectual property (IP) laws. In essence, I explained that patents, copyrights and trade secrets provide various degrees of protection for intangible assets such as information; without ...
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Often Asked Questions About Patenting

The information provided below is not legal advice. It is of a general nature and does not apply to sets of specific facts or circumstances. Is there a time limit for filing a U.S. patent application after coming up with an idea and making a public ...
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Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program: Conducting a Patent Search at a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL)

Patent and Trademark Depository Library ProgramThe -Step ...
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Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program: General Information and Background

A Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) is a library which is designated by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to receive and house copies of US patents and patent and trademark materials, to make them freely available to the ...
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Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program: Notes on Becoming a Patent and Trademark Depository Library

The term "Patent and Trademark Depository Library" (PTDL) refers to a library which (1) has acquired or is in the process of acquiring a collection of U.S. Patent and Trademark documents and (2) has established certain understandings with the Patent ...
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