Patent and Trademark

The Difference Between Trade Secrets And Trademarks

2009-05-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

Some people get confused between trade secrets and trademarks. A trademark is something that is publicly recognized and known as being officially associated with a particular company. In contrast a trade secret can be a much more broad definition and by its very name is not made public.

According to the laws in most states, any device, pattern, formula, idea, or collection of information that gives the owner an advantage in the marketplace and is protected by the owner in a way that shows that it can be reasonably expected to keep their competitors or the public from finding out about it without stealing it is considered a trade secret.

There are many examples I can give of trade secrets. In an actual product, a trade secret could be the way certain ingredients are combined in the formulation of a nutritional supplement. Recipes, in particular those employed at commercial restaurants, are considered to be trade secrets.

One very famous one that I can think of right off is Colonel Sander's recipe for his Kentucky Fried Chicken. An idea for an invention that one has that they have not filed for a patent on yet would also be considered a trade secret, as are the complex algorithms that search engines like Google use to give us search results online.

Trade secrets are the opposite of other types of protecting of intellectual property such as trademarks and patents. The whole idea of a trade secret is to keep it from public knowledge and it is basically something that a person or company does themselves. Your trade secret will be given protection under law until you make the information public.

Companies and individuals protect information that they are unable to guard with other legal means such as patents and trademarks. There are numerous things that can be considered trade secrets. An idea that will give you a big jump over your competition in a particular market or even an idea for a piece of software or a website would also be a trade secret. Business information that you keep secret and only allow access to by employees such as marketing plans, costs, and pricing would be protected under law.

According to the law, the owner of a trade secret can legally prevent employees from using trade secret information or disclosing it by binding them with confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements. They also have legal protection from people who get the information by stealing it or through industrial espionage as well as people who get the information knowing that it is a protected trade secret.

The best way for a company to protect itself legally is to have employees sign a non-disclosure agreement, also known as an NDA. You should also have them signed by anyone that you do business with such as lenders and investors. An intellectual property attorney can help you with drafting this important document.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as trademark lawyers at http://www.focusonip.com

PPC Ads Face A New Trademark Limitation

2009-05-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

A federal court ruled last week that it is not only a trademark violation any longer to use another company?s trademark to deceive search engine users in the paid ad headline. The court has further ruled, that you can not purchase a trademark as a keyword to bring up your paid listing on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines. This decision stemmed from a national jewelry company, who bid on the term, ?dating ring? to bring up their ad for the sale of the companies own diamond rings. The problem was that another company already had the trademark to the term ?The Dating Ring?. When this term was entered by users of the search engines, the national company?s ad came up for the sale of rings.

The defendant argued it never placed the trademarked term on any of its products or used the term ?dating ring? on its Web site. Unfortunitly for the company, they did use the term in the content of their ad.

This ruling makes the practice of going after your competitors name very costly now. The issues as I see it may become the inability to use common terms that the causal user may search by, where they do not even know it is a trademark. In this case illustrated, the term, ?dating ring? seems rather innocent to me. I had no idea there was even a company with that name. The law provides protection for companies name as it is used in commerce. However, when a company chooses such a general term for a name and does not have a large presence in the economy or even in the specific industry it conducts business, and then it seems unfair to require every company bidding on key words to conduct a trademark search for each and every term they will purchase. This type of investigation can prove to be most costly, where it is a standard practice in the P.P.C (pay per click) world to buy upwards of two to three thousand terms know as long tail terms, to bring in as many visitors as possible. The goal is of course to make a sale, collect information or what ever the desired conversion for the site may be. However, just because someone uses their web site in commerce and has purchased a term, that has a very plain or simple meaning, is not evidence that such a person or company intended to violate a small unknown companies trademark.

This article was written by Michael Goldstein for the Law Office of Goldstein and Clegg, a writters of the E-legal Lawyer Blog.

How To Avoid Legal Trouble From Trademark Infringement When You Buy A Domain Name

2009-04-23T03:50:00.000-07:00

So you have a hot idea for a website, or maybe you want to capitalize on a hot new product that has just been released. There are some things that you will want to know first before you get yourself in a lot of hot water.

Choosing a domain name isn't really rocket science but it is very important. You want to choose something that is as short as possible, easy to pronounce and remember for marketing purposes, and if at all possible you want to get your main keywords in the domain name. All that aside, you also have to be careful that you don't step on the toes of a person or company who may be inclined to sue you.

For example, judges have ruled against domain name squatters in every case where they registered a celebrity's name. They will also rule against companies that infringe upon other companies. A good case in point would be the case a couple of years ago between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Foundation. The World Wrestling Federation called itself the "WWF", put up a website at wwf.com, and the World Wildlife Foundation filed a trademark infringement suit against them. The Wildlife Foundation won because they had been in existence for many years before the wrestling firm and therefore the World Wrestling Federation had to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. Obviously this cost them a great some of money to change their name that appeared on millions of marketing products all over the world as well as the expense they had put up on their website and online marketing.

Another more recent issue that is still ongoing is the battle between Apple and the V.O.I.P. product "iphone" from Cisco. Apple announced they would be bringing a product to market called the Apple iPhone to go along with their other products that start with an "I". Cisco promptly filed for injunctive relief and as of this writing the issue is unresolved.

There are a few basic guidelines that will help keep you out of trouble when you are choosing a domain name so you don't run into legal trouble from violating someone?s trademark. Let's take a look at them.

First off you need to realize that a name that is used to identify a particular service or product is a recognized trademark. Trademarks that are deemed to be suggestive and memorable are granted protection by both state and federal law.

A confliction of trademarks occurs when one trademark is in conflict with another and the deployment of both is probably going to be confusing to customers or would be customers concerning the company's products or services. As I illustrated above, when the legal issue is with a later user of a trademark, the law rules that the first commercial user of the trademark is the legal owner and is therefore given protection. The loser will be forced to cease using the trademark and may even be compelled to pay damages to the original owner, particularly if it is determined that they were malicious in their intent.

The smart thing to do is to consult a trademark lawyer and have them check out your idea for a domain name before you invest too much in developing and marketing it.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as intellectual property attorneys at http://www.focusonip.com

Use It or Lose It: Guidelines for Proper Trademark Use

2009-04-14T02:35:00.000-07:00

Once obtained, trademark rights can last indefinitely. However, in order to protect and maintain these rights, a trademark owner must properly use their mark. It is important to remember that trademark rights are based on use. Thus, failure to use a mark properly or to prevent others from misusing or infringing a mark can result in an owner?s loss of trademark rights. The following guidelines for proper trademark use apply to advertising, correspondence, promotional material, displays, labels, packaging, signs, web sites, and any other media that uses, discusses, or describes the mark.

A. Use Proper Trademark Grammar

The most important rule of grammar regarding proper trademark use is that a trademark should be used as an adjective, not a noun or verb. Using the mark as an adjective helps distinguish the mark from the generic term it modifies. After all, a mark is used to identify the source or brand of a product, not the product itself. It is important to follow this rule to prevent your mark from potentially becoming considered generic. Examples of proper use include: KLEENEX ?tissue; APPLE? computer; and JACUZZI? hot tub. Note that each mark (adjective) is used to modify the generic term (noun). In fact, since trademarks function as adjectives, they should always be accompanied by the correct generic name for the product or service.

Other rules of grammar important to proper trademark use include avoiding the use of a trademark in the plural or possessive form. When referring to more than one trademarked product, do not pluralize the trademark. Instead, use the plural form of the generic product to which you are referring. For example, it would be incorrect to say ?Could you pass me some kleenexes so I can blow my nose?? The correct statement should be ?Could you pass me some KLEENEX? tissues so I can blow my nose?? Likewise, trademarks should not be made possessive. Rather, the generic product name should be made possessive. For example, it is improper to use ?I really like Febreze?s fresh scent.? The correct use of the mark should be ?I really like the Febreze? air freshener?s fresh scent.?

B. Distinguish Your Mark

Trademarks should stand out from surrounding text. This helps to further distinguish the trademark from ordinary descriptive or generic terms. There are numerous ways to present a trademark to make it stand out. A non-exhaustive list of examples includes:

All capitals: VASELINE? petroleum jelly
Initial capitals: Kleenex? tissue
Quotation marks: ?Channellock? ? pliers
Italics: Life Savers? candy
Boldface: Pizza Hut? restaurant
Use of the word ?brand?: Scotch? brand and transparent tape.

C. Identify Your Mark as a Trademark

There are several ways to indicate to the public that you are using your mark as a trademark or service mark. The most common way that trademark owner?s put others on notice that they are using a mark as a trademark or service mark is by using the symbols TM, SM, or ?. The TM symbol is used to identify an unregistered trademark, while the SM symbol is used to identify an unregistered service mark. Use of the TM or SM symbol does not imply that a trademark application has been filed; it simply means that the term is claimed as a trademark. On the other hand, the ? symbol is used to identify a trademark or service mark that has been registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Thus, the ? symbol should be used only in connection with a registered mark. Alternatively, there are other proper forms of notice for registered trademarks, including: ?Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.? and ?Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.?

It should be noted that use of a statutory notice is not required. However, to collect damages and profits in an infringement suit brought under the Lanham Act, statutory notice or the defendant?s actual notice of plaintiff?s registration is required.

D. Be Consistent

Trademarks should be used consistently. Variations on how the mark is presented should be avoided. Failure to use a mark consistently can result in consumer confusion or dilute the distinctiveness of the mark. On the other hand, using a mark the same way every time will enhance the distinctiveness, and thus, the consumer?s recognition of the mark.

Conclusion

The guidelines set forth above are by no means inflexible. However, by following the rules of proper use it will be much less likely that a trademark is used improperly. Furthermore, adhering to these rules is likely to increase consumer awareness that a term is being used as a trademark. Thus, a trademark owner should ensure that their marks are properly used, or else run the risk of losing their rights.

? 2006, Gallagher & Dawsey Co., LPA November 2006

DISCLAIMER

We hope you understand that we cannot possibly give accurate legal advice to all inventors in a brief article on intellectual property issues that should be considered when starting a business. Accordingly, nothing in the above is intended as specific legal advice to any person. Such legal advice can only be given by a qualified practitioner after a careful review of all the individual facts. We urge you to consult us, or another licensed professional, before you proceed.

David Dawsey is an intellectual property attorney with the law firm of Gallagher and Dawsey Co. LPA. David also operates TheTrademarkFirm.com website, which is the online portal for trademark searches and applications. Please visit http://www.TheTrademarkFirm.com. You may learn more about the trademark services offered by Gallagher and Dawsey Co. LPA at http://www.invention-protection.com/ip/practice_areas/trademark.html.

History Of US Trademark

2009-02-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

Consumers in the 19 century had more face?to--face interaction with the manufacturer of the product they were purchasing. However, as 20 century consumers become less aware of where there products were coming from, Congress determined when creating the Trademark Act of 1905 that trademarks would serve to provide this information to consumers. However, trademark infringement cases were still limited to cases of direct competition and more specifically to goods with similar descriptive properties. Rather than proving dilution of the senior mark by the junior mark, the senior mark had to prove consumer confusion.

Dilution statutes until this point were only at the state level. A heavily contested issue with the 1988 Trademark Law Revision Act was dilution and whether it should be included in the act. It was passed in the Senate with a dilution provision, but removed from the House version before being passed. However, in 1996 Congress, without hesitation, amended the 1946 Lanham Acts to include a section on dilution, the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA).

The court must determine if it was meant to require proof that actual harm was caused or merely to mean a likelihood of harm. Dilution has been defined by the FTDA as the ?lessening of the capacity of a famous mark to identify and distinguish goods or service, regardless of the presence or absence of competition between the owner of the famous mark and other parties, or likelihood of confusion, mistake, or deception.?

Dilution through tarnishing may create a negative association with the goods or services covered by the senior mark. In order to dilute a more senior mark, the junior mark must be sufficiently similar to the Plaintiff?s mark in order to cause dilution.

The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White has many years of a vast experience in law school essays and love essays writing consulting. Get free samples of essays, coursework and MBA essays tips.

The Rewards of Having a Registered Trademark and the Application Process

2009-02-02T03:48:00.000-08:00

If you are looking at putting together a business, especially a large one, there are a lot of requirements that you, as the owner or the proprietor, must be able to meet. Local business permits and state regulations are just the beginning.

Then there is as any other paperwork that various organizations and associations deem appropriate for your particular situation. So, while you are spending so much time making sure you have all your ducks in a row, why not take a few more minutes and register a trademark?

You may be wondering why bother with a trademark for your business. Well, let's look at what a trademark is first. A trademark is basically telling the world that this is your property, be it a product or an idea. The sticky thing is that when you are talking about trademarks, you need to be patient because the wheels turn slowly.

One thing that you will want to make sure of before you go through the time and expense of the trademarking process is that your product will sell. So do your market research to be sure there is a place for it in people's lives. If your business is already established, you will most likely want to register a trademark so nobody can use your name or logo.

The process of actually securing your trademark is not a difficult one. You can simply go down to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Or, even more simple, log on to their website (http://uspto.gov) where you will find enough information on the application process and process. The part that will irritate you is not the process of applying for the trademark, but the waiting will get you every time. That is why patience is so important when you are applying for a business trade mark.

But, if you want to register a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office, wait you will do. The nice thing is that the process itself is rather uncomplicated. The first thing you do is check to make sure nobody else has already made a trademark on an idea similar to yours. You may want to hire a professional in this area just to make sure you do not spend unnecessary money.

After that, just fill out the application forms and submit at the local branch office or even on line. At this point the USPTO will designate a lawyer to your application. They will either accept or reject the application. If there are any questions on the application, the lawyer will be in touch with you during the process.

Keep in mind that the United States Patent and Trademark Office is part of the government so it will be a while before you get your trademark registered.

Another thing to know before you start getting your trademark registered is that it is not necessary to register it at all. However, it is advisable to do so because you will be at an advantage of those who don't. For one thing it keeps competitors in check, because they will know they cannot take your idea or property and claim it as their own. This may lead to confused customers and lost money. When you register your trademark and it is used illegally by another party, you can sue them because you are protected by law.

This is not to say that confusion will not happen, but if you take the time to get your trademark registered, there is no reason to worry. You also get to add the R with a circle to your logo as this is the mark that lets every body know this is yours exclusively. This is essentially your business' identity.

Now when it is said that you have to be patient and the process is slow, it is important to understand just how slow. After you have filed your application, you can expect to wait for about two months before you get notified via postcard from the USPTO verified that the application has been received.

You will not hear another word from them for about six months or longer. Then you will receive word that the application has been accepted, but won't know it has been published and approved for another month or so. And that is if the process goes smoothly. If there are problems, add two to four months to that.

Joseph Savard has been in the business of trademarking for 15 years now and is the best selling author of the ebook "The Trademarking Handbook" To Earn 70% Commissions By Simply Referring Others To His Website... Click Here or visit >http://www.trademarkinghandbook.com

Do Free Trademark Search to Avoid Problems with Your Application

2009-01-30T04:29:00.000-08:00

If you are looking to register a trademark, you may be wondering if there is a free way to make sure someone else doesn't already have it. Well, that is both a yes and a no. There is no shortage of sites that can do a quick search without a charge.

However, you will need to do a thorough search to be really sure that the name is available. The first step may be being sure you understand what a trademark is in the first place. A trademark is defined as a word or unique name, phrase, symbol, logo, image, design, or may be combinations of these different elements that distinctively identify the service or product you offer to customers; this distinguishes a particular company from their competitors.

Basically, what this boils down to is a symbol or name that identifies your business and keeps it protected from competitors. Also, it makes it illegal for anyone to copy your item without your permission. This is actually enforceable by the government.

The internet is a great tool to use when looking for a free trademark search and is very widely used. You can even use sites that will show you existing trademarks so you know what has already been taken versus coming up with one just to be disappointed that someone else already had your great idea.

Here are a couple of places to perform a free trademark search to see if the trademark you are thinking of is already taken.

The USPTO - United States Patent and Trademark Office - has a website where you can do searches of existing federal trademarks on file. While you are bumping around on the site, check out the depository and download it for later reference. There is also a spot where you can look at a list of goods that can be trademarked.

For example, you cannot trademark a banana, but when you make it a Chiquita, it has been trademarked. It is a good all around site to start with. There is a fact sheet of sorts for the facts of trademarks. Be aware, however, that there are some holes in the site.

For example, if the trademark is on the state level, it will not be on the federal website. Also, the search engine within the site is not intelligent, that is, it does not look for spelling variations, synonyms, word placement and the like. You will have to do that on your own.

The Secretary of States' websites are also worth visiting. Check to see if your state offers a database that is searchable online. Chances are though, this will not include the federal database, or common law databases. Check to see if it is updated regularly and if the search is intelligent to help aid you in your quest.

You can also check the Yellow Pages online. Simply enter the name of a business and leave the rest of the fields blank. This will perform a nationwide search of the name you put in. This is going to be like the United States Patent and Trademark Office site in that the search engine is not intelligent and any variations would have to be put in manually.

By taking advantage of the free trademark searches online, you can gather all kinds of information that may prove useful in your endeavor to register a trademark. If you are not satisfied with what you have come up with, you can also hire a privet company or an attorney.

This is also a good option if you find you do not have the time to search every spelling or word placement variation on several sites. They will be able to perform this detailed search for you for a cost.

You can easily file for a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They are going to make sure there are no trademarks already existing that are similar or exactly like the one you are wising to register. Keep in mind though, that they are not there for the new applicants, but to protect the integrity of existing trademarks.

If the trademark you are trying to file has a resemblance to one already on file, the application will be denied and you will have to start over and submit a new one. This could take months to know if your application has been approved or not, that is why it is so important to do your home work ahead of time.

Joseph Savard has been in the business of trademarking for 15 years now and is the best selling author of the ebook "The Trademarking Handbook" Check out his website for your guide on how to register a trademark now. >http://www.trademarkinghandbook.com

Using A Mark You Cannot Trademark-Be Careful

2009-01-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

When coming up with a logo or mark, there are plenty of options. Sometimes, people make a choice that cannot be trademarked and this leads to problems.

When you start a business, you probably have visions of huge success. At the same time, it can be difficult to plan for it when you are sitting in your home office or garage and just getting started. Unfortunately, this is when many of the most important steps are required to be taken. One is picking a mark to identify your products or services.

A mark is simply something that identifies your products or services to consumers. Classic examples of this include ?coca cola?, the Nike Swoosh and many others. When you see one of these marks, you immediately identify them with the company and product in question. In legal terms, the mark is indicative of a certain quality of products or services.

When coming up with your mark, you have to be careful. Not everything can be trademarked. For instance, ?Google? is unique and clearly something that can be trademarked. When you see the Google logo, you know it refers to a search engine that allows people to find things on the web. Now, what if Google was instead called ?search engine?? The phrase is already commonly used and associated with other sites providing search functions for consumers. As a result, it cannot be trademarked.

So, why does all of this matter. Try to look into the future for your business. What if you become a huge success? Remember, Microsoft started with a couple of people and so did Google. You could be the next one. That being said, what if you ?go big? with a mark that cannot be trademarked? Other businesses will be able to use your mark! If you want to talk about a business disaster, this is it.

Imagine if Google could not be trademarked. Every other search engine could use the term in their marketing and on their web pages. This would cause massive confusion among consumers. More importantly, those consumers would be diverted to competitors of Google. Do you think that would hurt Google?s bottom line? You bet.

When starting a business, try to use distinct names and logos that are not common place. Get your trademarks. As the business grows, consumers will come to know your mark and identify it with your product or service. This, of course, is the key to getting them to come back and buy from you.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing trademark registration services.

Can You Trademark Your Business Name?

2009-01-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

A trademark is a distinctive image, word or other thing that associates with a product or service. So, can you trademark your business name?

Most people think trademarks are logo oriented. In some ways, this is true. The Nike Swoosh is clearly a logo trademark that stands out in peoples minds. When you see it, you immediately think of Nike and its products. While logos can clearly be trademarked, what about a business name? The answer is both yes and no.

A trademark is a consumer oriented thing. While it protects the intellectual property of businesses, it is a legal step designed to protect consumers. The basic idea is a trademark should point to a particular product or service and only be used by the company backing those items. This helps consumers in two ways. First, it represents an assurance of a particular type of quality associated with the products or services provided by the company. Second, it precludes other companies from causing consumer confusion by infringing on that mark.

When it comes to your business name, you can trademark it if certain requirements are met. I am going to avoid the legal mumbo jumbo that confuses people, and stick with a general rule of thumb. If you use your business name in advertising or on the product or service, you can trademark it. A classic example is ?Google?. Google is both a company name and used on the service itself. When you go to the home page of Google, you see ?Google? prominently displayed. As a result, this business name can be trademarked.

If you do not use your business name in a direct communication to consumers, you cannot trademark it. Why? Well, there is nothing distinct about it that reminds consumers of the connect. TJMaxx is a well-known discount retail store. Most people have at least heard of the name. The company behind the name, however, is actually TJCos. Nobody has heard of ?TJCos? and certainly do not associate it with a store. As a result, this business name would be difficult to trademark, if not impossible.

If your name is going to be a fundamental part of your marketing effort, you should consider trademarking it. If it is not, then your probably should save your money. Obviously, each situation is different, so make sure you speak with legal counsel in your area.

Richard A. Chapo is a trademark lawyer with http://www.SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com.

International Trademarks and the Madrid Protocol

2008-11-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

Protecting your logo and so on with a trademark is a smart move. Ah, but what about protecting it in the United States AND internationally?

Filling for a trademark is a smart move for practically any business. Although the process can be lengthy, the final approval gives you the ability to stop competitors from using your mark to confuse consumers and perhaps steal them.

To obtain a trademark, one has to file an application with the Patent and Trademark Office. The application sets out the areas, known as classes, you wish the mark to apply to. Once the ?PTO? approves your application, it is published for comment. Assuming no objections are raised, your trademark is approved. It is important to understand, however, the mark only applies to the United States.

If you want to gain international protection for your trademark, you need to understand the Madrid Protocol. The protocol was created to deal with problems where two marks were registered in different countries and conflicts then resulted. The idea is to create a clearinghouse where a trademark in one country automatically applies to the other countries signing on to the Protocol. The United States signed on to the Madrid Protocol in 2003. 80 others have signed on as well, including most major economic countries.

To apply for an international trademark, one files a form with the Patent and Trademark Office. The application must perfectly match the national mark you are seeking. Once filed, it is forwarded by the Patent and Trademark Office to the International Bureau in Switzerland where the application is run against an international database and approved or rejected.

The cost for filing the international application is $100 per class you wish the mark to apply to, although there are exceptions where $150 is the cost. If approved, the registration will last for a period of 10 years. You can renew the registration for subsequent 10 year periods as necessary.

Filing an international trademark is a smart move if you envision your business entering international transactions. A question of cost effectiveness, however, certainly needs to be considered for most small businesses. Simply put, your money may be spent more effectively in other areas.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing trademark registration services.

The Role of Trademarks

2008-11-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

Once you start conducting business, you are going to start running into the topic of intellectual property and trademarks. Understanding the role of a trademark will help you grasp why they are important.

A trademark is a unique form of intellectual property. Most intellectual property is created to protect the person or business creating it. A patent, for example, is designed to protect the inventor from having other parties use it without consent. Copyright works much the same way. A person who writes a hit song should receive compensation from it and copyright is designed to protect the person in this regard.

A trademark is unique because it performs two purposes. The first is similar to patents and copyrights. A trademark is a way for a person or business to protect a logo, etc., from the misuse by others. In truth, this is pretty much the underlying idea of most intellectual property. The only time a protected intellectual property right can be legally infringed upon is if the infringer pays a royalty or licensing fee for the right to use it.

Trademarks, however, also serve a secondary purpose. This purpose has its basis in something called public policy. Throughout the law, you will find guidelines that are set forth as a matter of public policy. These guidelines essentially are designed to help the general pool of consumers in some way.

With trademarks, there is a strong public policy supporting their establishment. The policy has to do with consumer confusion and the quality of products or services. When a consumer sees a trademark, they associate a company and level of quality with that mark. For instance, a person associates a certain cola drink with the ?Coca Cola? trademark.

When a trademark is allegedly infringed upon, the court will evaluate the issue of whether the alleged infringement is such that it is likely to confuse consumers. If it is, then a ruling of infringement is more like. For instance, assume Reebok started selling a sneaker that had a swoosh similar to Nike. The swoosh, however, was vertical instead of horizontal. Nike would certainly file suit for trademark infringement claiming that the Reebok swoosh created confusion among consumers. It would also win!

When considering whether to trademark your logo, etc., you need to evaluate how it helps consumers identify with your product or service. The more distinct your mark, the better chance you have of both being approved for a trademark and then defending it against competitors.

Richard A. Chapo is a trademark lawyer with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com

The Difference Between Trade Secrets And Trademarks

2008-10-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as trademark lawyers at http://www.focusonip.com

PPC Ads Face A New Trademark Limitation

2008-10-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

This article was written by Michael Goldstein for the Law Office of Goldstein and Clegg, a writters of the E-legal Lawyer Blog.

How To Avoid Legal Trouble From Trademark Infringement When You Buy A Domain Name

2008-10-13T03:29:00.000-07:00

The smart thing to do is to consult a trademark lawyer and have them check out your idea for a domain name before you invest too much in developing and marketing it.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as intellectual property attorneys at http://www.focusonip.com

Use It or Lose It: Guidelines for Proper Trademark Use

2008-07-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

A. Use Proper Trademark Grammar

B. Distinguish Your Mark

C. Identify Your Mark as a Trademark

D. Be Consistent

Conclusion

? 2006, Gallagher & Dawsey Co., LPA November 2006

DISCLAIMER

US Trademark Law

2008-07-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

US trademark law was presented in 2002 with the issue of trademark dilution and the question of how to prove it.

Trademark law has sought to protect not just the company and the products that it produces, but consumers and their interest in purchasing a product with consistent quality. Permitting a company to take advantage of a well known product and benefit from its famous name hurts not just the company with the famous name, but the consumer who mistakenly purchases the product believing it is the famous brand. One problem lies in the fact that there are different types of consumers. There are consumers that are product savvy and would not confuse two similar products, but there are unsophisticated consumers who will undoubtedly confuse the two. An actual harm requirement hurts the unsophisticated consumer by requiring consumer confusion before the famous brand can ask for an injunction pursuant to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. From the time of the Industrial Revolution trademarks have been important to commerce. Marks were used to identify a manufacturer?s product and to differentiate it from other products in the market. Consumers would rely on these marks to indicate where particular products came from. Congress?s first attempt at federal trademark legislation in 1870 failed as it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1879. It was determined by the court that Congress was overstepping its authority granted in the commerce clause of the Constitution. Congress adopted a federal registration statute in 1881, with no mention of interstate commerce. It applied only to commerce with Indian tribes and foreign countries. Additionally, prior to 1905 it was required that the junior mark must not only bear a similar mark, but it must be in direct competition with the senior mark in order to seek an injunction. If a consumer, who relied on a trademark as a product identifier, intended to purchase the senior mark?s product and mistakenly purchased the junior mark?s product, the senior mark lost profits and the consumer purchased something they did not intend to purchase.

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The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a senior manager of APA format term papers services support team. Contact her to get art history term papers tips and business research paper.

US Trademark Law

2008-07-04T01:03:00.000-07:00

US trademark law was presented in 2002 with the issue of trademark dilution and the question of how to prove it.

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Different Categories of Trademarks

2008-06-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

For many businesses, establishing a well-known brand is the key to success. Of course, you need to protect that brand and trademarks are part of the process.

A trademark is a form of intellectual property. You can trademark words, symbols, names, sounds and even colors that distinguish a product or service. A classic example is the Nike swoosh, a symbol that is well known throughout the world. Unlike patents and copyright, trademarks do not expire so long as they are used and, of course, you pay the United States Patent and Trademark Office to renew them!

When the word trademark is mentioned, most people think it is one thing. In truth, there are variations of trademarks. They differ in a number of ways, so let's take a closer look.

We'll start with a service mark. There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the service mark. It is exactly like a trademark with one noticeable exception. As the name suggests, it applies to names, symbols and so on that identify a service instead of a product. This brings up an important point. The type of trademark for your situation is based on the underlying thing it represents.

The classic trademark is next. Again, we are talking about a symbol, word, name, sound and so on that identifies and distinguishes something in the consumer mind. In this case, we are talking about a product or products. Coca Cola is one of the dominant trademarks of all time. If the phrase is mentioned, you know exactly what it is referring to.

Both service and trademarks have some limitations. When you obtain a mark, it does not extend across all possible forms of commerce. Instead, you have to indicate what class of industry, commerce or business it should apply to. Ultimately, this means a business cannot hog a particular phrase. An example will make this clear.

The biggest online bookstore is Amazon. When talking about books or the internet, the mention of Amazon clearly leads you to think about their site. Does this mean there can be know other Amazon businesses in the world? Of course, not. There simply cannot be another online bookstore called Amazon. If I want to open an Amazon Travel business that sends people to the Amazon in South America, I am not going to have any problems.

All and all, trademarks are a fairly simple part of the law. If you wish to protect your products or services, you should definitely consider applying for the appropriate marks.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - free daily legal tips.

Choosing a Trademark: A Couple of Important Considerations

2008-06-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking about starting up a new business or introducing a new product or service to the market, one of the last things you may have considered is seeking trademark protection for the name of your business, product or service. However, the importance of selecting a trademark cannot be emphasized enough. Often times the trademark you choose will play a role in shaping the consumer's first impression of the product or service offered by your company. This article will discuss some of the important issues associated with choosing a trademark for your business, product or service.

What is a Trademark?

A trademark can be any word, name, symbol, or device, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. Likewise, a service mark can be any word, name, symbol, or device, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services. However, it should be noted that it is not important for a consumer of a product to know the name of the company that manufactured the product, only that the product can be distinguished from the products of other companies.

Choosing a Trademark

A. Avoid Likelihood of Confusion

There are a couple of major issues that should be considered when choosing a trademark. First, it is crucial to determine whether or not another entity is already using a trademark that is the same or similar to your proposed trademark in connection with related products or services. This is commonly referred to as the "likelihood of confusion" issue. Likelihood of confusion is the basic test that is used to determine trademark infringement. Under this test, the question to be answered is whether the average purchaser of a product or service would be confused or deceived as to the source of the product or service. It is important to note that the "likelihood of confusion" issue is evaluated with regards to the specific product or service that the trademark identifies. Thus it is possible to have identical trademarks associated with totally unrelated goods or services, such as "EQUAL" for synthetic sweetener and "EQUAL" for a synthetic resinous material for balancing tires.

B. Make Your Mark Distinctive

A second important issue that should be considered is the distinctiveness of your proposed trademark in relation to the goods or services. Trademarks can generally be classified in four categories: generic, descriptive, suggestive, and arbitrary/fanciful. Typically, the strength of a trademark is related to the category in which it falls. For example, arbitrary or fanciful trademarks are very strong, while a trademark that is generic receives no protection.

As its name suggests, a generic term is the common name associated with a type of product and therefore can never receive trademark protection. The policy behind this is that every competitor should be able to describe his goods as what they actually are. Some examples of terms that were found generic include "SUPER GLUE" for strong-bonding, rapid-setting glue and "SURGICENTER" for surgical centers.

Descriptive marks literally describe the product or service. A test that is often used to determine descriptiveness is whether the mark immediately conveys an idea of the ingredients, qualities or characteristics of the goods. Descriptive marks are generally not registrable with the USPTO unless the applicant can show that consumers have learned to associate the mark with a single source, which is known as "secondary meaning" in legal terms. Examples of marks found to be descriptive are "HONEYBAKED" for hams, "TRIM" for manicuring implements, and "ICE" for beer.

A suggestive mark is similar to a descriptive mark, but does not literally describe the product or service. Suggestive marks require some analysis, imagination, thought and perception to determine the nature of the goods or services. Moreover, suggestive marks do not require a showing of secondary meaning to receive protection. Some examples of suggestive marks are "GREYHOUND" for bus services, "JAGUAR" for automobiles, and "COPPERTONE" for suntan lotions.

Finally, arbitrary and fanciful marks are very strong and typically receive a great deal of protection. Arbitrary marks are common words that are applied in an unfamiliar context, such as "APPLE" for computers, "CAMEL" for cigarettes, and "ORACLE" for software. On the other hand, fanciful marks are coined (made-up) terms that do not have a dictionary meaning, such as "KODAK" for film, "LEXUS" for automobiles, "ROLEX" for watches, and "XEROX" for copiers.

Conclusion

Before expending large amounts of time and money on advertising and marketing for a new product or service, a business should consider the points set out above. As to the likelihood of confusion issue, a comprehensive trademark search should be performed to determine whether another entity is already using a mark similar to the proposed mark in association with similar or related goods. When choosing a trademark, the distinctiveness of the mark should be a major consideration. From a purely legal perspective, it is best to choose a mark that is arbitrary or fanciful. If at all possible, businesses should stay away from trademarks that are descriptive of their goods or services, since descriptive marks are more difficult to register and protect.

DISCLAIMER

We hope you understand that we cannot possibly give accurate legal advice in a brief article. Accordingly, nothing in the above is intended as specific legal advice to any person. Such legal advice can only be given by a qualified practitioner after a careful review of all the individual facts. We urge you to consult us, or another licensed professional, before you proceed.

David Dawsey is an intellectual property attorney with the law firm of Gallagher and Dawsey Co. LPA. David also operates TheTrademarkFirm.com, which is the online portal for trademark searches and applications. Please visit http://www.TheTrademarkFirm.com.

Registering a Trademark? Hire an Experienced Trademark Attorney

2008-06-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

The responsibilities of a trademark attorney include advising on the adoption and selection of new trademarks; filing and prosecuting applications to register trademarks; advising on the use and registration of trademarks; handling trademark oppositions, revocations, invalidations and assignments; and advising on trademark infringement matters. Because patents, trademarks and copyrights all fall under the broad area of intellectual property law, if you plan on obtaining a trademark, patent or copyright it is in your best interest to consult with a qualified trademark attorney, patent attorney or copyright lawyer to help you properly file for protection of your intellectual property. If you plan on licensing someone else's copyright, trademark, patent or other form of intellectual property, a trademark attorney can assure that everyone's legal rights are protected under intellectual property law.

Find a trademark attorney that's right for you and your situation. Because registering a trademark requires extensive knowledge of trademark law and procedures it is highly recommended that you use the trademark services of a trademark attorney. A trademark attorney can advise you on many aspects of your trademark filing and on trademark services.

A trademark attorney should be used when choosing a product name trademark or a trademark slogan. Ideally, your trademark attorney would order a trademark search report. Your trademark attorney should then counsel you on the results of the trademark search and whether it is safe to proceed with using the proposed mark. He should also counsel you on any questions you may have, such as how to get a trademark, the cost to register a trademark and how to trademark a logo or trademark slogan. In summary, a trademark attorney will be able to counsel you on all facets of registering a trademark and trademark filing. You may be able to learn about trademark cost, trademark searching, an online trademark search, and the steps to get a trademark by reviewing our trademark articles.

Additionally, a trademark attorney can advise you on how to handle certain situations such as receiving a cease and desist letter. A cease and desist letter is written when a party believes their trademark is being infringed upon. A cease and desist letter must be evaluated by a trademark attorney who will provide you with trademark assistance.

Yet how should you choose a trademark attorney? To begin with, never pick your trademark attorney based solely upon a lawyer referral service or advertising. Lawyer referral services generally do not evaluate the abilities of the attorneys in their listings, but simply accept any attorney willing to pay the membership dues of that referral service. The referral service then refers clients to these "trademark attorneys" on a rotating basis. Usually It is almost always the attorney's own subjective determination that he or she is a "trademark attorney," yet this attorney may have little experience and knowledge of trademark law.

Advertising is also a poor method for finding a trademark lawyer. Many trademark lawyers who extensively advertise run their practices like factories, with impersonal service and an army of paralegals preparing your trademark application. Instead, try to find a trademark attorney who provides individual attention to your trademark matters, including every aspect of trademark searching and trademark filing.

If you like a certain phrase or logo but you aren't ready to use it, you may be able to reserve it for future use, which keeps someone else from taking it. You can acquire rights to the trademark by filing an "intent-to-use" (ITU) trademark registration application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as long as someone else hasn't actually started using the trademark. However, even if you file an intent-to-use trademark application, the mark will not actually be registered until it is used in commerce.

A trademark attorney is often regulated as a profession in which case they must pass a series of examinations, comply with other requirements, and observe professional ethics and standards in order to maintain formal registration as a trademark attorney

Gust A. Lenglet has been an accountant and financial advisor for many years. He is President and CEO of HBS Financial Group, Ltd. and offers online tax filing through his many web sites. He is also an accomplished author in the tax, legal, and education fields.

Do You Need a Trademark?

2008-05-31T03:48:00.000-07:00

Copyright (c) 2006 Elias Stassinos

Here's what you need to know about trademarks.

Even though all starting businesses need one or more business licenses and tax ids before legally starting business operations, another consideration when starting a business is the trademark of the business name, product or service. After reading this article you will know what is a trademark and whether you need to register one.

What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs. This word, symbol or design identifies and distinguishes a company's products or services from products and services of another company. Note that a trademark of a product is the mark of the product itself or a mark associated with the offering of a product. Similarly, a trademark of a service is the mark in connection with the services.

Do I need to register a trademark?

Trademark registration is not required but it will help you in case the use of the mark is challenged. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. "Legitimate use" in general means that the name, mark or symbol used in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services within a specified geographical region. Thus, if, for a period of time, you use the mark to sell toys in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, you acquire rights to the mark selling toys in that particular area. Or, if you do business nationwide, you acquire rights to the use of the mark, nationwide.

You can establish rights to a trademark if you register the trademark at the federal or state level. That will establish that you are commonly known by the registered trademark. If it is a name, you can establish that you are commonly know by that trademark name if you register a corporate name as a corporation or the trade name as a "doing business as" ("DBA"). In addition, registering a trademark provides constructive notice to the public, and a presumption that you are the owner or the mark and you use it in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration.

Federal trademark registration allows you to to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court. The trademark registration is also a basis for registration in other countries. You can also file with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods. Keep in mind, however, that you any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, you may use the federal registration symbol "?" only after the United States Patent and Trademark Office actually registers a mark, and not while an application is pending. Also, you may use the registration symbol with the mark only on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration.

How do I file a Trademark Application?

If you hire a trademark attorney, you normally fill out a secure online trademark application form. I recommend hiring an attorney because if you prepare and submit an application, you must comply with all requirements of the trademark statute and rules. If you choose to appoint an attorney to represent your interests before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will correspond only with your attorney.

Elias Stassinos, Esquire is a trademark and incorporation attorney that has assisted thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs launch their first business enterprise. Attorney Elias Stassinos, Esquire is also a corporate legal counsel for businessnameusa.com online legal filing service .

Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

2008-05-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property for a person or business. To protect your mark, you always should formally trademark it. This brings us to the subject of patience.

Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

A mark is simple a distinctive name, brand or whatever for your person or business. At the risk of being sued to high heaven, the name "Google" is a trademark for a certain search engine. When it is mentioned or you read about it, you know exactly what it refers to. As a business becomes successful, it will almost always want to trademark its brand, logo or whatever.

Obtaining a trademark is not particularly difficult to do. The process is controlled by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The "PTO" is an agency falling under the control of the United Stated Department of Commerce. Fascinating, eh?

Filing a trademark application with the PTO is an interesting ordeal. From a technical stand point, it is fairly simple. You can search online to see if anyone else has already obtained the trademark you are after. If not, you can fill out an application and file it online. The PTO will assign an attorney to it. He or she will either approve the application, send correspondence asking you to clarify some aspect or outright reject your application. While this sounds straightforward, there is one aspect that turns the process into an annoying one - time.

The trademark office is a government agency. As such, one can expect a certain amount of lag time in getting things done. The trademark office, however, takes this to the extreme. When you first file your trademark application, you can expect to wait for up to two months before you receive anything. When you do, it will only be a postcard verifying that the office has RECEIVED your application. Yes, it takes two months for this.

At this point, you need to have a lot of patience. Roughly six months will pass before you hear anything else on your application. It could be longer. The delay means nothing in relation to the merits of your application. It just takes forever. If you finally receive correspondence accepting your application, you will need to wait another month for it to be published and then become approved. If the trademark office wants clarification on your application, you will have thirty to sixty days to send it in. Once you do, it is time to sit and wait some more - often two to four months. It can be maddening. The process can often take more than a year to play out.

Whether you attempt to obtain a trademark on your own or use an attorney, it is important to understand what you are getting into. Don't worry when you do not receive anything for four or five months. This is standard operating procedure at the PTO. Sooner or later, they will get around to it.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - an online trademark attorney directory.

Trademark Considerations to Protect Your Name

2008-05-27T01:08:00.000-07:00

In Trademark Law; first use is the key, but still you need to document this and get a trademark at the Federal Level or a service mark at the state level. Without it you may find a bigger firm moving into your area, which had used your name in interstate commerce prior to your local use and thus they can make you change your name.

Imagine the cost in changing all your signage and disrupting your good will with your brand name in your local market. This confuses customers and puts a question mark about your credibility where none had previously existed.

How hard is it to get a trademark? Well not so difficult once you do a search to make sure no one else is using this name or a similar symbol elsewhere. Generally service marks or trademarks are searched by category and so if you are in a cross-over type category or straddle several SIC codes it makes sense to search it thoroughly and find a competent patent and trademark attorney to do it correctly.

If no one challenges you during the initial term of your trademark you can file for a permanent trademark so be sure to ask your trademark attorney about this also. Protect your logos and business name, as it is not worth the risk if you have a successful and on-going business to allow this to slide. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow, a retired entrepreneur, adventurer, modern day philosopher and perpetual tourist.

US Trademark Searches

2008-05-24T02:02:00.000-07:00

Trademarks are names, phrases, logos or images used to uniquely identify your company and your products and services. Because trademarks are used in businesses, there are rights you can claim to protect your company, and there are governing bodies that regulate the use of your trademark. In the United States of America, the governing body called United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the governing body that makes your trademark and patented product unique. They guarantee that no other company can carry the same name, logo or product without proper approval from you.

Before any company is given approval for a trademark application, the USPTO scrutinizes the application, making sure that the trademark filing is unique and is in no way identical to any existing trademarks. Their primary task is to reject an application if there is the slightest possibility that any copyright infringement is or can be violated. In fact, a few years ago, a 17 year old boy named Mike Rowe registered and operated the web site www.mikerowesoft.com.

When the software giant, Microsoft, discovered this, they filed to move that the site be shut down immediately. The courts granted in favor of Microsoft, stating that it would be damaging and confusing to the software company. Another well-publicized lawsuit over a URL address was between World Wildlife Foundation with the site www.wwf.org and the World Wrestling Federation bearing the site address www.wwf.com. The former sued the latter to drop the URL address stating that the practices of the former are detrimental to the image of the wildlife foundation. The World Wildlife Foundation was granted favor by the courts and World Wrestling Federation had to change their name to World Wrestling Entertainment and refrain from using the acronyms WWF.

Trademark Search provides detailed information on Trademark Search, Free Trademark Searches, Online Trademark Searches, US Trademark Searches and more. Trademark Search is affiliated with Free Patent Searches.

Online Trademark Searches

2008-05-23T02:13:00.000-07:00

Trademark is a very important part of your company. It differentiates your company from the rest that are in the same category or with those that have identical or almost the same name as your company. It also differentiates you from companies that bear a logo or company seal that represents your establishment. Nowadays, jingles are also used to uniquely distinguish a company.

With the introduction of the Internet, you can now make inquiries online by going to the website of the States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this website, you can search for existing trademarks to make sure that the trademark you plan to use is unique and can distinguish you from other companies.

Within the USPTO website, you can find the Patent and Trademark Depository Library that can be downloaded. One document that could be of important use to you is the List of Acceptable Identification of Goods, which is a list of terms used to recognize the terms that you might need to know to identify your products. There is also a list of deleted names and terms that could come in handy. Documents that can help you with basic facts about trademarks are also a good source of information.

When you do file for your application, it is worth it to visit the Trademark Application and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) system that will help you keep track of the progress of your application. With many applications being filed everyday, you wouldn?t want your application to be left in a large pile that has been submitted for approval.

Applications for trademark are subjected to outmost scrutiny before they are approved. So best be prepared to know what to do to get the trademark you want.

What Is A TradeMark And Why Should I Have One?

2008-05-22T02:46:00.000-07:00

The short answer to this question is that a trademark can become a brand. Even if you're business is local, a brand name is important not only from a marketing but also a customer perception basis.

When many people think government business registration documents, they naturally think patents. General copyrights which establish ownership of certain types of property like writings, music etc. Trademark registration however is used to establish ownership rights to a specific design, character, lettering style or combinations and of all these into 1 single general identifying mark.

Good examples of Trademarked products would be the NIKE swoosh or McDonalds Golden Arches. These trademarked designs are readily identifiable with the company using them. Trademarks, Servicemarks and other official registrations are good because they establish ownership. That is, you simply could not open up a fast food restaurant and use the McDonalds If you're considering a trademark, the first thing to do is a quick check to make certain what you want to register is even available.

There are many trademarks of obscure companies that may be similar enough to your idea to create confusion and a potential problem. This research can be done by several methods including the use of a patent and trademark attorney. A better approach, especially if you're a small company or one starting out, is to simply contact the federal government and request information on the process steps. The first stop on your journey should be http://www.uspto.gov to get the latest information and process to follow.

Be advised that the federal government is pushing for paperless transactions whenever possible. Their current fees to process a trademark application is 325 dollars if filed electronically. If you prefer to file the application with physical paper In addition to the application and fee, a drawing must be presented showing your design and proposed trademark. You should also be prepared to have examples of how you're using the proposed trademark - Servicemarks currently in your business. If approved, you will then have the exclusive ownership of that particular design.

The benefits of having an easily recognizable Servicemarks cannot be denied. Go anywhere around the world and even if you cannot read the language, a familiar red can with silver ribbons will announce and identify the drink in the container as Coke, the real thing! How much more valuable would your business be if you had a service mark as distinctive and as easily recognizable as a can of Coca-Cola?

Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects which include family, travel, health, and business. For More information on Trademarks visit the site at http://www.trademarks.openbriefcase.com

Free Trademark Searches

2008-05-21T04:22:00.000-07:00

Before filing for trademark, it is a good idea to search for information such as Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services, Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, Design Code for the logos and images. With these guidelines, you can make certain the trademark you are developing is unique. It can also help you avoid any trouble or violations not only on the possible similarities on existing trademark, but on violation of standards that have been set.

When you file for a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), there are many considerations you have to make to ensure the uniqueness of your trademark. Conventional things to consider are the name, word or phrase, the logo, symbol, design or images used in your trademark, making sure they are distinct from any of the existing trademarks out there. The main concern of the USPTO is to look for possible copyright infringement that your application may incur and to find ways to reject your trademark. With this risk at hand, it is best to search for trademarks existing and under application. There are free methods available for you to search for trademarks.

The Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) keeps records of patent and trademark materials within the United States of America at your disposal. They are also tasked to disseminate information involving patents and trademarks. You can go to the depository to manually check for whatever details you may need regarding trademarks or patents.

If there are other details, like laws or frequently asked questions you may need, you can visit the USPTO website to retrieve information they have posted. You can search for queries regarding trademarks, patents and copyrights. There are also news and articles related to the matter available , and you can use the Trademark Application and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) to search for the status of applications.

What is a Trademark Search?

2008-05-20T04:54:00.000-07:00

A trademark search can, in actuality, be many different things. In theory, a trademark search is performed to determine whether or not the mark you are hoping to use is already taken by another. This allows an individual to apply with a greater level of confidence for the use of a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). A trademark search is, ideally, a comprehensive, analytical way of researching a name, slogan or logo for prior use.

A trademark search can also be performed in a sloppy and ineffective manner, and may not protect you from potentially infringing upon another?s name or logo. This is why it?s important to ensure that the trademark research you have commissioned is done comprehensively and thoroughly!

It is not unusual for a trademark research company to charge hundreds of dollars for searching the USPTO, which you can do for free. Comprehensive research firms search Federal, State and Common Law records, which is a more logical and thorough way to research your name. When commissioning research on your name, it is important to ask the company you?re considering using to clarify what exactly their searches entail, each step of the way.

Companies may try and save money in other ways, including letting you pour through the raw data they collect without any summary of what it all means. It is important to be sure once you?ve decided to commission research on your name that the information is compiled into an easily readable report. Examining the results of your research can sometimes be difficult, even when placed in an edited report. If you?re left to decipher the meaning of a company?s raw data, chances are you may under react or overreact to the results.

When searching your name, it is important that phonetic spellings of the name are searched, as well as vowel variations. This should be done in order to find any potential matches of your name, whether these matches are similar or identical. Ultimately, the goal of the search is to allow an individual to apply for the searched name feeling as though they are informed, and free of any potential legal ramifications. Unless your search is comprehensive, there is no way to promise the same peace of mind a thorough search can!

Applying for a trademark does not have to be a painful, convoluted process. It can actually be quite easy if you follow the correct steps throughout! Remember, it is a process to research a name.

Marit Lee is a Researcher for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Marit directly at 800.550.1520.

Trademark Renewal & Maintenance - How Do I Keep My Trademark?

2008-05-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

After you?ve applied for your trademark, there will be a waiting period of approximately 18 months before your name is actually registered with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). Until then, it will be listed as "Pending." Sometimes there are hold-ups; the USPTO may not allow you to use the name you?ve chosen to apply for because there is a similar name already trademarked. In this case, you will receive an "office action", which is a notification from the USPTO. If you do receive an office action, it might be due to the USPTO simply needing more information in order to complete your trademark application. However, it also may be because your name is blocked by another name, which is the worst case scenario, and another reason why it is incredibly important to purchase comprehensive research before you file for your name!

After your name is registered with the USPTO, between years 5-6 you will file a "Continuous Use Form." This form conveys to the USPTO that you have been using your trademarked name, and you intend to continue to stay in business or to sell your product under that name. After a 10 year period, you will be required to renew your trademark. It is important to be aware that some maintenance is involved in keeping your trademarked name.

It is recommended that each year you commission research on your name. This is done to ensure that no one has begun using your name since doing initial research on its availability. By continuing to do annual research, you are adding a greater sense of protection for your name and business. It is up to you to remain informed on what businesses are using what marks, and how this might affect your own personal business ventures.

Once trademarked, you may take legal recourse if another business has begun using your name. A "cease and desist" letter is a way of conveying to another business that they are infringing upon your trade-name. While you do not need a trademark in order to draw up a letter such as this, having a federally registered trademark gives you a greater ability to disallow the use of your name by another. These documents should always be drawn up by an attorney, rather than an individual, as the action conveys that you are taking legal recourse against another business. Please communicate with the USPTO directly, a trademark attorney OR a trademark research company if you have more specific questions about maintaining your trademark!

How Do You Get a Trademark?

2008-05-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

While some individuals choose to hire attorneys to walk them through the process of applying for a trademark, others choose to use a trademark research firm, which can cost thousands of dollars less. It is important to remember when hiring someone to do your research that they not only search through Federal and State trademark records for name similarities, but also Common-Law listings.

Many people are under the impression that they can perform their own comprehensive search utilizing the help of search engines, in addition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). While it is a good idea to become familiar with the USPTO website, individuals sometimes believe that the data they collect from this website is truly representative of the trademarked names which are currently being used. The USPTO?s website is never a thorough way to search the name you?re hoping to trademark! The website is not updated regularly, and in addition to this, you can ONLY search Federal trademark records on the USPTO, NOT State trademark records OR Common-Law records!

It is imperative to search Federal and State trademark records AND Common-Law records because it is the only way to ensure that your search was done in a comprehensive manner. Federal and State trademarks records are looking at businesses that have either a federally registered trademark, or those who have registered a state trademark. When these records are searched, any federal or state trademarks that are either pending or registered will be visible to the researcher. Common-Law records examine those businesses who are in business but not have necessarily filed for a Federal or a State trademark. When Common-Law records are searched, thousands upon thousands of newspaper articles, city business listings, periodicals, incorporation listings, DBAs, LLCs, etc. are examined for any name similarities. Although such businesses do not have a trademark, they might have "first-use rights" to the name. This could mean that they still have ownership over the name within their trade area AND the capacity to take legal recourse if they determine that your name and business is the same, or similar.

If the research proves clear, the next step is to prepare and file the application. This can be done by anyone; however, the USPTO is very particular about how the application is prepared, so it's best to leave it to professionals.

Three Steps -- Federal & State trademark search, US National Common-Law search and Application Preparation & Filing ? and the Trademark could be YOURS!

To Successfully Enforce Your Patent Do Not Let Form Triumph Over Substance While Writing The Patent

2008-05-17T01:45:00.000-07:00

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies protect their investment in research and development and the future of the companies by securing patents on their inventions. Patents help you resist competition. Success or failure of the company often depends on the strength of the patent. The words in the patent document must meet rigid formality requirements under the patent laws. Even if the invention covered by the patent is a fantastic one, the court will throw out the patent if it violates any one of the formality requirements.

The patent document is normally divided into several sections, for example, one section describing the background of the invention, another section describing the invention as a summary, another section describing the drawings of your invention, yet another section describing in detail how to make and use the invention, and a final section that lists various aspects of your invention in numbered sentences, typically from 1 to 20. These numbered sentences or claims form the most important section of the patent.

It is the claims that define the invention. When a competitor wants to design around your invention, he will look to the language of the claims. When you sue someone for infringing your invention, the court will look at the claims in your patent. It is clear that the claims are of paramount importance.

The patent contains independent claims and dependent claims. Dependent claims will refer back to an earlier claim. Independent claims do not refer back to any other claim. For example, dependent claim 2 will refer back to independent claim 1. When dependent claims refer back to other claims, they should meet certain rigid formality requirements, one of which is that the dependent claim cannot be broader in scope than the claim it refers back to. Thus, for example, if claim 1 describes a drug in acid form or its salt form, claim 2 can describe the drug in salt form. However, if claim 1 describes only the acid form, claim 2 cannot describe the salt form. If it so describes, then claim 2 will be broader than claim 1, which is forbidden under the patent laws.

In a recently concluded battle between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories, the generic drug maker was able to knock out a patent that covered the blockbuster drug Lipitor. The patent claim that Pfizer asserted against Ranbaxy was held invalid by the high court. Here, Pfizer asserted claim 6 describing a calcium salt of the drug against the opponent. Claim 6 referred back to claim 2 which described an acid form of the drug but not the salt form. The high court held that claim 6 cannot properly refer back to claim 2. The harsh result faced by Pfizer is somewhat surprising because it was believed by many that a court would not look at the form over substance, just as the lower court did. The lower court was reluctant to find fault with the patent claim.

The high court opinion emphasizes the fact that filing a winning patent requires careful consideration of various legal concepts including the intricate formality requirements of the patent law. Copyright 2006

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent law matters involving chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and polymers; see http://www.leydig.com/Attorneys/AttorneyDetail.aspx?AttorneyID=160.

WikiPatents Enables Community Patent Review

2008-05-16T01:13:00.000-07:00

"Bad patents" cost infringers--and, ultimately, all consumers--millions, if not billions, of dollars every year. Yet, "good patents" often go unrecognized. Until now, there has been no web site encouraging large-scale, organized public comment to clarify the true merits and value of U.S. patents.

WikiPatents.com, officially launched August 28, 2006, addresses these problems. WikiPatents' goal is to strengthen the patent system by clarifying whether a patent really protects a new idea and how much that idea is worth. The United States Patent & Trademark Office is very effective at reviewing patents given its limited time and resources. WikiPatents provides patent examiners at the Patent Office and the entire patent community another powerful resource that will add reliability, clarity, and efficiency to the patent process.

WikiPatents is a free-access web site and database containing millions of patents that allows the interested public to discuss, rate, and vote on published patents and, soon, pending patent applications. Most notably, users can add prior art references (publications that closely relate to and predate the patented technology), as well as comment and vote on the relevancy of prior art. Users can also comment and vote on patent value, licensing, technical, and other issues for each patent.

WikiPatents seeks to become the crossroads where patent examiners, inventors, investors, patent attorneys, and litigants join to discuss the merits of patents and patent applications.

Peter Johnson and Kevin Hermansen are co-founders of www.WikiPatents.com - Community Patent Review, a new free-access web site and database that enables public commentary on published patents

To Crush Your Competition A Strong Patent Is Important Learn How and Why

2008-05-13T02:50:00.000-07:00

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies protect their investment in research and development and the future of the companies by securing patents on their inventions. Patents help you resist competition. Success or failure of the company often depends on the strength of the patent and the longer the term of the patent, the greater will be its value. A strong patent is one that defines your invention broadly and but at the same time builds in fallback narrow invention.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office receives hundreds of thousands of patent applications each year. In fact, the Patent Office has recently proposed new patent rules to ease the Examiner workload. According to one proposed rule, if a patent application is rejected, to be able to present your case again, the patent applicant will be limited to filing one request for continued examination (or RCE). In light of the new rule, unless the patent applicant masters the complexities of patent law, the applicant might end up getting a weak patent instead of a strong one.

Imagine you have filed a patent application where you have defined your invention broadly as well as narrowly in ten succinct sentences in what are known as patent claims. These patent claims will be numbered 1 through 10. Typically claim 1 will represent the invention of the broadest scope, and the higher numbered claims represent fallback narrow inventions. In our hypothetical, claims 2 to 10 will refer back to claim 1. Thus, claim 2 refers back to claim 1. Claim 4 refers back to claim 3, which in turn refers back to claim 2. Claim 5 refers back to claim 1 or claim 4. In this example, say claim 5 refers back to claim 1. Keep in mind that the more number of fallback claims you have, you have a better chance of winning the lawsuit in the event your competitor challenges your patent.

Now imagine that the Examiner rejects the patent, as it often happens, stating that the invention is not new or is only a minor modification of what is known already. You, as patent applicant, have a chance to respond to the Examiner. You present arguments stating why the invention is new and not obvious and why you should granted a patent. The Examiner rejects your argument. Now, to continue your effort to get a patent, you wish to present new arguments. To do so, you may have to file an RCE (and the fee) along with the new arguments.

The Examiner takes it up again. This time, the Examiner softens a little and says, in a non-final rejection, that invention of claims 4 to 10 would be allowable as a patent if you rewrite claim 4 without a reference to claim 1, but continues to reject the broader invention of claims 1, 2, and 3. You now have a choice of taking what the Examiner gave you, that is, claims 4 to 10 or alternatively, argue some more. You choose to argue. The Examiner finally rejected your application, repeating what he said before, that is, claim 4 onwards would be allowable if you rewrite it as indicated before. Now, the options you have are very limited. You can rewrite claim 4 as the Examiner indicated, as new claim 1, and obtain a patent with new claim 1. However, you will not be able to get a patent with claims 5 to 10.

The Examiner would refuse to grant claim 5 to 10 because he will say that claim 5 now has been changed in its scope even though you did not change the wording of the claim. The Examiner will argue that original claim 5 referred back to original claim 1. Now, claim 5 refers back to new claim 1, which is of a different scope. The Examiner would indicate that, as the scope of the claim has changed, he would need to carry out further search and examination on claims 5 to 10. He would say that the patent law would not allow him to do so since the rejection has been made final already. The only way to get the Examiner moving on this would be if you could file an RCE. However, you have already used up your RCE option. You cannot file another RCE now, and therefore, you cannot get claims 5-10. You will get a patent with just one claim. If an infringer challenges your patent, and proves that your only claim is invalid, your entire patent would be thrown out.

If you had rewritten claim 4 (as new claim 1) when responding to the non-final rejection, rather than when responding to the final rejection as you did, patent law would have allowed the Examiner to carry out further search on claims 5 to 10, and the chances of getting those claims would have been favorable. If you had fallback position of claims 5 to 10 also, you would have a greater chance of winning the case. Copyright 2006

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent law involving chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and polymers; see http://www.leydig.com

Demystifying Google's new patent

2008-05-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

On August 22, 2006, Google's latest patent (#7096214) was approved.? This patent is extremely interesting in light of the recent excitement surrounding social search.? The patent if broken down into its most simplistic form states, Google is going to take their existing algorithm and temper it with shared book marking sites and other trust networks.?
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The Patent itself is called, "System and method for supporting editorial opinion in the ranking of search results".? What does this all mean?? If your web site has gained and lost significant ranking over the past month, it is very likely due to your inclusion or not in trust networks, such as links from www.myspace.com, http://del.icio.us<, Google Co-op and others.? Though the patent does not go into detail on which sites are trusted sites and which are not, it is likely that the trusted sites are the ones that are being talked about heavily with in the social networking arena.?
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It is also important to note, that just having a patent approved does not necessarily mean that you must use the patent.?? Filing for a patent further does not mean that you have disclosed everything there is to know an invention.? For example, it is common practice to withhold all trade secrets from any patent application, because a patent becomes public knowledge and anyone can read it.?

Prior to filing the aforementioned patent application, Google used a computer generated algorithm which did not take human editorial comments or votes into its ranking, with the exception of links from relevant web sites.? The new patent, takes the search results that would appear previously, and then checks to see if any of the sites in the results "relate to a list of favored or non-favored sources", or whether any of the web sites correspond to at least one major category of favored web sites.
The patent makes reference to a plethora of claims.? However, a select few claims express very telling statements.? In claim #3, Google speaks to how it will determine a score of a web site that is not linked to on either favored or non-favored sites using a primary set of logical parameters (the general algorithm).? The claim goes on further to state Google will determine a score for web sites that are referenced by Google's list of favored or non-favored sites, using that same set of parameters and then takes into account an editorial option, and ranking the final search results based on the score.? This seems to implicate that a web site which is listed on a favored site, and has solid editorial opinions will rank higher than a site which is not referenced by the favored or non-favored sites, even if it is still keyword dense, has great titles and all other factors that has been used in the past to rank a site.

In the next few claims the patent backs up claim #3, by stating the editorial opinions cause the rank of those web sites, Flash movies, images etc. that correspond to favored sites to be increased while those corresponding to non-favored sites will be decreased.? Claim #10 goes on to restate how Google will score a web site based on its relationship to a favored or non favored web site and if so, that the ranking will be further fine tuned by an editorial opinion of those favored sites.?
The statements about these favored and non-favored sites as well as editorial opinions leads one to believe that Google is simply referring to good and bad neighborhoods, which have been used in the past.? The editorial opinions leads one to believe Google is looking for specific positive or negative content on shared book marking sites and human reviewed directory sites such as Myspace.? Myspace is especially high on this attorney's list of sites Google may be relying on based on their recent acquisition of ad space on myspace.com.

What is the reasoning behind this new patent of Google?? There must be a way to fine tune the results of general searches.? For example, a search for printers will come up with thousands if not millions of results.? Why not utilize the experience of web users, and enhance the ranking of search results by integration editorial opinions into the scoring of web sites, then applying the score of an overall web site to each individual page, which will be relevant to a keyword search.?
It appears as if Google has made huge strides in exploiting the social networking craze that is sweeping the SEO world.? Yahoo has already done so, with their local search, Yahoo Answers, Flickr, Trip Planner and other programs, but Google is the one who has come out and actually documented what they are doing and provided search engine marketers a manual of sorts to better optimize their client's web sites for the most popular search engine on the planet.

The above entry was written by Michael Goldstein, Esq.?of Goldstein and Clegg, LLC.? A Massachusetts trademark law firmDisclaimer: Attorney Goldstein is not a member of the United States Patent Bar, and his opinions should not be taken as legal advice in any shape, mean or manor, nor should his opinion be legally relied upon.

Twelve Steps To Filing A U.S. Patent Application: [With Time And Cost Estimates]

2008-05-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

Inventing is a challenging task. Before you bring the invention to market, it is wise to take the appropriate steps to insure that you protect your invention. The most important protection that you can get is a patent. Intellectual property law is complex. Obtaining a patent can be expensive and usually requires the services of a patent attorney, who can walk you through the steps of evaluating your product, and assist you in the patent acquisition process. This guide is intended to give you an overview of the steps needed to acquire a U.S. patent.

1. Preparation and submission of a disclosure in written form to designated company managers of the idea or innovation by its creator(s) for initial review and summary evaluation [Estimated Time: 1-2 hours; Cost: company time].

2. Review by designated company mangers of the disclosed idea or innovation for potential commercial worth and value [Estimated Time: 1-2 hours; Cost: company time].

3. Summary evaluation of the disclosed idea or innovation by patent counsel to identify its technical working essentials and to assess whether these essentials might meet the patent merit requirements of utility, novelty, and non ?obviousness in view of the relevant prior art [Estimated Time: 2- 4 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour]

4. Review and decision by designated company managers whether and how to proceed with commercial development of the idea or innovation and also whether or not to seek patent protection for the innovation based on patent counsel?s summary evaluation [Estimated Time: 3- 6 hours; Cost: company time].

5. Holding an in-person (if possible) meeting of the creator/inventors, patent counsel, and company mangers in order to determine and decide what is or should be the broadest possible scope for the innovation in commercial and non-commercial terms; and to detail and characterize inventorship, the number and types of commercial formats, kinds of variations, preferred embodiments and minimum essential parts, operation limits and optimal use ranges, and the like which are or might come to be within the defined limits of the innovation [Estimated Time 2- 3 hours; Cost: patent counsel @ $195.00 per hour & company time].

6. Preparation and submission to patent counsel of a complete and full written description of the innovation/invention prepared by the creators/inventors (in one or more documents) which provides sufficient technical detail, relevant drawings, useful background information, a listing of unexpected benefits and desirable advantages, and the relevant prior art for patent text purposes [Estimated Time: 8-24 hours; Cost: company time].

7. Preparation and distribution of a first draft text of the patent application by patent counsel to the named inventors and designated company managers [Estimated Time: 30-35 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour]

8. Review and substantive revision of the first draft patent application text by the named inventors and designated company managers and return of the revised first draft text to patent counsel [Estimated Time: 5-10 hours; Cost: company time].

9. Preparation and distribution of a second (and presumably last) draft text of the patent application by patent counsel to the named inventors and designated company managers for final comments and changes to the text [Estimated Time: 10-14 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

10. Receipt by patent counsel of final desired or needed changes to the patent application text from the named inventors and designated company managers and preparation of a fully approved text ready to be submitted to the U. S. Patent Office [Estimated Time 2-4 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

11. Preparation by patent counsel of required supporting formal documents and fee payments to accompany the fully approved patent application manuscript [Estimated Time: 2-3 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

12. Submission, with or without prior signature by the named inventors, of the fully approved patent application manuscript, supporting formal documents and requisite fee payments to the U.S. Patent office and obtaining an official serial number and filing date sufficient for patent pending purposes.

David Prashker is a registered patent attorney north of Boston. He has been practicing patent law for 27 years, and specializes in obtaining intellectual property rights for innovations in life and chemical sciences. For more information about David, see his website, http://www.scicounsel.com

Publish Your Patent Application? ... or Not.

2008-05-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

Infringement and Provisional Damages

There is no action for infringement of your patent until it actually issues. However, through publication of your application, it may be possible to obtain provisional damages for the time between publication of the application and the issuance of the patent. Once your patent issues, infringement can give rise to treble damages and an award of attorney fees. During the phase from publication to issuance, only reasonable royalty damages can be awarded. Furthermore, a claim must survive and be substantially identical from publication to the issued patent.

Provisional damages require notice. Notice is achieved by both publication and provision of actual notice. Thus, you still have the burden of detecting infringement and of providing notice of your application to the alleged infringer.

Why You Should Consider Early Publication

An inventor can accelerate the publication process by filing a request for early publication. This can be done at any time and should result in publication within four months of the request. There are two logical times to file such a request: 1) when you first file your application--to gain the maximum published time available, and 2) when you believe an infringement may be taking place. In this latter case, where you have actual evidence of infringement, you can then file a petition to "make special" and hope that the Patent Office will accept the petition and begin examination of your patent application within six months. That way, you will possibly get the benefit of provisional damages, with the patent issuing shortly thereafter with higher damage awards available.

Benefits of Non-Publication

Non-publication keeps 'em guessing. When a patent is filed, the inventor-applicant is entitled, and should, claim "Patent Pending" status. "Patent Pending" means that an application is on file with the Patent Office and is in the patent process. The inventor should mark his product "Patent Pending" and claim such status in any written material related to the invention. So long as the patent application is secret, competitors do not know what the inventor has disclosed or the breadth of the invention being claimed. Once a patent application publishes, competitors can at least determine the maximum scope that is disclosed in the application. However, while they will see the claims presented in the application, competitors still do not know the breadth of the invention claims that might eventually issue in the patent.

The Hazards of Requesting Non-Publication

Until the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (effective November 29, 2000), United States patents were kept in secrecy until they issued. Subsequent to the AIPA, inventors can elect to keep their application secret, but only if they will not file in a foreign country or file an application under a multilateral international agreement, such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty. If an inventor later files such a foreign or international application, it can lead to abandonment of the U.S. application unless the non-publication request is rescinded before 45 days after filing the foreign or international application. Thus, extreme caution is recommended before considering non-publication.

C2006, Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC; all rights reserved, world-wide. This article, and/or the reading thereof, shall not be construed as offering, containing or receiving of legal advice, and shall not create any attorney-client relationship or privilege. If you are considering protecting your intellectual property, you should consult with an attorney of your choice.

For more information, please visit http://www.trwiplaw.com.

Thomas R. (Terry) Williamson III, Ph.D., Registered Patent Attorney Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC 1870 The Exchange, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30339 770-777-0977 http://www.trwiplaw.com

An intellectual property law firm providing a full range of services for patent searches, preparation and filing patent applications, trademark searches, preparation and filing trademark and service mark applications, preparation and filing

Technology Asset Services Announces New Patented Technology Solderite Products.

2008-05-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Lead Free Soldering Solution for Printed Circuit Board Assembly.

Technology Asset Services announced today a cost effective solution for manufacturers implementing lead free solder into PCB Assembly. The Solderite? product line has been developed for hand soldering stations. The new patented technology employed by the Solderite? products provide the manufacturer a cost effective solution to lead free solder implementation.

The Solderite? products are specifically designed to help manufactures faced with RoHS Compliance. The implementation of lead free solder has generated a need for soldering tools to withstand the higher temperatures and the corrosive nature of lead free solder. The use of hand soldering is often performed in the final stages of assembly. The product is at its highest value point. The necessity of securing equipment designed to implement RoHS Compliance is of growing concern.

The new Solderite? products address RoHS Compliance by providing substantial changes in the design of the soldering station. The three foremost properties of any soldering station are: Power, Temperature Control, and Soldering Tip. The patented technology and design of the power supply and temperature sensing in these new products produce the fastest temperature recovery time on the market. Specially designed electroplated soldering tips ensure quality soldering and extended tip life.

The tip replacement and cost of lead free soldering has increased the soldering cost to manufactures. The corrosive nature of lead free solder combined with higher temperature has on average cut the tip life of standard soldering tips in half. The manufactures cost has doubled in tip replacement. Standard soldering tips average fifteen to twenty five dollars per tip. The average lifespan of lead soldering tips in an industrial environment averages one week. Manufacturers commissioning several solder stations are faced with significant cost increase when implementing RoHS Compliance.

Solderite? soldering stations have underwent strict testing, from lab, contract manufacturing, and lead free soldering training centers. The tip life has averaged a two to one rate compared to standard soldering tips. The tip replacement cost of the Solderite tips did not exceed the cost of standard soldering tips.

For more information on Solderite Products, including Distribution and Representation opportunities contact Ken Fry or visit http://www.solderite.com/

Technology Asset Services provides solutions for Printed Circuit Board Assembly, and Semi Conductor Industries.

Ken Fry CTO Technology Asset Services, Inc. 515 Hanover Dr. Allen TX. 75002

Shouldn't Great Inventions Deserve Iron-clad Patents?

2008-05-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars on research and development, and come up with great inventions, be it on a novel drug to treat high blood pressure or a new kind of plastic that can resist a bullet; however, they often find that their patents do not stand up to a challenge by an infringer who wants to sell a copy-cat product.

Patents are valuable tools in a company's arsenal to resist competition because it provides an exclusive right up to a period of twenty years. However, often inventors and businesses find out, five or ten years down the road, that the patent does not cover the product that they are selling or does not cover the product the competitor is selling. By the time they realize that the defect, it is often too late to correct it.

Patents are expected to describe the discovery in detail, and end in one or more succinct definitions of the invention, what are called patent "claims". The "claims" section is an important part of the patent, and success or failure in the market place rides on the accuracy of the claims. The claims, most often written by lawyers, contain many legal terms. When the legal terms do not match with the scientific meaning the inventor had in mind, then the patent may not survive a challenge by the competitor.

Take for example the patent for an extended release drug formulation containing a drug solvent described in the claims as a "solubilizer". The patent holder argued that the term covers many different kinds of solvents and not just a surfactant. The infringer argued that the disputed term covers only a surfactant and nothing else. The appeals court ruled, much to the disappointment of the patent holder, in favor of the infringer saying that the invention was described in the patent with only a surfactant as the solubilizer.

Consider the patent for making crisp and flaky cookies. The patent claim stated, as part of the baking step, that the cookie dough is heated to 400 to 800 degrees. Can a cookie really survive this intense heat? Wouldn't it produce a charcoal briquette rather than a crisp and flaky cookie? The judge ruled against the patent holder. The patent could have succeeded had it used "at", rather than "to".

To avoid such problems and unpleasant surprises, the patent must be written carefully, keeping in mind that every word used to describe the invention must scientifically and legally correct, and every argument made to obtain the patent must be consistent with the original intent of the inventor.

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent procurement worldwide in chemistry, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals; see http://www.leydig.com.

Patent Me This, Batman

2008-05-06T04:10:00.000-07:00

I believe there is creativity in every person and so, apparently, does Simon Cowell (or maybe he knows it makes great TV!). The crazies on American Inventor aside, I believe that people's creativity may may be suppressed, out of fear or embarrassment, or just undiscovered. But maybe you already knew that. Maybe you have a little workshop in your garage or in a corner of your apartment. Maybe you spend your free time tinkering around, trying to make a better mousetrap. Maybe you count yourself among the inventors, a rare breed of maverick that feels compelled to solve the most mundane of problems. And I, for one, thank you for being that kind of freak.

If you're going to be an inventor, though, it's crucial to protect your Intellectual Property from people who might try to steal your idea and your resulting profits. There are three types of patents currently granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are:

*Design Patents

*Utility Patents

*Plant Patents

Design and Utility Patents are the two most commonly applied for. As of the time of this writing, Design Patents are issued for a period of 14 years, and protect the design of a device, machine or process. For instance, you cannot patent a woman's purse. But if you've made substantial enough changes to it in terms of its structure and overall look, you may be granted a Design Patent.

A Utility Patent is granted for a period of 20 years, and governs the way a device, machine or process might be used. If significant improvements are made to the way a process, such as yoga or physical exercise, is used, it may be granted a Utility Patent.

Plant Patents protect new varieties of plants, which may be patently (sorry) obvious.

Some people choose to go through a patent attorney, and that can be very helpful for newbies. But if money is an issue, Design Patents are very easy to apply for, and the services of an attorney are not required. The typical cost of obtaining a design patent is approximately $400, which does not include an international patent search or technical drawings. An international patent search is necessary to make sure someone else has not yet patented your idea or design. Patent searches can be done in patent libraries, or through a patent searcher, who is likely to charge around $200-300 per search. Technical drawings are usually necessary, unless your product has been prototyped (at least one of them has to exist, in other words).

Applying for a patent provides "patent pending" or "patent applied for" status, usually in about six weeks. Much, if not all, of the process can be done online (www.uspto.gov), or easily with PatentWizard 2.0. Doing things this way allows you to seek out venture capital, if you want to start your own business and take care of manufacturing, or approach a licensing agent, if you'd prefer to farm out the manufacturing in exchange for a cut of units produced and sold.

Licensing is another issue, but suffice it to say that you will need a logbook to track the process of inventing your product. In the event of a challenge by the Patent Office, you need to have a record of drawings, sketches, ideas and random jottings that are dated along the way. Inventor's Place has a wonderful logbook that not only gives you the space you need to keep track of your invention's progress, but also gives encouragement and valuable tips that will save you money before you fork any more over to the government.

If you like your information straight and simple, Richard Levy's book will walk you through the entire patenting process, without the BS. As the inventor of the Furby, among 125 other products, he's got the goods to help you get started on the path to invention success!

I'm sure I'll thank you for it later.

For more stories like this, go to http://www.FindYourProsperity.com

Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.FindYourProsperity.com. In her 18-year career as an award-winning writer, she has published hundreds of articles in over 25 outlets, including Salon, AOL, MSN-NBC, BUST, New York Daily News, Bitch, The Sun, In These Times and more. She has received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant, and a Writer's Digest Award.

Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights--What's the Difference?

2008-05-05T02:17:00.000-07:00

Patents

A patent protects inventions through federal law. Inventions are your creative ideas for new products (articles of manufacture), machines, processes, methods, compositions of matter, ornamentation on products, or new plants. An improvement on an existing product may also be patented.

Utility patents protect the majority of these. To be patentable, your invention must be useful, novel and non-obvious. Design patents protect the ornamentation on devices. Plant patents protect new plant varieties.

Utility patents give you a monopoly (no one else can make, use, sell, offer for sale, or import your invention) for twenty years from the date of filing.

Design patents give you a monopoly for fourteen years from the date of issue, and prevent others from making the patented device with your ornamentation on them. (By way of example, a table is a useful device. If you could obtain a utility patent on a table with a flat surface and four legs, you could stop anyone from making such a table. If your table had an unusual ornamental shape or surface pattern, you would be able to prevent others from making tables with that shape or surface pattern.)

Plant patents last for twenty years from the filing date of the patent application.

Infringement of your patent allows you to potentially obtain treble damages plus attorney fees.

Trademarks

Trademarks (or service marks for services) protect names, logos, slogans, and the like through both federal and state laws. Your name, logo or slogan identifies you to your prospective customers as the source of the goods and services that you are offering, and thus constitutes a trademark.

There are both federal trademarks and state trademarks. There are also common law trademarks that are not registered at either the federal or state level. Federal trademark applications can be filed even before you are using the trademark name, logo or slogan to reserve your trademark.

Other than common law trademarks, federal and state trademarks must periodically be renewed. Federal trademarks must be renewed every ten years. If you no longer use the trademark, you lose your rights. Otherwise, so long as you continuously use and/or renew the mark, you will continue to have rights forever.

Infringement of your trademark allows you to potentially obtain treble damages and attorney fees.

Copyrights

Copyright protects your creative artistic expression, but only once it is set into a tangible form. For instance, you create and sing a song. There is no copyright unless the song is recorded or written, because there is no tangible representation of your artistic expression. However, once you write, record, photograph, draw, or otherwise create a tangible record of your artistic expression, you automatically have copyright. That is, you are the only one who has the right to make or sell copies.

Ideas cannot be copyrighted. They may only be patented. Examples of copyrightable materials are written words, such as in books, magazines, poems, songs; written music; performances of music; paintings and drawings; photographs, videos, architectural plans, website content and layouts, and computer software.

Copyright lasts for 70 years plus the life of the creator (or last to die for multiple authors) for new works under current law. If the work is made for hire, then the term is the shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation.

Federal laws provide you with the right to enforce your copyright, but only once it is registered. There is the possibility of obtaining statutory damages of up to $150,000.00, plus the possibility of being awarded attorney fees. Thus, it is very important to register your copyright as soon as practicable.

Other

Finally, trade secret protection is another means of providing protection to ideas. However, the key word here is secret. Let someone who has no need to know in on the secret and it is no longer protected. Trade secrets are most suitable to keep secret formulas or processes protected.

For more information, please visit http://www.trwiplaw.com.

C2006, Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC; all rights reserved, world-wide.
This article, and/or the reading thereof, shall not be construed as offering, containing or receiving of legal advice, and shall not create any attorney-client relationship or privilege. If you are considering protecting your intellectual property, you should consult with an attorney of your choice.

Thomas R. (Terry) Williamson III, Ph.D., Registered Patent Attorney
Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC
1870 The Exchange, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-777-0977
http://www.trwiplaw.com

Has It Been Done Before? Optimize Your Patent Search Using Patent Scraping Technology

2008-05-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

Since the US patent office opened in 1790, inventors across the United States have been submitting all sorts of great products and half-baked ideas to their database. Nowadays, many individuals get ideas for great products only to have the patent office do a patent search and tell them that their ideas have already been patented by someone else! Herin lies a question: How do I perform a patent search to find out if my invention has already been patented before I invest time and money into it?

The US patent office patent search database is available to anyone with internet access.

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

Performing a patent search with the patent searching tools on the US Patent office Webpage can prove to be a very time consuming process. For example, patent searching the database for "dog" and "food" yields 5745 patent search results. The straight-forward approach to investigating the patent search results for your particular idea is to go through all 5745 results one at a time looking for yours. Get some munchies and settle in, this could take a while! The patent search database sorts results by patent number instead of relevancy. This means that if your idea was recently patented, you will find it near the top but if it wasn't, you could be searching for quite a while. Also, most patent search results have images associated with them. Downloading and displaying these images over the internet can be very time consuming depending on you internet connection and the availablity of the patent search database servers.

Because patent searches take such a long time, many companies and organizations are looking ways to improve the process. Some organizations and companies will hire employees for the sole purpose of performing patent searches for them. Others contract out the job to small business that specialize in patent searches. The latest technology for performing patent searches is called patent scraping.

Patent scraping is the process of writing computer automated scripts that analyze a website and copy only the content you are interested in into easily accessible databases or spreadsheets on your computer. Because it is a computerized script performing the patent search, you don't need a separate employee to get the data, you can let it run the patent scraping while you perform other important tasks. Patent scraping technology can also extract text content from images. By saving the images and textual content to your computer, you can then very efficiently search them for content and relevancy; thus saving you lots of time that could be better spent actually inventing something!

To put a real-world face on this, let us consider the pharmaceutical industry. Many different companies are competing for the patent on the next big drug. It has become an indispensible tactic of the industry for one company to perform patent searches for what patents the other companies are applying for, thus learning in which direction the research and development team of the other company is taking them. Using this information, the company can then choose to either pursue that direction heavily, or spin off in a different direction. It would quickly become very costly to maintain a team of researchers dedicated to only performing patent searches all day. Patent scraping technology is the means for figuring out what ideas and technologies are coming about before they make headline news. It is by utilizing patent scraping technology that the large companies stay up to date on the latest trends in technology.

While some companies choose to hire their own programming team to do their patent scraping scripts for them, it is much more cost effective to contract out the job to a qualified team of programmers dedicated to performing such services.

Learn more about the other uses of scraping technology such as website maintenance and data collection at http://www.scrapegoat.com.

Patents ? How To

2008-05-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

So you have an idea or design that you think no one else has ever had. You want to move forward on the idea, but you also don?t want anyone to copy your idea. What do you do? You need a patent.

You have heard of patents. You have an idea of what a patent is. But what protection does a patent really give you? How much does it cost? How long does it last? How do I know if someone already received or applied for a patent like the one I want to apply for? How do I apply for a patent? Should I hire a patent attorney?

In this article I will try to help you answer those questions and offer a little more insight into the whole patent application process, including how to research patents to see if there are ideas already patented that are similar to yours.

The first thing you need to do is define your idea onto paper. Use as much detail as possible. You are more likely to receive a patent when you include a lot of detail and avoid anything that is vague or too broad in concept.

Once you have done this, go to http://www.uspto.gov Click the link, on the left at the writing of this article, which says patents. You are not ready to apply for your patent yet, so scroll down to where it says, ?Online Patent Searches?.

You will have two options there. One reads ?Issued Patents?, and the other reads ?Published Applications?. You will be researching both, but begin with the most important, which is ?Issued Patents?.

Use the link there that reads, ?Advanced Search?. Type in all the terms you can think of that relate to what you want to patent. Use the option that reads, ?1976 to present?, as anything patented before that date will not matter in most cases.

Search the headlined results for anything that looks like it might be similar to your idea for a patent. Click those links that apply to you. Look at the way it is formatted as well as look to see if your idea is exactly like the idea that already has a patent issued for it.

The reason I said to take note of the format in which the issued patent is displayed is for you to look at the way you wrote down the notes of your own idea and compare them. Try to format the description of your idea similar to that of a patent that is already issued. Make sure you include all the same type of information they have formatted into their patent.

If you find someone else has already received a patent that is too similar to your idea, you have just saved yourself a $215, (at the writing of this article), patent application fee.

If you do not find any issued patents that are like the idea you wish to patent, then go back to the page that had the two options, ?Issued Patents? and ?Published Applications?. Now click Published Applications, advanced search and repeat the process of searching for ideas that are similar to yours.

If you find one that is exactly like your idea, keep in mind that the first application for that patent will be granted over the newer one. It does not mean you cannot apply for it. If you can improve on your idea, then go ahead and apply. If their application is turned down for some reason like lack of detail, etc., your patent could still be issued.

If you do not find an applied for patent, then you can proceed to apply for a patent on your idea. The research part of the patent process is over. Go back to http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/index.html where you clicked on ?Online Patent Searches? before and click on ?Basic Initial Filing?.

Fill in the fields for your name and email address, then choose the type of patent you are applying for. If you are not sure of the type of patent to apply for, go back to the home page at http://www.uspto.gov and look for the search feature at the top of the page and type in each type of patent with the word definition after it.

That search feature will produce results pages of documents only. In those documents you will find answers to any questions you may have about different types of patents.

If you are sure of the type of patent you wish to apply for, then proceed through the pages. The instructions are very simple. Good luck! I hope this article has helped you learn how to research and apply for a patent!
Chuck Crawford is an established webmaster interested in various topical research. If you would like more info on Patents, please visit his website at http://patents.thegiftedone.com This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remain active. Affiliate Website Design Articles.PN Article Science

Microsoft Loses Patent Lawsuit

2008-04-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

One of the top news stories this week that got virtually no popular press involves the judgment against Microsoft by a small company with a big software patent.

University of California and Eolas Technologies, Inc. hold a patent which Microsoft, according to several judges, violated with its popular Internet Explorer Web browser.

Without going into painful technical detail, the patent involves the "ActiveX" technology enabling Web browsers to display both web pages and content such as streaming audio, Flash, QuickTime video and other "rich" or "dynamic" content.

Despite heated input by the Internet community to invalidate Eolas' patent because of its broad nature, Microsoft lost every appeal and effort to get the patent nullified.

Bottom line: Microsoft faced two choices. First, they could pay the patent owner and keep things moving along, business as usual (much the way Blackberry did recently when a judge found them guilty of patent infringement).

Second choice: Microsoft could avoid future licensing fees by changing their IE browser and removing the offending code.

Which do you think they chose? Ding-ding-ding!

You guessed it, Microsoft chose to avoid paying millions more by simply removing the offending code.

Unfortunately, that decision means a bit of trouble for a few million web designers who use Flash, streaming movies, and more.

Ultimately, the change to IE may force visitors to sites with rich content to click on an object to enable it before they can interact with it.

Not a huge deal. However, time will tell what ultimately happens and the actual impact on sites running rich content.

But before everyone starts screaming that "The sky is falling" and "our websites are broken," let me ask you a question.

Do you really think that companies like Macromedia (makers of Flash) and sites like Google Video will let a few changes in Internet Explorer put them out of business?

I don't think so!

If anything, this change will force companies to step up to the plate and discover ways to serve dynamic content that does not depend on ActiveX.

Sure, it will mean some pain for both content creators and users in the short term, but in the end I honestly believe that, through innovation, we will all end up with a better solution than what currently exists.

In other news today...

** Hollywood Goes Online **

Six major movie studios recently announced their intentions to start selling new-release movies via Internet download from the site MovieLink.com.

But before you jump for joy at watching "Brokeback Mountain" on your pc, understand a couple of facts.

You can't burn the movie to DVD, and the downloadable films carry a price tag of around $15-30, a price comparable or more than a physical DVD you can purchase at Wal-Mart.

As a rabid DVD consumer and enthusiastic computer user (with six in my home office alone), I can tell you right up front, there is no way in @#$%* I'll pay 20 bucks for a movie I can't "veg" out with in front of the TV.

Are they insane?

Until it gets to the point where you can download a new- release movie, burn it to DVD or put it on your iPod, downloadable flicks will remain, at best, a novelty.

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Intellectual Property - The 3 Branches: Copyrights, Patents & Trademarks

2008-04-10T05:12:00.000-07:00

When you hear the phrase intellectual property, what do you think of? How can something that exists in your mind be considered property? Are your ideas your property similar to that of your house or car?

Simply put, no, your ideas are not something you can solely own. After all, if ideas were never shared in the marketplace, where would we be? Imagine if Bill Gates had never shared his ideas about the new BASIC programming language that he and Paul Allen developed...would Microsoft exist? How would that have impacted our world today? Let's take it back even further: what would life be like if Louis Pasteur had never shared his ideas about heat treatment, what we now call pasteurization? The sharing of ideas has brought us to where we are, good and bad.

So, what is intellectual property?

Intellectual property is those ideas fixed in a form. That is, it is NOT the idea itself but rather how it's presented. It's also the laws set up to register, manage and govern those presentation of ideas. That can be a bit hard to wrap your mind around so let's look at some examples from the three branches of intellectual property: copyrights, patents and trademarks.

Copyrights:

Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem "artistic" in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.

Patents:

Patents are protection for inventions as well as significant improvements to already existing inventions. Inventions are mostly thought of as things like Edison's electric lamp or phonograph. There are three distinct sections within the patent realm - utility, design and plant. Utility patents protect the invention in its utilitarian sense (i.e. how it functions and how it's used) whereas design patents protect the invention in its ornamental appearance. Let's go back to Edison for an example: he obtained a utility patent for his electric lamp as well as a design patent for the look/design of the electric lamp.

Trademarks:

Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to the mark within the specified industry. Of course, it's necessary to research the mark comprehensively prior to filing to ensure that there is no possibility of infringing upon another party.

Summary:

In a nutshell, those are the three branches of intellectual property. The free flowing of ideas has been and will continue to be important to our world development. Of course, protecting those ideas of yours, whatever form they take, can be just as important. Would Bill Gates be the richest person in the world if he had not secured all of his intellectual property rights?

Let your ideas flow...but be sure to protect your intellectual property!

Shannon Moore is the General Manager, East Coast for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Shannon directly at 800.340.2010.

Patents ? American Greatness

2008-04-10T05:11:00.000-07:00

We all know what a patent is in general, but how much do you really know about patents and how they have shaped America? Our advances in technology here in America have surpassed that of all other countries combined. Many do not like to hear that, but it is a fact, and it has more to do with how America moved ahead of other countries economically than any other factor and still does today.

In this article, I will cover many of the advances made by American Inventors throughout our relatively short history compared to other countries.

Not all inventions that helped make America great were originated in America, but even those that were not invented and patented here, were put to better use here, like a way to produce steel in large quantities for instance. Originally patented by a British inventor named Henry Bessemer. He invented the Bessemer Converter or the Bessemer Process.

He obtained his patent in 1855, even though the process was known in China in the third century. According to wikipedia.com, ? The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation through air being blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten.?

However, ingenious Americans like Andrew Carnegie put it to use and built everything from tin cans to skyscrapers to railroads and ships. Many American inventions were patented because of the ability to process steel faster.

Many people credit Benjamin Franklin for the discovery of electricity. While that is true, electrification is not quite the same thing. People like Thomas Edison had introduced direct-current systems, what we know as DC. Nikola Tesla worked toward using AC, or alternating current.

Tesla was Slavic, but a citizen of the US when he did all of his important work on electricity. At the turn of the century, Tesla was already working in fields like robotics and ballistics. George Westinghouse was a friend of Tesla?s and a major competitor to Thomas Edison. George Westinghouse put electricity to use in more practical ways than the inventors.

Westinghouse also invented things and held many patents of his own. People associate him with appliances, but he held patents that had to do with railroads as well. He held a patent on a system to put railroad cars back on the tracks after they had been derailed. He even held the patent for inventing the first air-brakes.

Electricity and Steel Processing are just two of the great scientific discoveries that made this country great. I only bring those scientific discoveries into this article to show you something about patents. Many people know about the significant scientific discoveries like nuclear power, the automobile, the airplane, electronics, radio and television, agriculture, computers, the telephone, air conditioning, refrigeration, spacecraft, the Internet, and so much more, most of which was either invented in America or put to the best use here in America.

But those significant scientific discoveries make up only a small percentage of all the patents that are applied for and granted. Most patents stem from one or more of the great scientific discoveries, but the patents are granted for the unique use of or combinations of the great discoveries.

The genius and inventiveness of the American citizen over all others can be attributed to the fact we are a free society. Free speech also means freedom of thought. Freedom of though leads to great knowledge and discovery.

While some inventions or great scientific discoveries can be attributed to people of foreign countries, nowhere are those discoveries and inventions put to better use throughout history than in the United States.

For each major scientific discovery, thousands of patents are filed that put it into practical use. Today, patents are still applied for at an extremely fast rate. America has not stopped inventing and patenting their ideas. As long as the American culture continues to foster this innovation, America will stay far ahead in all technological fields, while countries that suppress the freedoms of their citizens will lag far behind.

I hope this article, while we only touched on a few inventions and discoveries, gives you some insight into why America stays far ahead of the rest of the world through technology. Search through the US Patent Office Website and you will discover just how many inventions are patented every day.

Chuck Crawford is an established webmaster interested in various topical research. If you would like more info on Patents, please visit his website at http://patents.thegiftedone.com This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remain active. Affiliate Website Design Articles.PN Article Science

PATENT: SEVEN WAYS TO KEEP YOU FROM THE WOLVES

2008-03-31T01:28:00.000-07:00

You have an invention or an idea for an invention. The first people you may hear about - or even may contact you - are from an invention development company. They advertise on radio and TV, and in magazines that cater to the inventive mind - and even some newspapers.

Invention development companies are private and public research companies that purport to help inventors develop, patent, and promote their ideas so they can be commercially licensed or sold. While many of these organizations are legitimate, some are not.

I state my stand on the use of such companies on my website - www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions,com. But, you may want to go that way anyway to develop your patent or invention. If that's the case, here are seven helpful tips for you to make smart patent and invention development decisions:

1. Learn About the Patent Process.

When you understand the basics of how to get a patent, you will know when invention marketers are making promises they, or the patent system, can't deliver. Knowing the steps to do a patent search, and what is required, as well as knowing what happens in the patenting process can only help you in making the right decision. You will have a better idea about whether the company you are talking to knows what they are doing for you - and not just their pocketbook.

2. Do Your Homework.

Check the organization's references, ask for credentials, and then check them. Ask them for statistics on how many successes they have had compared to how many total clients. They are required by law to offer you this type of information. In fact, the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 gives you the following rights when dealing with invention promoters.

Before an invention promoter can enter into a contract with you, it must disclose the following information about its business practices during the past five years:

* how many inventions it has evaluated,
* how many of those inventions got positive or negative evaluations,
* its total number of customers,
* how many of those customers received a net profit from the promoter's services, and
* how many of those customers have licensed their inventions due to the promoter's services.

This information can help you determine whether the promoter has been selective in deciding which inventions it promotes, and how successful the promoter has been. Ask for names of "successful" clients, and talk to them.

Invention promoters also must give you the names and addresses of all invention promotion companies they have been affiliated with over the past 10 years.

This information can help to determine whether the company you're considering doing business with has been subject to complaints or legal action.

You can call the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at 1-866-767-3848, and the Better Business Bureau, the consumer protection agency, and the Attorney General in your state or city, and in the state or city where the company is headquartered to check them out.

3. Be Realistic.

Not every invention is patentable. Know that very few ideas - even the good ones - become commercially successful. Be wary of any developer willing to promote virtually any invention. If you are presented with the phrase - "We think your idea has great market potential" - beware, and take it for what it is - in a lot of cases, just a sales pitch.

4. Know Where Your Money Is Going.

Ask the organization how your money will be spent. Be on guard against large up-front fees and find out exactly how the money is spent. If the company gives you something like - "Our company has evaluated your idea, and now wants to prepare a more in-depth research report. It'll be several hundred dollars" - ask them if the idea is good enough for more research why don't they foot the bill.

5. Protect Your Rights.

DO NOT disclose your invention to a developer over the phone (or at any time) before first having them sign a confidentiality agreement. You could forfeit valuable patent rights. A sample confidentiality agreement is available on my website. ??6. Track Your Invention's Progress.

If you decide to use an invention development organization, deal directly with the agent or patent attorney who will be handling your patent application. A lot of these type of firms outsource the work which is not good for you.

Many invention promotion firms also may claim to perform patent searches on your idea. Fraudulent invention promotion firms usually do patent searches that are are incomplete, conducted in the wrong category, or unaccompanied by a legal opinion on the results of the search from a registered patent attorney.

Because unscrupulous firms promote virtually any idea or invention without regard to its patentability - they may go ahead and market an idea for which someone already has a valid, unexpired patent. In that case, you may be the one subjected to a patent infringement lawsuit - even if the promotional efforts on your invention are successful. Most probably, the way the infringement suit is attracted is through a successful product.

7. Don't Get Discouraged!

The patent process can be very complicated, so you will probably need professional help. There are many good patent agents and attorneys that can help you. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office maintains a nationwide register of attorneys and agents who meet the legal, scientific and technical requirements of the office.

The first step should be a patent search done by a reputable searcher. Your patent attorney can help with this, and should review the search for a package price, depending on the complexity of the invention.

Hang in there. It is a long and complicated process. But if your idea passes the initial search test and evaluation, there is a good chance you can receive a patent - in two or so years.

For information on registered patent attorney and agents, you may visit the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/go/oed.

Gary J. Cogley, JD, after being a musician, a TV Producer/Director/Writer, and an entertainment and IP attorney, now writes about all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and inventions. He also gives tips and info on patents, and scams to watch out for. Get info at: http://www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions.com

Google's US Patent: What does it have in stock for you?

2008-03-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

Google's US Patent: What does it have in stock for you?

What is this Google's Patent?

The filling of the US Patent (#20050071741- Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data) by Google has caught many SEOs off guard in their strategies forthwith with regard to ranking of sites in SERPs. The contents of the patent reveal that search giant has incorporated sweeping changes in the way it works, and has waged a war against search engine spam and artificial link inflation.

Google has become awfully aware that some of their results have begun to be well manipulated by people with deep pockets, simply going out and buying thousands and thousands of links. Sad enough, it has resulted into a damn situation wherein one often comes with links on the first page of the results that have nothing to do with what he or she wishes to look for.

Now, in the post-patent scenario, often used, misused and overused search engine strategies that paid off in the past, simply seem to be worn-out tools. This patent, which in all its intent strives to make information retrieval on Google on the basis of historical data, will definitely reorient it to dish out results to highly relevant and content heavy sites for a given search term.

So, what are the paradigm shifts by virtue of this patent?

- Google is all geared up to start looking at history very minutely. This, amongst other things, includes the history of your website, the history of individual pages on your website, and the history of links to your website and even pages within it.

- Google is well underway to take into consideration the traffic patterns of your site's visitors. It will sharply focus on things such as length of stay on the page that someone gets through the link as well as how many links, both internal to your site and external to it, get used by a visitor.

- Google has considered it imperative to look at user behavior on your site, and the history or the trend of that behavior. This entails not only what kinds of links are browsed, where they go, and what the link text says, but more specifically user browsing behavior and surfing patterns.

- It is going to look out for new content on existing pages as well as new pages being created. It implies that a content driven site, that people use, like, and come back to, is likely to climb up the rankings.

- Moreover, not only is Google going to begin looking at your site's history and the history of visitors to and from your site, it is also going to be grouping all of their various history trends into a single lump and provide crucial scoring.

Strategies that need a serious rethinking

- People tactically use "content randomizers" in an effort to make Google think their sites are being changed frequently. This strategy seems to be redundant as Google will be maintaining your site's history which is the crux of the new patent.

- Sites will not only need to have links as was customary in recent past, but those links will have to be utilized to be counted.

- Content "freshness" is going to matter crucially as against the past trend. Google is all set to look for "freshness" in not just your own pages, but links to your site as well.

- You can no longer lose sight on your focus in providing your web surfers what they want even though your hitherto engagement in the same yielded some results.

- Google going to scrutinize under its close observation the links to your site, the number of them, where they go. Let alone this, Google will also be tracking click through ratios of those links.

- Your site's "stickiness" is going to be important to your rankings within Google regardless of what you used to resort to get rankings so far.

So, what are the strategic choices before SEOs in the aftermath of this patent?

- Now it is in the fitness of the things that folks that sell "links" on their website should have a second thought why and how they are doing this. The patent specifications precisely call for the links to be actually used by people. So, this explicitly implies that you'll need those links to be well within content.

- With a good mix of content and links off to external sites and pages, you are likely to get most "bump," especially when the links are well surrounded by other content.

- Your Search engine strategy should take care of the fact that new content is added regularly to your site and people are actually staying to read the content.

- It is desirable to keep your pages themed, relevant and most importantly consistent. You have to establish reliability. The days of spamming Google are nearing to an end.

- When it comes to linking, you must clearly avoid the hocus pocus or magic bullet linking schemes.

Let's read writings on the walls before it is too late

- If you participate in quick fix link exchange scams, use automated link exchange software or buy hundreds of links at once, there are pretty chances that Google will interpret your efforts as a spam attempt and act accordingly. So, tread with caution.

- Since Google is capable of tracking the click-through rates to your web site, you have got to make sure that your web pages have attractive titles and utilize calls to action so that web surfers click on them in the search results

- If you stand in need of multi page content changes implement the changes in segments over time. Continue to use your original keywords on each page you change to maintain theme consistency.

- You can simply make significant content changes by implementing lateral keywords to support and reinforce your vertical keyword(s) and phrases. This will also help eliminate keyword stuffing.

- Make sure to determine whether the keywords you're using require static or fresh search results and do update your web site content accordingly. On this point RSS feeds may play a more valuable and strategic role than ever before in keeping pages fresh and right away at the top of the SERPs.

- Webmasters must look forward, plan and mange their domains more tightly than ever before or risk plummeting in the SERPs - Relevant content swaps may be a pretty fine alternative to the standard link exchange and allow you some control of the link page elements

The heart of the matter

This patent is, in fair probability, going to force websites to become much more "customer" centric, and that's always a good thing. The criterion Google has set for search rankings, and the direction search innovation is going speak volumes on Google's exemplary efforts to provide the best search service in the world.

Deepak Sharma is a Web Designer at BlueApple, a Web Design and Development Company with a well connected development infrastructure in India having a strong portfolio with global clientele and offering superior web services and solutions at competitive costs

Patent - History Of U.S. Patent Office

2008-03-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

In this article we're going to do a brief historical review of the United States Patent Office.

The first national patent system was influenced by Thomas Jefferson in 1790. This was actually added to the United States Constitution in order to protect the rights of inventors. From this began the growth of the American corporation. Even though the original thirteen colonies has individual patent laws it wasn't until this constitutional act that the patent system became uniform for everyone.

Actually, the modern concept of the patent itself was established in Great Britain in the year 1449. That year King Henry VI issued a patent to John of Utynam for stained glass manufacturing. The actual history of the English patent system is important for understanding the patent system of the United States but is not the focus of this article. There are plenty of documents online where this information can be found.

In the United States, congress actually passed several patent acts; one in 1790, one in 1793 and one in 1836. Each act added different things to the patent system as we know it today.

The patent act of 1790, the one influenced by Jefferson, required that all applications for patents had some kind of model, whether it be a drawing or prototype, to go along with the application. This was because Jefferson believed ideas should not be patentable.

The patent act of 1793 was actually a revision of the patent act of 1790 due to some differences of opinions between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton who wanted to add provisions for overlapping patents, where two inventors applied for the same or similar patents. The act of 1793 created a patent board that was responsible for issuing patents. A two-thirds majority of the board, made up of the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Secretary of War, would be required to issue a patent. This act was passed largely because of complaints by inventors that the act of 1790 was not sufficient to protect their rights as inventors.

It wasn't until the patent act of 1836 that the United States Patent Office was actually established. The patent office was created primarily because of the inefficiency of the other two acts in processing patents. Henry Ellsworth was mostly responsible for establishing this act. He was also appointed the first commissioner of patents.

Through this act a system was created for distributing new patents to libraries in every state. This way it would be easy for an inventor to research whether or not a patent existed for a particular invention. This would save the inventor a great deal of time applying for a patent that he couldn't get because it was already issued.

Much has changed in the patent office since those early days. What once took a relatively short period of time now takes years as far as securing a patent. Many times a patent isn't issued until long after the technology has been around for quite some time. Unfortunately in the current climate and with the rate of technological advances increasing everyday, patents are now viewed as nothing more than a bargaining chip in a court of law.

Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Some Famous Patents

2008-03-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss some of the most famous patents in history. These are inventions that greatly changed the world we live in.

To go over all the patents that have changed the world would take a month of Sundays and then some. What follows is just a brief look at some of the greatest patents in our history.

What is considered the most valuable patent is the one issued to Alexander Graham Bell for his invention of the telephone. The patent was number 174,465 issued in 1876. Ironically, early attempts to make the telephone popular were unsuccessful. People looked at the idea as nothing more than a novelty and didn't take its communication possibilities seriously. Try telling that to all the people walking around with cell phones today.

This one may come as a bit of a surprise. Thomas Edison didn't actually invent the light bulb. What he did was improve on a fifty year old idea. In 1879, using lower current, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. This invention led to the creation of jobs for millions of people. Quite literally, without this invention we would all still be in the dark. Thomas Edison actually received 1093 patents during his life.

If you're into some really odd trivia you can tell people that Abe Lincoln was the only United States President to receive a patent. He did so for his manner of buoying vessels. He was issued this patent in 1849. It was patent number 6,469. When Lincoln was young he took a boatload of merchandise down the Mississippi River during a trip from New Salem to New Orleans. There was an accident when the boat slid into a dam. It took great effort to get the boat dislodged. Two years later Lincoln had a similar accident crossing the Great Lakes. These two incidents led Lincoln to come up with a solution to this problem. His invention consisted of a set of bellows attached to the hull of the ship just below the water line. When the vessel is in danger of an accident, the bellows are filled with air and act as a buoy to keep the ship afloat. Lincoln never profited from his invention but he was a very strong supporter of the patent system.

Probably the most famous patent was the one issued to Frederic Auguste Bartholdi for his design of the Statue Of Liberty. The Statue Of Liberty came to New York on June 19, 1885. It was a gift of friendship given to the United States from the people of France. It was intended to celebrate their 100 years of independence 10 years earlier.

The statue is constructed of copper sheets which are assembled on a framework of steel supports. In order to be transported to America the statue was disassembled into 350 pieces and was packed in 214 crates. It was then reassembled when it arrived. Nothing like this was ever done before and most likely will never be done again.

Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Marketing Strategy

2008-03-27T02:10:00.000-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss the tricky aspect of marketing strategy when applying for a patent.

Getting a patent is a tricky process under normal circumstances. Under laws of the United States a company or person is entitled to a patent unless the invention was on sale in the country for more than one year prior to the application date of the patent. This applies to both sales and offers of sales. Therefore, companies conducting marketing campaigns must be careful not to destroy their patent rights. In a perfect world, application for a patent should be filed before any sales begin. But then that would hurt the company's bottom line because that ultimately puts profits on hold. In a competitive marketplace this could spell disaster for the company.

Therefore, it is important for a company to understand just what it is that starts the one year clock ticking. In other words what can they do and what can't they do in order to avoid their product being put on the timer?

In order to answer that question we have to understand what exactly, according to law, starts the clock running. There are basically two conditions. The first one is that the invention must be ready for patenting at the time of the sale. If it can be shown that the inventor had sufficient drawings that would enable another person to use the invention then this would satisfy the first criteria.

The second criteria is that there has actually been an offer for sale. In other words, the inventor or company that owns the invention approaches another company and offers to sell them the invention. This can either be in the form of a letter to the other company or in an actual physical meeting between the two companies. Usually the meeting follows a letter.

In the form of a letter the owner of the invention will usually draw up a letter stating that they have such and such an invention and go on to say that they feel this is something that would enhance their business. In the letter they would describe what the invention does and how it would help them. They would then ask the other company to get back to them if interested.

When it comes to the meeting the inventor will bring drawings of his invention and present them to the company interested in acquiring the invention. Maybe the inventor even has a working prototype he can show them. This is always a plus. Companies actually like to see that the invention they are interested in works.

Where the law comes in, and this is where inventors can delay the clock, is that the following items do not fall within the two criteria. Solicitation of customer pricing information from distributors and sales representatives; publication of preliminary data sheets and promotional information on invention features; communications to sales representatives; sales representatives providing customers with preliminary data sheets; and sales representatives' requests for customer samples.

Therefore, an inventor can engage in any of the above activities and NOT start the one year clock running. This allows the inventor to get as much preliminary leg work done for his patent without actually "technically" starting the process.

This is important information for any inventor to have if he is trying to gain as much ground in his quest for a patent as possible.

Your Independent guide to Patents

U.S.Patent - Applying For One Outside The

2008-03-25T03:33:00.000-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss what's involved with filing for a patent outside of the United States of America.

There are a number of factors a company or inventor has to consider before filing for a patent outside of the United States. The first thing a company must know is that most foreign filed applications will be published eighteen months after their priority date. So if a company files an application outside the United States it will eventually forfeit any trade secret protection for the invention, software or method stated in that application. However, if the company files for a patent only in the United States it can maintain secrecy until the actual patent is issued.

The next factor a company needs to consider is in what countries patent protection would be worth the trouble. In other words, you don't want to apply for a patent in a country where they don't have the technology or infrastructure to use your method or invention. For example, in countries where there is no Internet access it would be a waste of time and money to apply for a patent for some form of online sales method.

After you decide that you want to apply for a patent outside the United States, there are a number of filing options available. One option is to file for the patent directly at the patent office in the country which you want to get the patent for. A company should only use this option if it knows exactly what country or countries it wants the patent for and knows for certain that it isn't going to file for a patent in any additional countries. The company also has to be prepared to spend the filing costs necessary, which can be quite expensive for overseas patents. The lower end countries are around $4,000 for filing for a patent. In the higher end countries, like Japan because it is considered a world market leader, the costs can be as much as $12,000 for one patent.

Another option for filing for a foreign patent is to file for one with the European Patent Office (EPO). Filing directly with the EPO allows the company to file one application and to designate as many as 18 countries for the patent to be filed with. The EPO conducts an investigation of the application and then if it finds that everything is in order, grants the patent.

A third option is to file for a patent under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The advantages of doing this are that in doing so you get to delay your decision on which countries to file your patent with. This also defers any payment of fees. A country should do this only if it is unsure of what countries it wants to file with and needs time to do some studies on the benefits of filing with each country it is considering. This method preserves patent rights without any commitment.

A company has a number of options for filing for a patent outside the United States. It should therefore conduct proper research into potential markets before choosing which option to take.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part II

2008-03-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

In this second article on business method patents we're going to continue our discussion on what happens when two companies are battling it out for the same patent.

There are two ways that an Internet patent can be used. The first way is to use it offensively against a major competitor to help eat into their market share. The second way is to use it defensively against a major competitor who is threatening to sue based on one of their patents. Case studies show that most companies are less likely to go to court when the opposing company can show that it has a patent. Usually these companies agree to a truce by cross licensing each other's patents.

Here is an example of this.

Company A and Company B both sell tickets online. This includes services for exchanging unwanted tickets and also earning rewards for being a frequent purchaser. Company A happens to hold a patent on a method of exchanging tickets. Company B has a patent on a way of exchanging rewards points. Even though each company believes that the other company is infringing on their patent neither one goes to court over it. Instead they decide to cross license their patents so that each company can perform both services, exchanging tickets and rewards points.

So how is it determined who gets a patent? What happens when business A applies for a patent but business B can show that it was using the method for a year prior to filing? Business B can either stop the patent from going through right then and there or it can wait and invalidate the patent at a later time. The key to this whole procedure is that the use of business B's method MUST have been public knowledge prior to business A filing for a patent. If business B used the patent confidentially then business A will be granted the patent even though business B used the method first. However, in a 1999 amendment to this law, even though business A gets the patent, business B can still use the method without any penalty.

An example of this is as follows. Business A has been using a certain method of accounting for many years but never disclosed it to the general public. Company B, over the course of time and totally unaware that business A has already created this method, develops the method themselves and files for a patent. When company B finds out that company A has been using this accounting method they file a lawsuit against company A. Company B is granted their patent but company A is allowed to continue its use of the method without any penalty of law.

Just as a note. If company A had been using the method publicly before company B filed for the patent, the patent issued to company B would have been invalidated or possibly would have never been granted at all.

In the next article in this series we're going to discuss the legal requirements for getting a business method patent.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part III

2008-03-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

In this third article on business method patents we're going to continue our discussion with legal requirements for getting a business method patent.

In order for a company or individual to get a business method patent, the business method or software must meet the following requirements:

1. The method or software must be on a subject matter that the patent office defines as patentable. This is said to be anything created by humans that falls into two classes; laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas.

2. The method or software developed must be of some practical use. This is fairly easy to satisfy because any functional purpose will be good enough. A business only needs to demonstrate that its method or software produces some tangible result. For example; Amazon.com with their 1-click purchase produces a tangible result, an expected purchase.

3. The method or software must be novel. In other words, this method or software must be noticeably different from anything else that has come before it.

4. The method or software must be what they call "non obvious." What this means is that somebody who has ordinary skill in that specific technology would not have been able to think of it.

The cost of getting a business method patent depends on a number of factors, including the actual subject matter of the patent, how complex the examination process needs to be to determine if it is a new idea and whether or not the process goes through a lawyer. The cost for getting a business method patent can be anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 unless you go through the process yourself without hiring a lawyer. After the patent is issued, the owner of the patent must pay maintenance fees to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years. If the patent should be challenged, and many are, costs for getting the patent can go through the roof.

The next legal requirement for getting a patent is novelty. An application for a business method patent will fail the novelty test if the method was in use for more than 1 year before the patent was applied for. It is because of this novelty requirement that a company must research whether this method already exists and if not, file for a patent as quickly as possible.

A business method is considered to be novel when it is different in at least one area from all prior methods. This is known as "prior art." Prior art consists of the following as per the USPTO in these exact terms.

1. "Any published writing (including any patent) that was made publicly available either: (1) before the date of invention of the business method or (2) more than one year before the patent application for the business method is filed."

2. "Any U.S. patent that has a filing date earlier than the date of invention of the business method."

3. "Any relevant method or process (whether described in writing or not) existing publicly before the business method was conceived."

4. "Any public or commercial use, sale, or knowledge of the business method more than one year before the patent application for the business method is filed."

Finally, as to the timeline for obtaining a business method patent, it takes two and a half to three years to get a business method patent from the date it was filed. The patent is valid for 20 years after filing. After that it becomes public domain and anyone can use the method.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - An Alternative To Getting One

2008-03-21T02:33:00.001-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss an alternative to getting a patent for your product or method called the defensive publication.

The truth about getting patents is that it is a form of risk management for a company or individual. To give an example, a company that failed to get a patent may lose control of the main technology that the company uses to conduct business. It is also vulnerable to a lawsuit and strict licensing terms. Because patents are so important to a company and its operation, many companies form what is called a license review board to determine the cost involved with obtaining a patent for the product or technology. If the board finds enough evidence to warrant obtaining a patent it then discloses its findings to the CEO of the company.

However, there are going to be times where the cost and risk factor of trying to obtain a patent are too great to warrant going ahead with trying to get one. In this case an alternative form of risk management should be sought. One of these alternatives commonly used by companies in this situation is called the defensive publication. This is used especially when the alternatives are limited or the patent process would be too difficult to prove.

According to U.S. patent law, a printed publication with a publication date prior to what would have been the effective date of the patent could be used to invalidate that patent if claimed by another company. This publication can be used as a defensive measure to describe whatever technology it has created. Once this publication is released, the competing company would have to consider this publication as prior art. The company releasing this publication is given a certain degree of protection. The company can use this publication as a shield against another company suing them for using this technology. This will, in most cases, discourage the other company from going ahead with the lawsuit because of prior art laws.

To qualify as this type of publication there are a number of things that have to exist. For one thing, the publication must have been available to the public in general. It must describe the technology specifically and the date of the publication must be before the date of the patent that was issued to the competing company. This involves two criteria which are accessibility and dissemination.

Accessibility is the issue of whether relevant members of the public could obtain the publication if they wanted to. If this is proven that they could have had access to the publication then there is no need to actually show them the publication. Just the fact that it existed and was accessible is enough.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Making Your Own Patent Drawings

2008-03-21T02:32:00.001-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss making drawings for your new gadget that you're trying to get a patent for.

In most cases, with a physical item, the patent office will require you to have drawings for your item unless you have a working prototype. So what do you do if you can't draw a straight line? Well, today there are computer programs that can do your patent drawings for you.

The situation you find yourself in goes something like this. You've just invented the greatest thing since sliced bread. You've made some rough sketches and even written some of the patent application yourself. You've saved yourself thousands of dollars by not hiring a lawyer. The only thing left to do is prepare drawings to go with your patent application. But you are no artist. What do you do?

Well, many inventors turn this part of the job over to a professional draftsman at the price tag of $75 to $150 per sheet of patent drawings. If you have a number of these the cost can add up in a hurry.

Fortunately, with today's technology, if you can do the patent application yourself you can also do the drawings yourself as well. You're going to need to learn some USPTO rules and the learning curve is pretty steep, but the rewards will be more than worth the effort. Besides saving money on the application itself you'll also be able to prepare brochures for prospective manufacturers or customers. Also, because nobody knows your invention better than you do, you'll have the best idea of what the drawings should look like. By doing your own drawings you don't have to explain to another person what your invention is about. The process of sending drawings back and forth for corrections is eliminated. Finally, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did the whole patent process by yourself, which is quite an accomplishment.

There are various ways you can create your drawings.

The traditional way is with pen and ruler in black and white. While this may seem old fashioned, it is the least costly and is actually how the patent office prefers them, nice and simple. You're going to need to learn basic drawing techniques to do this.

If color is needed to accurately represent your invention then you can submit color drawings. If you plan to do this you're going to have to file three sets of color illustrations. Then you have to file a petition to explain why color is necessary. Finally, you pay a petition fee and include a statement in your application that it includes color drawings.

Another option is photographs. These are rarely used, only in cases where a proper illustration of the invention is not possible with drawings.

Finally, there is computer drawing software. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to worry about drawing a straight line. The program can do it for you. Many drawing programs have 3 D image rendering which make the drawing process not only easy but very professional looking. The downside is that some of these programs can run you hundreds of dollars.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - How To Get One

2008-03-20T02:25:00.000-07:00

In this article we're going to discuss how to get a general patent as there are actually different kinds of patents that can be obtained.

If you're an inventor and think you've come up with some gadget that is going to be in everybody's home in the next few years then you might want to think about securing a patent for this amazing invention otherwise you might find that it is stolen right from under your nose.

It is very common to confuse patents with copyrights and trademarks. A patent basically grants the inventor trademark rights for his invention. The words of the actual patent grant are as follows: "the inventor is given the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the issuing country or importing the invention into that country." In other words, the inventor has complete control over his invention.

There are 3 kinds of patents that an inventor can obtain. The first is a utility patent, which is given to anyone who invents of discovers a new process or machine. This includes any article manufactured that is an improvement over a similar article. The second is a design patent, which is given to anyone who invents a new design for a manufactured article. The third patent is called a plant patent, which is given to anyone who invents a new kind of plant.

To get a patent for any of the above categories the inventor must file a patent application. Usually, because of the sensitive nature of patent infringement, these inventors will hire a lawyer to aid them in the process of securing their patent. These are attorneys who specialize in patent law and know all the idiosyncrasies of the business. If you're an inventor hiring a lawyer for this service expect to pay a very large fee because of the specialty of their service.

If you are looking to save some money you may want to try to get through the process of getting a patent on your own. The system itself requires that the patent examiners make themselves available to help any inventors who are not going through an attorney. If you're going to go about this process without a lawyer make sure you make notes of your invention in minute detail. This is required so as to verify that the invention is indeed new and original and not an infringement on somebody else's patent.

Make sure you read through the application questions very carefully so as to make sure that your invention qualifies as an original work otherwise you can be wasting a lot of time and money in the process. Even without using an attorney the filing fees can run as high as $2000. In some cases you may also have to build a prototype of your invention and give the patent examiner a demonstration of how it works.

In order to make sure your invention is indeed original you will have to research all current patents. You can do this either online or at the Trademark Depository Library.

Also remember that applying for a patent is a business decision. Even if the item is original you still want to make sure there is a market for it before you go through the whole process only to find out that nobody has any interest in what you've invented.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

Patent - Business Method Patents - Part I

2008-03-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

In this first of a series of articles we're going to discuss a specific type of patent called a business method patent.

If a company develops a new method for conducting an e-commerce business they may be able to prevent other companies from using this method for almost twenty years.

The truth is, since 1998 an increasing number of software and Internet companies have been issued patents for designing new ways of doing business. Examples would be new online ordering processes or a unique Internet advertising method. These kind of patents which are usually the combination of software and business methods are called business method patents or Internet patents.

The reason these patents are important is because a company that develops such a patent can keep other companies from using these business methods for 17 years. And if the owner wants, he can make additional money from the patent by licensing out to other companies. If there is a large enough market, the company may make more money from the licenses than from the patent itself.

A very good example of a business method patent is Amazon.com's 1-click payment method. This system allows a customer to bypass the traditional address and credit card forms as long as the customer has an account with Amazon. After clicking on the payment button the order automatically goes through. This patent was granted to Amazon.com in September 1999. The patent number is U.S. Pat No. 5,960,411.

Business method patents are actually a part of a larger family of patents called utility patents. These protect inventions, chemical formulas, processes and other discoveries. A business method is technically classified as a process. The reason is because it is not a physical object like a machine or some form of chemical compound.

During most of the last century the patent office issued very few business method patents. The reason for this is that they claimed that a process could not be patented if it was an abstract idea. The same thing was also said about software because software was said to be unpredictable algorithms.

That all changed in 1998. In July of that year a federal court upheld a patent for a method of calculating the net asset value of mutual funds. The court ruled that patent laws were intended to protect any method regardless of what it was, even an idea. As long as it produced a useful, concrete and tangible result. With this ruling the court made idea and software patents a reality again. After this ruling, business method patents increased by 40%. Also, that year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office created a new classification for business method patents. The classification is stated as "Data processing: financial, business practice, management or cost/price determination."

Many patents since this time have been issued for online shopping programs, Amazon's 1-click being the best example. However, because of the gray area of these patents, not having a physical product, an additional layer of review was added to the patent determination process. Technology specialists have been hired specifically to review these type of patent applications.

In the next article in this series we're going to discuss how to go about applying for a business method patent.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Patents

How to Handle Patent Infringement?

2008-03-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

Who will be there when things go wrong?

Due to the trouble, expense and the risks involved with gaining a patent, you might be lulled into thinking that the government will be there to lend you a helping hand when it comes time to enforce the rights your patented invention.

Sorry, but this is not how it works in the real world.

In reality, once a patent is issued, the inventor or patent owner (i.e. you!) must enforce the patent without the aid of the USPTO. So, if your patent is infringed upon, it is going to be up to you to finance any lawsuits that may arise.

Unfortunately, no one will be there to police other companies from making or selling your invention. You will have to keep a sharp eye out on your own. Luckily, the U.S. legal system is set-up so that you may retroactively sue for damages. That means if you don't catch these thieves in the act, you can still initiate a lawsuit against any them and have them tried in a court of law.

As you are probably aware, infringement cases are common. In fact, so common you can hardly turn on the news these days without hearing of a legal battle between big corporations. Some of the biggest involve biotechnology-related patents. These cases can be wild since it's tough to determine where the line of infringement ends and begins. Biotechnology patents only became prevalent in the last couple of decades.

The Patent Office hasn't quite got them sorted out (and it's possible they never will).

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Receive your FREE subscription to our Inventor's Bulletin. It's packed full of tips on how to patent and market your invention. Patent Your Inventions

Paralegal FAQs

2008-03-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

Paralegal is a legal assistant who works under the guidance of attorneys or lawyers. These persons carry out various legal tasks, which include legal research, legal document preparation, and law office management. These persons gain corresponding qualification by education, training or by work experience at law offices, government agencies, and other law related fields.

How to become a paralegal?

You can become a paralegal by securing an associate degree from community colleges. Bachelor and master degrees and certification programs in paralegal studies are other options to become paralegals. Some employers even provide on job training for college graduates without any legal experience or take individuals who have experience as legal secretaries. Those persons with experience in technical field needed for law firms can also become paralegals.

What are the basic work qualities needed for a paralegal?

A paralegal should ideally have good skills for organizing and managing law offices. He should be capable of doing complex and detailed work in a fast and accurate manner. He should have excellent communication skills.

Where do paralegals work?

Paralegals work in almost all areas related to law. These include law firms, law departments, insurance companies, banks, courts, legal clinics, and government agencies. Paralegals can work independently or as team leaders.

Whether license is required for paralegals?

Paralegals do not require license to perform tasks in most cases. This is because these persons work under the supervision of licensed attorneys or lawyers.

Whether any certification is necessary for paralegals?

Certification depends on the area of service. Some areas require certification whereas some others do not. To become a certified paralegal, individuals should have CLA (Certified Legal Assistant) or PACE (Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam) certification.

What about the salary for paralegals?

Paralegal salaries are based on education, experience, special skills in the relevant field, and the nature of the employer. It can start from 16000 dollars and can go up to 34000 dollars.

Paralegal provides detailed information on Paralegal, Paralegal Jobs, Paralegal Schools, Paralegal Training and more. Paralegal is affiliated with Notary Public Supplies

Protect Your Ideas With Copyrights And Patents

2008-03-17T04:03:00.001-07:00

Q: Can you tell me the difference between a copyright and a patent? Also is that something I should let a lawyer handle for me?

A: A wise man once said, "The biggest difference between a copyright and a patent is the number of lawyers it takes to do the paperwork." There is a point to be made there, mainly that if this wise man had paid his attorney to copyright that tidbit of wisdom I probably would have had to pay him five bucks to use the quote.

Copyrights, trademarks and patents are similar in that they are designed by law to protect your rights of ownership, but that's where the similarity ends. A copyright protects a creative work; a trademark protects a brand or company identity; and a patent protects an invention or process.

A copyright protects the rights of anyone who creates an "original work of authorship." A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce the work; prepare spin-off works based on the copyrighted work; and to sell, perform and/or display the copyrighted work in public.

Copyright protection is afforded to eight categories of creative works: literary works (the written word); musical works (lyrics, music, melodies); dramatic works (plays, scripts, screenplays); artistic works (pictorial and sculptural), sound recordings (LPs, CDs, audio tapes); choreographic works (dance, pantomime); audiovisual works; and architectural works (blueprints, designs, renderings).

An original work is automatically copyrighted the moment it is put into a fixed format such as a paper copy or recording. In other words, once you put your original story in writing or make a recording of an original song, your copyright is automatically secured. From that moment on your work has copyright protection for your lifetime, plus 50 years after your death.

Registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is not required, but since it is relatively simple and inexpensive to do so, I advise that you register a copyright for each work you wish to protect. Also, your copyright must be registered in order to take legal action against someone who might infringe on the copyright in the future.

You can register a copyright without the assistance of an attorney. Simply visit the U.S. Copyright office website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ and download the appropriate form. Complete the form and send it in with a $30 nonrefundable filing fee. This must be done for each individual work you wish to protect.

A patent is a form of protection granted to an inventor that protects his invention in the United States for up to 20 years from the date of application. Patent law states that, "whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof may obtain a patent." Owning a patent gives you the legal right to stop someone else from making, using or selling your invention (or one that's very close to it) without your permission. However, proving that someone is infringing on your patent is often difficult and usually requires a trial to settle the dispute.

Since the first U.S. patent was awarded in 1790, more than five million patents have been awarded. The patent office receives more than 230,000 patent applications every year and I can tell you from personal experience that a turtle on Prozac moves faster than the patent process. Patents can take several years, truckloads of paperwork, and considerable legal fees to obtain. The cost of obtaining a patent can run from $500 for a simple design patent to $50,000 and more for a complex utility patent. However, if your company has a truly patentable idea, you would be wise to invest the time and money required to secure your rights. A good patent can be a valuable business asset.

While you can file a patent yourself, I strongly advise that you use an attorney since a naively written patent application often isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Just recently my attorney did a patent search for me only to discover that a patent for a similar product was already in place. However, due to the ineffectual language of the patent application, the patent was practically impossible for the owner to enforce.

Good news for me. Not so good news for the wise man who wrote his own patent.

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker http://www.prosperityandprofit.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.timknox.com

Patentability of Business Method Patents

2008-03-13T03:36:00.001-07:00

More frequently, many of my clients have been approaching me regarding the topic of patenting their unique business model, i.e. methods of doing business. So can a method of doing business be patentable? Yes. In 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the patent laws did extend to protect any method so long as it produced a "useful, concrete and tangible result." The case spawned a slew of "business method patents" and "Internet patents." The most cited example of business method patents has been Amazon's "One-Click" system, which allows a prior customer to place a new order without having to reenter the customer's address and credit card data when placing an order online (U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411). Some other examples of business method patents are: an internet auction system in which a user names the highest prices they are willing to pay and the first seller gets the purchase (U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207); a method that gives a monetary incentive to citizens to view political messages on the Internet (U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,008).

Business method patents have raised quite a controversy over the years, primarily because many felt that the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") had issued many undeserving business method patents. What may have been a response to the criticism, in 2001 the USTPO required that business method inventions must apply, involve, use or advance the "technological arts." The requirement essentially meant that it could be met by requiring that the invention be carried out by a computer.

However, in October 2005, the USPTO held that there is no requirement of the "technological arts." The USPTO reached that conclusion in Ex parte Lundgren, Appeal No. 2003-2088 (BPAI 2005) which focused on a patent application that claimed a "method of compensating a manager."

So what does all this mean to prospective inventors? The Lundgren case has essentially expanded the scope of business methods patents by giving inventors the opportunity to pursue patent protection for inventions that do not have a technological aspect. Therefore, business method patent applications such as the one in Lundgren, (which claimed a method of steps for determining the salary of an executive so as to foster competition among other executives) which were initially rejected by the USPTO, are now getting allowed and ultimately issued. Now before everyone starts getting trigger happy for business method patents, the USPTO did provide guidelines that should be met. The patent should either transform an article or physical object to a different state or thing, or, the claim method should produce a useful, concrete and tangible result. For now, it appears that the Lundgren case has rekindled some of the optimism of business method patents that has been extinguished for quite some time.

Michael N. Cohen, Esq. This article is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. You should consult with an attorney familiar with the issues and the laws

Patents and Fees: An Overview

2008-03-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

Gaining a patent on your invention can be an expensive undertaking. From beginning to end, here are the basic fees you will need to be prepared to pay. Please realize that many others may crop up depending on how complex the prosecution becomes for your patent.

First of all, the PTO will expect you to pay a filing fee on your patent application. Fortunately though, the filing fee is not due immediately. You may choose to send in the filing fees later during the prosecution. There are different fees for different application types. Different fees for various documents. And different fees for the petitions that may need to be sent in during the prosecution.

As you can imagine, the mere filing of a patent application is a fairly expensive ordeal. To make matters worse, the PTO actually charges fees throughout the entire process. At the very least, you should expect to pay a filing fee and an issue fee (but remember, you won't need to worry about this right away - it can take well over 2 years for your patent to be allowed).

Maintenance fees must also be paid on every utility and plant patent at three intervals once it is granted. At worst, you may have to pay these fees (filing fees, issue fees and maintenance fees) plus fees for several petitions, fees for late filed IDS's, extensions of time, disclaimers, appeal-related fees and fees for a request for continuing examination among many other fee related extras. It is best to know the fees associated with gaining a patent up front so that you can budget your expenses later.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Receive your FREE subscription to our Inventor's Bulletin. It's packed full of tips on how to patent and market your invention. Patent Your Inventions

A Patent Law Career

2008-03-12T03:14:00.001-07:00

Is having a patent law career the perfect choice for you?

Did you know that you can have a career in the field of patent law without having a law degree?

Patent law is a career open to all biologists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists and many other science and technology professionals. Any individual with the proper science or engineering degree need only to pass the Patent Bar to become registered Patent Agents. That easy.

Upon becoming a Patent Agent, you can gain employment writing and prosecuting patent applications at law firms, technology transfer offices, biotech or engineering corporations, and government institutes. In addition to writing and prosecuting patents, a Patent Attorney can also litigate in patent infringement cases. From there, you may decide whether or not to go on to law school and pursue a career as a Patent Attorney.

What are the skills needed in a patent law career?

Patent law is the perfect field for many creative and talented individuals since it requires so many qualities to be successful.

There is also a people-oriented side to a career in patent law. This is especially seen when you compare the isolated lab environment that most scientists and engineers are used to.

Consider the fact that every inventor?s hopes and dreams is to ride on their invention. What will be your role in all this? You will be there every step of the way to help them achieve their goals. Although a great deal of interviewing and excellent communication is required in order to adequately learn what was invented and write a patent application for it. Just think of the good it will bring you both.

This brings us to the next point; to be a patent law practitioner, you must also have excellent writing skills. Drafting a quality patent application is a tedious work that requires the absolute best in written communication.

To practice a career in patent law is to have a never-ending thirst for knowledge. Take note that you will be right in the middle of a cutting edge research and development. This gives you the privilege of being exposed to new and exciting discoveries before anyone else.

What should you expect to make as a professional in the patent law?

This is the million-dollar question. How much will you be making if you have a career in patent law? The pay scale varies from $45,000 up to $250,000+ for Patent Practitioners and is determined by many factors.

First, if you are a scientist or engineer without a law degree you will be classified as a Patent Agent after you pass the Patent Bar Exam. But if you have a law degree and is already considered an attorney, you will be classified as a Patent Attorney upon passing the exam.

As a Patent Attorney with the same level of experience as a Patent Agent, you will typically earn the higher income because in addition to writing and prosecuting patents, you may also help protect patents in a court of law.

Second, your degree level will help determine your pay. If you have a Bachelor's degree in your particular area of expertise, you will therefore make less than someone with a Masters degree or a PhD.

Third, your experience level will make quite a big difference. Your previous positions will count when considering your salary. The number of years you have worked as an engineer or scientist will make a difference. The more experience you have, the more valuable you will be perceived by the company. The longer you are in the patent law career, the higher your pay will be as well.

Is patent law a good career to get into?

Many businesses in the field science and technology sectors regard patents as their lifeline. Therefore, gaining status as a registered Patent Practitioner can open many career doors for you.

Since research and intellectual property are intertwined, imagine the many career opportunities you would be presented with if you were trained in both areas. Moreover, as a scientist or engineer, most of the qualifications needed to achieve registration as a Patent Practitioner have usually already been met. Probably the only requirement you necessary is pass the Patent Bar Exam.

It may be a difficult hurdle. But in comparison to the time and money you already spent to become a scientist or an engineer, passing the Patent Bar Exam and getting a career in patent law will be something you can accomplish.

Dee Cohen is an author and website publisher. Visit us at Legal and Business Templates

How Do I Go About Filing For A Patent?

2008-03-11T02:28:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that being able to file for a patent on a new invention, idea, or process is essential to keeping the necessary flow of new ideas coming in a free market economy. After all, without a patent, businessmen could take advantage of a new idea or product by simply copying it without the inventor's permission and reap the financial rewards instead of the rightful inventor himself. If this were commonplace, many new inventions would never see the light of day because of fear that they would be stolen.

So how does a person go about getting a patent on a new invention?

Patent processes can vary depending on what country you live in, but here in the United States inventors can obtain a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Just make a search for "USPTO" and you will find their website listed right at the top.

There are really only a few things that you need to decide beforehand in order to proceed with a successful patent application. First of all, you need to determine that the product or process that you wish to patent is indeed original and new, and that it is not just something that is obvious and commonplace. Then you need to determine what type of patent that you need. The discussion on all the different kinds of patents is beyond the scope of our article but if you visit the USPTO website you will be walked through the process of identifying your particular patent area and then how to get the ball rolling.

Once the patent is filed, no one can copy that invention until the patent process is complete. And the patent protection for your new invention will extend for twenty years here in the US. Of course all new inventions have to be examined to make sure that they do indeed meet the criteria worthy of having a patent bestowed on them and that process can take some time, but be patient and you will be able to enjoy the rewards of your talent and effort as you profit from every future sale of your invention for the life of the patent.

Jim Johnson writes on many consumer related topics. You can find out more about how to apply for patent by visiting our All About Patents website

Types of Patents Granted by the USPTO

2008-03-10T03:41:00.001-07:00

Inventions may qualify for a utility, a design or a plant patent as set out by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This article attempts to provide you with an overview on each of these patent types.

Examples of utility based inventions are everywhere. Most mechanical objects fit under this category. A rocket engine, paperclip and a new drug are all examples of utility based inventions. The variety between these objects is vast, but they all fit under the same category; those with utility.

Design patents are those that incorporate a design into an object of manufacture. A good example is a new design for a headboard.

As you can guess, plant patents are those covering new plant varieties. But there are some stipulations with plant patents. Plants that have been bred are acceptable, while plants growing naturally in the wild will never qualify. Oddly enough, plants that are sexually reproduced also never qualify. Only those that are asexually reproduced (i.e., they are reproduced by making a cutting, layering, grafting or inarching) qualify for a patent.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

Checking Credentials Before Hiring Anyone to Help You Patent Your Invention

2008-03-08T01:03:00.000-08:00

Many businesses make more than a decent living helping inventors just like you make money from their inventions. From filing a patent to licensing and marketing your invention, someone is around every corner offering assistance.

Unfortunately, not all of this help is the kind you want. There are companies out there who make a living off exploiting inventors. It's important not to get caught up in any of these scams. What you need is a professional who has experience and is licensed to help you patent your invention. You really need either a patent attorney or a patent agent.

Both patent agents and attorneys are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. No one else is. Please take note of that. No one else may legally help you fill out the paperwork associated with filing for your patent. And you definitely don't want anyone else to help you for this aspect of your invention journey.

Remember, you want someone registered by the USPTO to help you file your patent. Don't even think about speaking to someone else, even if they claim they will outsource the writing of your application to a patent attorney or agent. The problem is, you need to be in direct communication with the individual helping you to file your patent. Don't let anyone be your middleman. Gaining a patent is not an assembly line process. Your invention has completely different features than anything else out there. So you need to be able to directly communicate the novel features of your invention with the attorney or agent.

While you can work over the phone, it usually makes the most sense to meet face to face with the attorney or agent you choose. Therefore, it is best to find one not too far from where you are located. Although it can be done, a long distance relationship will probably only strain the process.

The best way to select a patent practitioner (patent agent or patent attorney) near you is through word of mouth. You may want to join a local inventors club. You can also search through the USPTO's list of registered patent practitioners or even just use their database to check your potential patent practitioner's credentials.

An individual listed on the USPTO's site will be registered to practice patent law. They must also meet the ethical requirements and can be disbarred for complaints. Please check that the patent practitioner you are considering is listed on this site before using them.

Please visit Patent Law Portal to find a patent attorney or agent near you and begin the process toward protecting your invention.

Short Guide to Patent Protection and Patentability

2008-03-08T01:01:00.000-08:00

What can be protected?

Determining what qualifies as a patentable invention is a highly difficult and complicated task. Patent laws state that "Anything under the sun that was invented by man qualifies as patentable". Simple enough, but if you notice, there are hundreds of pages full of exceptions and details on the idea of patentability following this phrase. Scores of appeals and patent court cases have arisen due to questions regarding patentability because it still hasn't, and probably never will be entirely pinned down.

So, defining what is patentable is not as clear cut as black and white. Inventions can encompass a wide variety of areas, even living subject matter so long as the subject matter is the result of human intervention. An example of a patentable living organism is a microorganism or a plant which is produced or altered through genetic engineering. The key is that the living matter must be a product of "human ingenuity" and not merely a naturally occurring object, such as a shrimp with its digestive tract removed. The living matter must be altered to yield unique properties for it to be patentable.

However, the alteration can even be the mere fact that the living matter is simply isolated or purified. For example, unaltered pieces of DNA may be patentable provided they have been sequenced. The PTO has decided that the act of isolating and sequencing a strand of DNA is the result of human intervention. Currently, there is huge debate surrounding the patenting of biotechnology related "inventions" like DNA. Is a piece of DNA really an invention at all? Or what about a microorganism that happens to degrade oil? Is that an invention? Should it be?

As you are probably starting to see, the patent office has its work cut out for them as many of these questions are not black and white.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

The Topic of Patentability

2008-03-06T02:25:00.000-08:00

For an object or idea to be patentable, it must fit into one of the following four categories; process, manufacture, machine or composition of matter. The subject matter must also be original, an unmodified, previously existing invention is never patentable. There must be a significant improvement over previous inventions for the new one to qualify. If two previous inventions are combined together, the combination must yield new and unexpected results for the invention to be considered patentable.

In addition, an invention must be useful and must actually work in order for it to be patentable. A useful invention is one in which the object already has a utility without anyone having to pursue further research to identify or reasonably confirm the utility. So, if you've invented a nifty little widget or doodad, but haven't got a clue as to what it could be used for, the PTO isn't going to be impressed and isn't likely to grant your patent.

On the bright side, if an invention does not accomplish all of its intended functions or it only has partial success, it may still be patentable. In the case of newly developed drugs, the claimed invention only needs to treat a single symptom of an incurable disease for it to have usefulness. The Patent Office isn't as strict on drugs and treatments (that's where the Food and Drug Administration come in).

The PTO has established that laws or forces of nature are not deemed patentable. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, the law of gravity or E=mc2. Computer related inventions may or may not be patentable. Computer programs that have a function when used with a computer are definitely patentable subject matter. Merely recording information (like music, literary works or data) on a computer-readable medium will not result in a patentable idea.

Lisa Parmley - Registered Patent Agent Review free articles on inventing and patenting: Patent Your Inventions

How to Patent Your Invention

2008-03-05T01:49:00.000-08:00

How to Patent Your Invention

A patent is a government granted right that allows the inventor to exclude anyone else from making, using or selling the invention in the country that issued the patent. The government grants this right to help encourage inventors to spend the time, money and effort to invent new products, technologies and the like.

In the United States, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

When a patent expires, the invention enters the "public domain" allowing anyone to make, use or sell the invention without needing the permission or paying any royalty to the inventor. The government requires patents to expire because otherwise one person can control an entire industry if that person was the first to conceive of a type of product.

The patent law specifies the general field of subject matter that can be patented and the conditions under which a patent for an invention may be obtained. Any person who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent, subject to the conditions and requirements of the law.

In order for an invention to be patentable it must be new as defined in the patent law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if: (a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent, or (b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent.

If the invention had been described in a printed publication anywhere in the world, or if it has been in public use or on sale in this country before the date that the applicant made his/her invention, a patent cannot be obtained. If the invention had been described in a printed publication anywhere, or has been in public use or on sale in this country more than one year before the date on which an application for patent is filed in this country, a patent cannot be obtained.

In this connection it is immaterial when the invention had been made, or whether the printed publication or public use was by the inventor himself/herself or by someone else. If the inventor describes the invention in a printed publication or uses the invention publicly, or places it on sale, he/she must apply for a patent before one year has gone by, otherwise any right to a patent for an invention will be lost. The inventor must file on the date of public use or disclosure, however, in order to preserve patent rights in many foreign countries.

According to the law, only the inventor may apply for a patent for his or her invention, with certain exceptions. If the inventor is dead, the application may be made by legal representatives, that is, the administrator or executor of the estate. If the inventor is insane, the application for patent for an invention may be made by a guardian. If an inventor refuses to apply for a patent for his or her inventions, or cannot be found, a joint inventor or, if there is no joint inventor available, a person having a proprietary interest in the invention may apply on behalf of the non-signing inventor.

If two or more persons make an invention jointly, they apply for a patent as joint inventors. A person who makes only a financial contribution for the invention is not a joint inventor and cannot be joined in the application as an inventor.

Additional information on how to patent an invention is available at http://www.newideatrade.com/patents.htm.

Neil Armand
Intellectual Property Professional
Global Commerce & Communication
Telephone: 320-250-0950
Fax: 320-230-1096
Email: globalcomm@astound.net
URL: http://www.gcchq.com
globalcomm@astound.net

Inventions, Patents and Profit

2008-03-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

New Inventors

My name is Clyde Knight Jr founder of Knite Enterprises LLC. I have visited many newsletters and inventor resource websites where I found and read many interesting and informative articles. These web sites covered areas of inventing dealing with everything from creating and developing your ideas to selecting the right self-help resources.

There is a plethora of invention submission and promotion type corporations out there, as we have seen advertised on television and radio commercials. I have even experienced first hand how these companys work. They advertise one thing, but the result is a twist in legal technicalities that most inventors under estimate. In short, these invention submission corporations present the unwary, sometimes enthusiastic and often times legally nave inventor with a professionally looking office, with personable representatives and artistically enhanced forms and documents all pleasing to the eye and designed to persuade the inventor to sign away their legal rights.

Furthermore, self-help websites including the USPTO website do offer free and inexpensive resources. These resources usually explain details of the law that allows independent inventors to protect their own inventions by submitting their own ideas to the USPTO or applying for a patent themselves. Other methods of self-protection offered on these websites include retaining a combination of inventing professional to help them to submit their own patent application with out having to pay an attorneys high legal fees. Thus, saving them a costly expense.

In either of the cases sighted above what usually happens in the end is that the inventor is disillusioned, discouraged and frustrated. The inventor is discouraged by the bureaucratic red tape, precise and strictly adhered to submission protocols of the USPTO with associated astronomical expense on the one hand or legally frustrated by the immoral but legal bate and switch tactic of an unscrupulous submission promotion company on the other.

To see how these companies use the law to their advantage point your browser at http://www.ftc.gov/foia/frequentrequest.htm. There you will find which submission promotion companies are listed. In addition, the type of fraud they used on various inventors.

Many invention resource websites fail to explain that your invention may not be feasible, plausible or even marketable and that to pay for a patent application when your idea will not bring a profit may be an expense that you simply cannot afford. Additionally, they usually do not explain in a logical and clear manner the facts needed for the inventor to make an informed decision. They do not explain the facts gleaned from an objective and complete explanation of the cost and profit probability ratios - that is - the money that you spend to patent your idea vs. the probability of making a profit from your patent.

I have researched and have pain stakingly explained to the average inventor how to use the law to protect their invention with out having to disclose to a third party where their invention in all probability is most likely to be stolen. I also explain the myths, cost and profit probability ratios of spending $3,500 - $10,000 or more, when such an expense may not be in their best interest.

Our service is tailored for people who do not have or cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars on a patent. I explain that to spend this kind of money does not necessarily give the protection desired and that it does not guarantee profit. At Knite Enterprises, we take the inventors creativity and their right to claim it very seriously. We assist the inventing industry by taking the confusion out of the notion of claiming your invention and by making our services available to those of us who may have creative talent but are confused and discouraged from moving forward by financial constraints and responsibilities. To see what we are all about please visit us on line at: http://www.DIYinventor.com

Clyde Knight Jr is the founder of Knite Enterprises LLC. He started this online business in 1998. Knite Enterprises LLC recognizes the many problems that new inventors face when deciding on how to protect their ideas. Knite Enterprises LLC answers many of these questions and explains the advantages and disadvantages of traditional IP Protection.

Clickbank Vendors: Two Simple Ways You Can Help Affiliates Protect Their Sales.John Hocking

1) How To Remove Your Affiliates Clickbank Id From The URL.

As a merchant, you can hide the clickbank affiliate id for your affiliates by creating a redirect page and pointing your default hoplink to the redirect.

When some uses your hoplink http://hop.clickbank.net/?affid/yourid, the cookie will be set and they will land on your redirect page.

The redirect will send them to your domain without adding the ?hop= information. The cookie is already set and does not need to be shown.

This will help protect your affiliates commission and give your site a more professional appearance.

In the code examples below, you will need to replace [ and ] with less then and greater then symbols.

Create a file called hoplink.php

Add the following code

[?php
header("Location: http://www.yourdomain.com"); exit;
?]

Upload hoplink.php to the root of your domain.

Under Business Info, change the url of your website to be http://www.yourdomain.com/hoplink.php

Click on save changes.

Now when a visitor clicks on a hoplink, it appears that they came directly to your site and the affiliate's id is no longer exposed. For this technique to be completely effective, the affiliate needs to cloak the hoplink as well.

2) How to Cloak Your Clickbank Vendor Id Using PHP

Most clickbank affiliate theft is caused by the fact that is easy to rebuild a hoplink and get credit for your own purchase. All you really need to know is the vendor id.

All you have to do is look at the source code of a typical sales link and you will see the vendor id.

For example:
http://www.clickbank.net/sell.cgi?YourVendorId/1/Product_Description

To rebuild the hoplink you simply use http://hop.clickbank.net/?AffiliatesId/YourVendorId

Now when you click on the hoplink and the original affiliate has lost a sale.

As you can see, without knowing the vendor id, you can not successfully rebuild the hoplink and the affiliates sale would be protected.

Below is an example of how to do this in PHP.

You will need to replace [ and ] with less then and greater then symbols.

Create a file called order.php

Add the following code

[?php

header("Location: http://www.clickbank.net/sell.cgi?YourVendorId/1/Product_Description");

exit;
?]

Just replace YourVendorID with your Clickbank ID Replace 1 with your product number Replace Product_Description with your Product Description

Upload order.php into the same folder as your sales page.

Now link to order.php instead of using the raw order link and your Vendor ID is never exposed

This will make it very hard for affiliates to rob other affiliates of their commissions.

I encourage you to make these simple changes to protect the commissions of your affiliates.

John Hocking created http://www.guidetoebookmarketing.com, A resource site for those looking for information on creating and marketing ebooks. You will find hundreds of articles, ebook reviews and resource links.

Free Patent Search Information and tips

2008-03-04T02:03:00.000-08:00

Free Patent Search Training in Free Patent Database online

The first step to find out if you invention can be patented is to conduct a free patent search online in any free patent information database online. How can you do a free patent search to find out if your invention can be patented?

Some of the most popular free patent databases in the world are http://www.uspto.gov, http://ep.espacenet.org, http://www.wipo.int and http://www.surfip.gov.sg.

We will briefly discuss in this article how you can conduct a Free Patent Search in USPTO database. This is the first of the seven articles that we will write to teach any one to use USPTO website to conduct patent search.

USPTO database contains over 33 million patent documents and is updated every week. The website is probably the largest patent website in the world. It provides a free patent search facility for both beginners and advanced users.

How can I conduct Patent Search at USPTO?

The answer to this question is given in a technical way in many websites. We will try to avoid the jargon and we will try to enable even a layperson that is not exposed to search databases regularly to do it easily.

The USPTO deals with conducting a Patent Search using its freely searchable patent database through the Internet. The instructions are given at
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/step7.htm The USPTO stresses the importance on 7 Steps each one to be done one after the other.

The Patent Search website Tmpsearchers.com has started a patent training course online. We can train you online wherever you live and the lessons and exercises are sent on a daily basis for three weeks. We teach a simplified version of methods to our students using Free Patent Databases. Although a paid database is more users friendly, the official free databases are updated with regular data and the expensive paid databases take some time (a short time) to update themselves to be current. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a search in the official free patent databases online even after using paid patent databases. A proper training and search strategy for free databases is therefore very important.

One problem is that the USPTO does not allow you to do the free patent search on patents granted prior to 1976 unless you start the patent search with the class and sub class alone. So you need to identify the classes and then do a patent research of pre 1976 patents also.

Our method slightly differs from the methodology advised by USPTO and consists of 9 Steps.

1. Start the search with some relevant keywords

When you do a search using USPTO you will go to the search inter-face at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html Start with the issued patents and start with using some keywords, which are relevant to your invention. You may use either the quick search method or the advanced search method. Be sure to study the help pages at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/help.htm and especially the page at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/helpadv.htm if you are going to use the advanced search method.

2. You will get some results and by using more relevant keywords you can reduce the number of patent titles to a minimum of about 40. Please keep a record of all the keywords that you used.

3. Please note all the classifications of cited in these patents. Note both the US Classification and the International Classification of Patents. This is a must.

4. Repeat the patent search with the Published Applications using http://appft1.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.html Again record the search queries and the classifications.

5. Now study the classifications that are repeated time and again in your results and try to narrow down the invention to some particular classifications. It is not very difficult to do although it will take some time.

You may learn the other four steps by in our patent training web page.

These steps should give you a very comprehensive picture of the free patent search that can be done at USPTO.

A similar strategy can be followed at other free patent databases online using the International classifications that you have identified.

Working at the Free Patent Search website Tmpsearchers.com we find that we are able to find patents easily when we do patent search this way, but the key here is to master the keywords to be applied to conduct the patent search. If you want to know more or learn other advanced techniques of patent search using the free patent search interface of USPTO patent database, please contact us for any help needed.

Ramaswami a Patent and Trademarks Attorney in India provides free counseling in Patents and trademarks in India. Know more about the services you can ask for at

Patenting Bioresearch And Drug Development In the Wake of The U.

2008-03-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

Andres F QuintanaThe U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a landmark patent decision giving drug companies more leeway to develop new medicines, ruling that compounds patented by rivals do not bar them from starting research on new competing medications. The unanimous ruling in Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd., set aside a lower-court ruling for patent holder Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. Integra had sued Germanys Merck KGaA for patent infringement for using several of Integras RGD peptide patents in identifying promising new tumor inhibiting drugs. The peptides are biological compounds containing two or more amino acids and form the constituent parts of proteins. Integra had offered Merck licenses on the patents, but Merck declined. At trial, Merck KGaA argued that its use of the patents was protected by 35 U.S.C. 271(e)(1), the so-called safe harbor provision of the patent statute, which protects the use of generic patents in work that is reasonably related to the development and submission of data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The primary purpose of the law was to bring generic drugs to market sooner. If competitors were permitted to use the patented drugs for research and clinical trials, they could have generic versions readied when the patent expired. The law gives patent holders seventeen years of protection, and the delay for research could, and often does, add years to that time. Following a jury trial, the district court ruled that Merck KGaA infringed on Integras patents and that the safe harbor provision did not immunize Merck KGaA against liability.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the chief patent appellate court, affirmed last year, construing the safe harbor provision narrowly to only include clinical trials leading to FDA drug approval. In recent years, the Federal Circuit has reasoned that Congress intended only to promote the growth of generic drugs when it passed the exemption in 1984. According to the Federal Circuit, to qualify for the exemption, the otherwise infringing activity must directly produce information for submission to the FDAs safety and effectiveness approval processes. In this case, Merck KGaA was not performing clinical tests to supply information to the FDA, but only general biomedical research to identify new pharmaceutical compounds. Therefore, the research being performed by Merck KGaA was not solely for uses reasonably related to clinical testing for the FDA.
The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed with the Federal Circuit. The Court held that the FDA exemption for research is much broader, and drug companies should have more latitude to investigate innovative drugs, not just generics, so long as the research is reasonably related to the process of developing information for future drug submission. According to the Court, there is no room in the statute for excluding certain information from the exemption on the basis of the phase of research in which it is developed or the particular submission in which it could be included. The provision is now understood to permit most uses of patent-protected inventions related to the generation and submission of any data for FDA approval.
The Supreme Courts ruling constitutes a major victory for drug companies, since they can now begin drug discovery experiments and research faster, potentially saving millions of dollars in licensing costs associated with startup research. Practically, the ruling should also promote drug discovery research sometimes caused by late patent expiration dates or complex and multi-faceted licensing negotiations. Had the Supreme Court found for Integra instead, however, many pharmaceutical companies would have been forced to either suspend preclinical research programs or relocate relevant departments to countries with historically looser patent protections. Thus, the ruling should further encourage more drug development here in the United States rather than outsourcing it to foreign countries.

Andres F. Quintana is a partner in the intellectual property and litigation department of Beverly Hills, California-based Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP. He may be reached at aquintana@ecjlaw.com

Patent Call for a New Digital Rights Management System

2008-03-03T01:16:00.000-08:00

Intellectual Property Rights is a key consideration in today's standardisation world and naturally the field of audio and video coding / decoding, such as MP3 and MPEG is no exception. Digital rights management is an additional key element in todays digital world.

The Digital Media Project (DMP) is a non-profit organization devoted to developing worldwide standards for music, video and other creative works that are digitally recorded and transmitted. Such standards allow the rights of creators to be compensated for their works, allow the public to fully enjoy the benefits of digital recordings, and allow other businesses to provide products and services consistent with these principles and the Digital Media Manifesto.

DMP was founded by Mr. Leonardo Chiariglione, who developed worldwide standards for digital audio and video coding, such as MP3 and MPEG, while chairing the working group of the International Standards Organization ISO/IEC. In April 2005, DMP produced a technical Specification for a Platform for Interoperable Digital Rights Management, for which it would be beneficial to establish a patent pool in order to have clear and acceptable licensing terms for the underlying patents. The standardization approved in 20045 refers in particular to portable audio and video devices (PAV)

One of the members of the Digital Media Project is helping set up the patent pool: Sisvel, S.p.A., a company with an international network specialized in licensing, with offices in Europe and subsidiaries in America and Asia, will arrange for a team of independent patent experts to evaluate patents that may be essential in this field.

Any company having related patents and wishing to participate in the patent pool is requested to submit patents to Sisvel for evaluation. The objective is to create a one-stop-shop licensing mechanism for intellectual property rights (IPR) that will help to standardize the digital media project, providing a clear view of the exposure to royalties relating to the standard.

SISVEL is a company active in the field of exploiting industrial and intellectual property rights. For instance Sisvel has the right to grant licenses for the use of several patent families concerning the MPEG Audio standard comprising the Mp3 standard. Contact: segretaria@sisvel.com for information.

Patent Pending Technology takes guess work out of selecting a new hair style

2008-03-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

Do you feel like youre playing Russian Roulette when it comes to selecting a new hair style? The days of pouring thru magazines and hair style books in search of just the right hair style may soon be over. Gone will be hair cut style, perm and color disasters and the stress-filled anticipation of getting a new hair style.

A company based in Christchurch, New Zealand, Stellure has developed the worlds-first hair makeover software technology that can create a 3-dimensional model of your face so you can see what a hair style will look like from all angles. Users of the software can simply upload one or two photographs of themselves so that their own 3D model can be created. Various hair styles are suggested based on hair density, hair length and face shape. The software has been developed as a web application that is available 24/7 online at www.stellure.com . The software application is very user-friendly and has a free face shape trial to check out!

Today, we will have a brief question and answer session with Stellure CEO- Daniel Sim Lind, in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Welcome Daniel!

Question: What are some of the primary factors that led to the development of Stellure.com?

Answer: Initially we planned to develop a 2D hairstyle makeover product much like the ones that have been in the market for years. After working on the idea for a while it became obvious that no-one can really know whether a hairstyle will suit them with only the font view to judge by. I really wanted to develop a tool, not a toy.

A lot of people choose their hairstyle based on what looks good on someone else, but I wanted people to be able to see what would look good on them. A jagged or blurry front view just isnt good enough. So, we set about developing Stellure, and after more than a year of development and technical innovations here we are.

Question: What is the significance of the name Stellure?

Answer: Stellure is a conjunction of style and allure something that I am sure that every women wants their hairstyle to reflect.

Question: What is your background? Experience?

Answer: Our management team comes from backgrounds in product development, technology and marketing. In the past weve worked on several successful technology companies, and their products have received excellent reviews on CNN and BBC World and in PC World, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne Age and many others.

While we knew we had the expertise to create great technology, we wanted Stellure to become a leading fashion company, so we hired stylists who had backgrounds in film and television and teaching.

Question: Why did it take almost a year to develop the technology? What steps were involved?

Answer: The whole project was uncharted territory. We encountered hundreds of individual barriers that we had work out how to overcome. Because we wanted to make Stellure really easy to use we had to hide how complex the technology is, and that made it even tougher to develop. Although it may look effortless on screen, the technology driving Stellure is a world-first. In fact, we have patents pending on many aspects of it.

Question: What makes your makeover software different than other hair visualization software programs currently available on the Internet?

Answer: Stellure is the only makeover software that allows you to see yourself in 3D. This is really important because it means you can check out new hairstyles from every direction. Our hairstyles arent just cut out of magazines and then stuck on top of a photo of your face. Theyre high-resolution images allowing you to see the individual strands of hair. Each Stellure hairstyle is based on a series of photographs of a real hairstyle.

We can also create a 3D model of your face based on just two photographs, which allows you try on all the styles in our growing catalogue and see how they would look on you. Its quite amazing the first time you see yourself in 3D like that.

Weve also got a Face Shape Wizard that helps you to objectively determine your true face shape. Thats another world first. You can forget what your Aunt Mabel told you when you were little, or trying to guess by looking in the mirror. The Face Shape Wizard takes you through it step by step no more guess work!

Question: Were there other salon professionals that helped with the development and direction of the makeover software?

Answer: Besides the initial set of stylists we brought in, well be bringing in new talent all the time to contribute to each new collection. Having industry leading stylists on board is absolutely essential to Stellure meeting its full potential. Stellure will never be finished. Were constantly adding new features and collections, and that requires ongoing contributions by the hair industry pros.

One of the big features thats been widely requested is color tinting. Weve got a new lifelike tinting system thats just getting the finishing touches. When that comes out youll be able to see every style in a range of colors.

Question: How many hair styles and types are available at stellure.com?

Answer: Weve only just recently launched Stellure, so were really excited to be able to announce that our first general collection of 147 styles is now available. This first set includes a wide variety of styles to meet the needs of as many people as possible. Theres everything from dreadlocks and prom styles to elegant, business, and everyday styles. Well be releasing new general and specialized collections soon.

As you can imagine, each style is very time-consuming to create in 3D. At the moment weve got 6 and 12 month memberships available at very low prices. As the catalogue grows the price will have to rise. The idea is that those people who get in early can enjoy all the new styles and features that we add over the next year at no additional cost. Theyll also be able to renew their membership at that same price. We really want to reward the people who support us early on.

Question: Does the makeover software address different cultures and corresponding country-specific hair styles? I.E. Japanese, Asian, African American, White, Hispanic, Arabian, etc.

Answer: Yes. Both our 3D models and hairstyles are designed to be appropriate for different cultures and ethnicities. In the future well be adding specialized collections for different regions.

Question: What about different age brackets and gender? I.E. teens, children, men

Answer: Stellure is presently designed to cater for women from age 12 and above. Were working on the mens service, which should be available in the next 6 to 12 months.

Question: Do you plan to partner with beauty salons around the world so that the salon can offer this service to its clients?

Answer: We are currently working on the development of a special salon version of Stellure. The feedback weve had from the salon industry is that they want Stellure in their salons ASAP. Were going as fast as we can to get the salon version ready for release.

Question: In conclusion, can you offer some advice to anyone considering a new hair style

Answer: Choosing a hairstyle is a really important decision as it can seriously impact how you feel about yourself. While its fine to base your style on one that looks good on someone else, what works for them may not work for you. Our aim is to make it possible for you to find out what will work for you, before the first cut is made. Its really important that what you have in your head is the same as what your stylist is imagining. A picture is worth a thousand words, so a Stellure style print-out can make it much easier to communicate your dream style. A talented stylist who really understands what youre after is a great asset.

Thank you Daniel for speaking with us today about your exciting makeover software.

Youre most welcome. This is a topic that Ive become passionate about, and Ive really enjoyed having the chance to talk with you and your readers about it.

Perriann Rodriguez is the founder of --the place for World Class Hair Styles + Beauty Salons. She is listed in the 2004 Who's Who of Executives and Professionals and the U.S. Register of American Writers.

The Essence of the Patent Law

2008-02-27T01:11:00.000-08:00

As a general rule, patents are associated with things and processes which are vital to the world the only exception though are innovative designs. Patents also allow the creator of some inventions to preclude others from making use of it commercially without the permission of the creator. It is possible to acquire patent on technologies used in arts. Nevertheless, the exceptions to the general rule are on product designs. It is thus theoretically potential to acquire design patent on the purely ornamental aspects of design while also having a copyright on same design.

Patents convey to the creator the right to exclude others from using or producing the formers creation for a limited time. A patent for an invention is an award of a property right to the inventor. It is given by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A new patent may last up to 20 years from the date of application in the US. In special cases, it may start from the date of an earlier filed application. The application is subject to maintenance fees. It is also noteworthy to know that patent grants in US are only effective within US, its territories and possessions. If you want your patent grants to have extensions or adjustments, you can avail of the same under certain circumstances.

There are three types of patents. They are: a) Utility patents which may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers a machine, vital process, composition of matter, article of manufacture or any useful improvement thereof; b) Design patents may be granted to anyone who creates a new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; lastly c) Plant patents may also be granted to anyone who creates or discovers at the same time asexually reproduce any distinct and new variety of plant.

What is vested by the patent is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import but the right to EXCLUDE others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing said creation or invention. If the patent has already been issued, the patentee must enforce it without the assistance of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The gist of this statute is to grant authority to protect discoveries and creations. In order to be patented an invention must be novel, useful, and not of an obvious nature. Now, the creators/inventors can shun their worries about having works copied or used without their permission.
For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to

Google Patent Application Linking

2008-02-27T01:08:00.000-08:00

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:

A method for scoring a document, comprising: identifying a document; obtaining one or more types of history data associated with the document; and generating a score for the document based on the one or more types of history data.

The patent application sheds significant light for those pursuing search engine optimization with Google. Patent applications can be difficult to understand, so following are highlights for those that don't speak lawyer.

Googles Link Evaluation

It is well known that Google uses links as a significant ranking element. Although the patent application doesnt dispute the value of linking, it does highlight the best method for pursuing a linking strategy. Simply put, consistently adding links will have a much better effect than adding links in bunches.

Google notes in the patent application that it looks at links from a historical perspective. The search engine notes the discovery date of links, the life span of the link and the speed at which a new web site obtains links. This approach reveals that Google is discounting quick link exchange strategies such as buying bulk links for your site. Instead, Google appears to consider a natural linking evolution as a sign that a site is legitimate.

The specifics of a good linking strategy are a bit difficult to nail down. In the patent application, Google tries to hide the evaluation method by listing factors that might go into evaluating links to a site. Factors that might be considered include:

1. The anchor text of the link.

2. The discovery date of the link.

3. The growth rate of links to your site.

4. The rate at which links to a page appear and disappear.

5. The age of links with older links carrying more value.

6. Numerous links to a new site will be looked at as spam, unless some of the links are from highly valued sites.

7. Link growth that is constant is optimal.

8. Sudden bunches of new links will be devalued as spam.

A general theme becomes clear as one reads the Google patent application. Google values sites that are in it for the long term, update regularly and consistently grow in link popularity. Taking this theme into account, it is easy to understand why the Google sandbox exists.

A steady approach is the key if you intention is to gain top rankings in Google. While the delay can be aggravating, the results are certainly worth it.

Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.

Inventor Help: Go Hire A Great Patent Lawyer

2008-02-26T02:10:00.001-08:00

Inventors should review hiring a top tier patent attorney, versus filing on their own or even worse doing nothing to protect their most important asset.

Inventors should review hiring a top tier patent attorney, versus filing on their own or even worse doing nothing to protect their most important asset.

A patent is the property right given by the U.S Patent and Trademark Office to an inventor. It gives the inventor an exclusive right over the invention preventing others from making, using or selling the invention stated in the patent deed. The main purpose behind issuing of patents is to enable the inventor in recovering developmental costs and help in facing the competition.

The patent is a way to extend legal protection to the inventions ranging from communications to technology. However, the process to get patents is long and tiresome and it is where the need of a Patent Lawyer is felt. The process to get patent is not simple. You need to argue your case as to why your invention is worth any patent and how the invention is different from other products already in the market. Patent applications seldom get accepted in the first instance. The role of the patent lawyer is to redo the application and submit it again with new information so that it is accepted.

The patent lawyer makes an inquiry about the invention or idea and then conducts a search whether a patent has already been issued for a product or service similar in characteristics. It is only after a complete and thorough inquiry that the patent lawyer advocates the case for the issuing of a patent. However, the inventor can himself search for the validity of a patent by going through the Patent and Trademark Office's Web site at www.uspto.gov. It generally takes three years for the patent application to clear because of huge stack of applications in the Patents Office.

How do I register for a patent?

Filing for a patent application electronically, by using EFS, the USPTO's electronic filing system for patent applications saves a lot of time. The various types of patent applications are:

- Utility Patent Application
- Design Patent Application
- Plant Patent Application

The patent lawyer makes the complicated and tiresome process of getting a patent simple and trouble-free.

For additional information and tips for inventors, please review:
http://www.hjventures.com/patent/patent-inventions.html

Howard Schwartz is a partner in several business strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. For more information: http://www.hjventures.com

Google Patent Application Highlights

2008-02-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:

A method for scoring a document, comprising: identifying a document; obtaining one or more types of history data associated with the document; and generating a score for the document based on the one or more types of history data.

The patent application sheds significant light for those pursuing search engine optimization with Google. Patent applications can be difficult to understand, so following are highlights that you should consider for your SEO efforts.

Update Your Site

Updating your site is important when it comes to maximizing your rankings on Google. In addition to the manipulation of keyword density and meta tags, the patent application reveals that Google places significant value on how often your content is updated. The more often you update, the timely and relevant your site will appear to Google. In turn, this leads to higher rankings.

To appease mighty Google, consider the following plan of action:

Update pages frequently,
Add new pages to your site,
Interlink the new pages with others on your site, and
Add new pages on a weekly basis instead of all at once.

When Google returns to the site, you want to make sure that there is new content. The high rankings of blog sites are evidence of this approach.

Googles Looking at Your Domain

In a new twist, Google claims that it analyzes the number of years of domain registration as part of the ranking process. The application suggests that domains that are registered for longer periods of time are given more value because such a commitment shows the site is not a fly-by-night jump page. It is recommended that you extend all domain registrations for as long as possible as part of your search engine optimization efforts. It is difficult to tell how much the registration process impacts the ranking process, but every little bit helps.

Google claims that it also digs deeper into domain names to evaluate the legitimacy of the site. Factors in the evaluation include the web host and the who is information. According to the patent application, Google maintains a database of hosts that facilitate spamming of the Google search engine. While such hosts are not detailed in the application, pray to God that you are not using one. You should evaluate your host if your optimization efforts are not producing results.

If your search engine optimization efforts for Google are failing, the patent application may provide answers. Talk about a perfect E-book!

A view on Googles Patent: Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data

2008-02-14T03:45:00.000-08:00

Google doesnt stop innovating their search engine, and there where others try to follow, Google is not just 1 step ahead, but 10 steps ahead. Their latest innovation, which actually may already be in place for a year or longer, can be found in the patent: Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data.

The abstract of the patent is: A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types of history data associated with the document. The system may generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the one or more types of history data.

This article has the goal to give a implified representation of this patent + contains recommendations as to what would be the best SEO techniques to obtain high rankings, with a specific focus on links. This article is the opinion of the writer and following recommendation in this article is done at your own risk.

Googles search results have been increasingly difficult to explain and many theories have been developed on what is going on. Most popular is the sand box theory, which says that a new site is put in a virtual sand box and has to wait until it has aged before obtaining high rankings. This patent has some excellent information that can explain this phenomenon.

Information Retrieval

The information that this invention of Google is claimed to retrieve based on the historical data are:

Age/Time
Change
Trends

A score is calculated based on the above 3 factors which can then, at least partially, be used to rank the selected pages.

Historical Data

The patent describes a huge amount of historical data. The following is an overview of most items for which historical data can be measured:

Pages/sites
Links
Anchor Texts
Content
Query
Traffic
Ranking
User
Domain

Ranking Based On Information Retrieved From Historical Data

The patent describes in quite a lot of detail how selected pages are ranked based on the information retrieved from historical data. This chapter will describe the basic logic applied.

Age/Time

Of all historical data a date of inception is used to determine 4 important values:

Age
Average Age
Date
Average Date

These factors can be determined for pages, links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Comparing the age or date of a page to the average of the site for example tells the search engine if this information is relatively new or old.

Comparing the average age or date of a page to the average age or date of all pages selected for a query (keyword phrase) tells the search engine if the page is relatively new or old. This information can be used to rank the selected pages.

Comparing to an average has the advantage that there is no preset base of rules that determine the rankings of a page. For one query 6 months may be considered new (product descriptions for example) while for another page 6 days may be considered old (news items for example). It all depends on the average age.

This same logic applies to links. In order to determine how popular a page or site is, the average age of all back links tells the search engine if the popularity of the page is recent or not. It makes sense that if most back links have been obtained 4 years ago and that hardly anybody has been interested to link to this page/site since then, that the page is not as popular as the existing back links would suggest.

The patent goes even as far as determining age factors for anchor texts of links.

Change

Information changes over time. Opinions change, knowledge changes, popularity changes, etc. Like mentioned before, a page that was popular 4 years ago, may be totally forgotten now, but still have most of its backlinks that were obtained when the page actually was popular. However, if this page all the sudden becomes popular again, and new back links start showing up, the average age of the backlinks will remain high. This will prevent the page of ranking high.

Detecting changes is crucial to give old information the chance to rank high again. Consequently, the lack of change can be a reason to lower the rank of a page.

Trends

Even though comparing to averages is a great way to get information about freshness, it fails to recognize smaller events like a sudden increase in popularity of a page. Though detecting changes do help to recognize smaller events, more information can be obtained by detecting trends.

Sudden increases of popularity can be caused by seasonal events like Christmas or the Super Bowl. For this reason the search engine will try to determine trends within pages links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Detecting trends makes it possible to rank pages higher that would not be ranked high with the standard ranking methods or with comparing to average ages or dates. Google has recognized here a very important fact of information: Relevance and importance of information is (con)temporary.

Detecting Spam Using Historical Data

Having all kinds of historical data available can be used to detect search engine spam. Unexpected events that happen to a site can be an indication of spam. Obviously a strong improvement of 1 single factor would not be a direct indication of spam, generally multiple factors are showing strange behavior when a site is using spam to increase rankings. It would not be in Googles interest to penalize a site for advertising. However, excessive advertising in sites/pages that are totally unrelated will not do your site any good.

Recommendations

Nothing changed in regards to links. This patent pretty much confirms what we at www.textlinkbrokers.com already knew and have been explaining to our customers as well. The following recommendations can be helpful:

Keep links related

Related links matter, unrelated links can be considered spam.

Build links on a continuous moderate bases

As the patent describes, the average age of your backlinks should not be too high. It is therefore wise to continue adding backlinks to secure a reasonable average age of all your backlinks. How many you need to add over time depends on your market.

Be better than the average

Very important is to be better than the average, but dont overdo it. It would be expensive and unnecessary.

Focus on seasonal events

A good way to increase the success of your website is to set up text link campaigns for seasonal events. Start your advertising campaign 2 to 3 months before the actual event to give Google the time to find the links and update your sites information with it. After the event you can let these links go again.

Spread links over multiple sites (unique backlinks)

A very important factor is the number of unique websites in your backlinks. Google seems to put a strong emphasis on this factor.

Peter Faber is an Internet marketing consultant working for http://www.textlinkbrokers.com, an SEO company specialized in link building. He has his own personal blog at http://www.seo-works.com.

Im Riding a What?... An Intellectual Property Attorneys Guide To Patents and Surfing

2008-02-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

Intellectual property is everywhere, and encompasses, among other things, the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. As an industry, surfing represents a significant market that is heavily influenced and involved with intellectual property. In fact, the Surf Industry Manufacturer Associations (SIMA) managing director Sean Smith surprised me with the fact that the U.S. Surf market is estimated to be a $4.14 billion industry and the worldwide surf market is estimated to be a $6.5 billion industry. SIMA, in a fact sheet, further reports that there are about 1.6 million people who participate in surfing. This substantial market is segmented along several intellectual property borders that have been created by both organizations and individuals. As an indicator of this segmentation, just start looking for those telltale indicators that include Patent Pending, Patent No. ___, , and . Chances are you will many of these references to trademarks, patents, and copyrights on your clothes, your board, the videos you watch, and your surfing accessories. So, you may be asking, what exactly is a trademark or patent anyway?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of those things, that identify and distinguish the source of one partys goods and services from those of another party. Trademarks are often a good source of income generation for organizations having well established brands. This is because the organization can license the use of their trademark for display on almost any item or piece of clothing you can imagine. For example, Sticky Bumps U.S. registration number 1831402 is used in conjunction with apparel; namely, shirts, shorts and hats, Roxy T-Street Surf Contest an application for which was filed March 29, 2004 for use in conjunction with entertainment and sporting events in the field of boardriding sports, and U.S. Trademark Application No. 78305769 for Robert August used in conjunction with clothing, namely, shirts, t-shirts, knit shirts, woven shirts, sweaters, sweat shirts, tank tops, jackets, pants, sweat pants, shorts, swimming suits, board shorts, socks, belts, caps, and headwear.

The sheer power and financial potential of trademark licensing is clearly apparent since you can easily find a trademark that only a few years ago was found exclusively in a line-up, and which now is prominently plastered across the shirt of someone living several hundred miles from the nearest break.

A patent can be broadly defined as a temporary property right, often described as a monopoly, granted by a government to an applicant. Patents allow those who own or license them to have some significant market leverage. This leverage exists because a patent owner or licensee can control the use, manufacture, and sale of products covered by the patent. An example of a patent related to surfing is United States Patent No. 6,375,770 published as being assigned to O'Neill, Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA). This patent relates to an apparatus and methods for the formation of adhesively bonded butt seams between foamed, fully cured, elastomeric, resiliently compressible and flexible sheets of material of the type used in wet suits. In very basic terms, if you want to make, use, or sell a device or method covered by the patent, you need ONeills permission, otherwise you may be the subject of an infringement action. While patents can be extremely valuable, they do not guarantee that the patent owner or licensee will financially benefit. A good patent is like a good board, it wont help you find those perfect waves, nor will it position itself, however, once youre there it lets you rip. Therefore, the critical thing you should keep in mind, whether you are an individual inventor or a decision maker for a multinational company, is that you need a patent strategy that dovetails into a solid business operations plan which includes marketing and licensing know how. Without those, youre going to take it on the head every single time.

While the patent systems around the world share many features, they are in no way identical. The U.S. patent system serves as a solid reference point from which to understand most of the other patent systems. The legal basis for granting patent rights is found in the text of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically Article 1, section 8, clause 8 reads, the Congress shall have the powerto promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discovery. This constitutional right to patent property entitles an inventor to certain rights to the invention for a limited time. Typically a patent grant has a life of 20 years from the filing date of a patent application. Once obtained, the patent grantee has the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention in the United States. In addition, U.S. patent law considers, with some qualifications, those who offer to sell, sells, or imports into the United States a component of a patented invention or a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process, liable as a contributory infringers. As you can see, if you obtain a patent you may have some serious power over what others can legally do.

A U.S. patent is obtained by first filing of an application. The patent application is a formal document that includes, in general, a description of how to make and use the invention, any necessary drawings or figures, and a set of formalized descriptive sentences called claims. Once filed, the disclosed invention is examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to determine whether it meets all the requirements found under U.S. patent law. During this prosecution phase the applicant has some limited ability to cure defects and/or amend portions of the application. The typical application, once filed, spends about 2 to 3 years at the USPTO being examined and prosecuted. The cost of filing a patent application through a patent attorney is dependent on the complexity of the invention, but is typically in the range of $3700 to $5600. The final cost of obtaining and maintaining a patent can add several thousand dollars more to the cost. However, the incentive for spending the money is that a strong patent directed toward a desirable product or method can command very large revenue streams as well as providing insulation from competitors. A seemingly natural law of patents is that the more valuable the invention is, the more likely it will be fought over, and the more important the drafting and prosecution of the application will become in determining who wins. In other words, a poorly written and prosecuted patent will likely not be worth much. If you are going to take the time, energy, and money to apply for a patent, it is a good idea to find a patent attorney or agent who is not only familiar with the field of your invention, but who will also give you quality work. A poor quality discount or over priced patent will do no one any good, especially the one paying for it.

To obtain a patent you must meet several stringent requirements. The first requirement is that the invention must be of eligible subject matter. Eligible categories in the U.S. are limited to processes, machines, manufactures, or compositions of matter which have a practical utility. Thus, U.S. patent law defines four invention categories that Congress deemed the appropriate subject matter of a patent. The last three categories define "things" while the first category defines "actions" (i.e., inventions that consist of a series of steps or acts to be performed). The Supreme Court has stated that although patentable subject matter may be anything under the sun that is made by man there are some limits. The courts have held that such things as abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena are outside the scope of patentable subject matter. This is based on the courts recognition that patentable subject matter must be a practical application or use of an idea, a law of nature or a natural phenomenon. Generally, this requirement is easily met.

Another requirement is that the invention must be novel. Novelty is concerned with whether the invention in the patent application pre-exists as it is claimed in the application. A patent will not be granted if the invention is not novel. U.S. law, however, is peculiar since the ridged bar to a patent will not arise if during a period of less than one year before filing application the invention was in public use or on sale in the United States or if the invention was disclosed in a patent or publication anywhere in the world. Unlike the U.S., most countries do not have a grace period provision. This means that any prior use, sale, or disclosure will bar the grant of a patent. For example, if you or your employees start selling your newly invented fin system at a local surf shop or tradeshow, you have one year to get a U.S. application filed. However, you have likely blown your ability to get foreign rights. The lesson here is that before you sell, offer to sell, talk about, write about, or otherwise disclose your invention you should file an application and/or talk to an IP attorney about your strategy for the invention.

An invention is also required to be non-obvious. Obviousness is found if, although the invention has not been identically disclosed, the invention is obvious from the prior art to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter pertains at the time the invention was made. Obvious inventions are not entitled to patent protection. Generally, a claimed invention is non-obviousness if there are no prior art references that, alone or in combination, teach or suggest the invention as a whole including each element of the claimed invention. Determination of obviousness is a very fact based analysis and covers a fairly complex area of patent law. One place you can learn more about the topic is at the USPTO web site or by talking to a patent attorney or agent.

The application must also enable the invention. This basically means that the inventors disclosure must enable one skilled in the art to make and use the claimed invention without undue experimentation. Factors to be considered in determining whether experimentation is "undue" include the breadth of the claims, the nature of the invention, the state of the prior art, the level of ordinary skill in the art, the level of predictability in the art, the amount of direction provided by the inventor, the presence or absence of working examples, and the quantity of experimentation needed to make or use the invention based on the content of the disclosure. The inventor must also describe the best way they know to practice the invention at the time they file the application.

The invention disclosure also must describe the claimed invention in sufficient detail such that one skilled in the art reading the description would recognize that the inventor had invented the claimed subject matter and had possession of the invention as claimed at the time the application was filed. Possession of the claimed invention is generally shown by describing the claimed invention with all of its limitations using words, structures, figures, diagrams, and formulas that fully set forth the claimed invention. Possession may also be shown in a variety of ways, for instance, description of an actual reduction to practice, or by showing that the invention was ready for patenting such as by the disclosure of drawings showing that the invention was complete, or by describing distinguishing identifying characteristics sufficient to show that the applicant was in possession of the claimed invention.

Patent claims are arguably the most important aspect of an application since they define the scope of protection afforded the invention. A regular utility patent application must have at least one claim, often having over a dozen. The claims define the borders of the property the inventor is staking out. A simple but enlightening comparison to real property instantly conveys the importance of patent claims. Imagine being given the opportunity to stake out a claim to a piece of real property. In thinking about what land you wanted, you would consider the terrain and general lay of the land as well as such things as access to the water. The control of fertile fields, water, beach access, and ports of entry would add immense value to your claimed real property. As with selecting real property, a great deal of care and forethought must be devoted to preparing and drafting the patent application. Inadequate description of how to make and use the invention may erode or destroy a portion of the potential property. Claims that are drafted without an eye toward business strategy may provide competitors an entry into a market that could have been prohibited to them.

Surfing Patents, Where the Law Meets The Water

If you thought you knew about surfing, you havent been hanging out with the individuals who drafted many of the patent related documents currently residing at www.uspto.gov. For instance, that thing you call a board has quite a few problems according to many of these inventors, and in many cases is referred to as a craft instead of a board. The conventional wave riding craft, according to some inventors, seems to have all the hydrodynamic properties of a bent log. Of course these same inventors go on to tell you how their invention solves these problems. In addition, many of the surfing related patents are really educational. For example, in United States Patent No. 6,695,662 titled Surfing Craft With Removable Fin we learn a little about the history of surfing. In this patent the inventor tells us that Lieutenant James King, serving under Captain James Cook during his third expedition to the Pacific, in 1779 wrote what is recognized as the first known written description of the surfing ever recorded by Western man. Referring to the locals at Kealakekua Bay on the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, King writes: Whenever, from stormy weather, or any extraordinary swell at sea, the impetuosity of the surf is increased to its utmost heights, they choose that time for this amusement: twenty or thirty of the natives, taking each a long narrow board, rounded at the ends, set out together from the shore. . . . As the surf consists of a number of waves, of which every third is remarked to be always much larger than the others, and to flow higher on the shore, the rest breaking in the intermediate space, their first object is to place themselves on the summit of the largest surge, by which they are driven along with amazing rapidity toward the shore. The patent goes on to disclose an invention that is directed toward solving the problem associated with transporting surfboards having glassed on fins. It solves the problem by making the fins removableimagine that.

Some inventors have truly different ideas with regard to surfing for which they want a patent. Take for instance United States Patent Application No. 20040000265 titled Drag Reduction System and Method. The inventor first tells us that In the case of surfing, reduced drag may translate into a substantially improved ability to propel a surfboard and catch a wave, as well as a longer and faster ride. While this may not be a shocker to most of us, I imagine that if saw a board incorporating this invention you be frozen in your tracks. The invention, you see, includes a fluid injection system which releases compressed air through openings in the bottom of the surfboard. Apparently, in operation injection may be enabled for short durations as determined by the user. For example, upon activation, the control means may enable injection for only a determined period of time (e.g., 5 or 10 seconds). Thus, injectant can be conserved and used sparingly at moments when the user most desires drag reduction, such as for a surfer to catch a wave. This patent makes you wonder what activation of this thing sounds like, and whether instead of just badly dinging your board it just explodes in your face if the compressed air tank is punctured? Of course the inventor also envisions you will be retrofitting your favorite board with a fluid injection system that may be sold as a kit.

Often inventors agree on what is needed to make great board but they differ greatly on how to achieve it. The inventor in United States Patent No. 6,718,897 titled Rideable Wave Propelled Watersport Board tells us, watersport board equipment is designed sleek and smooth (hydrodynamic) for the very purpose of creating as little turbulence as possible. In general, the more turbulence, the more friction and the result is a reduced speed. Because the inventor's stepped bottom surface design produces so much turbulence and bubbles, it literally introduces a whole new dynamic. Because of this dynamic, wet surface area is reduced. The result is less friction and more speed thereby producing a clear advantage for the rider. The strakes that extend downwardly from the bottom surface of the step members create direction of flow of the bubbles and turbulence away from the nose of the watersport board. Thrust or drive is produced when turning that accelerates forward movement. The strake is generally shallow in depth or height and relatively long with respect to its height and width. The strakes may be mistaken for fins because of the shape but their function is very different. Another patent is United States Patent No. 3,747,138 titled Hydrofoil Surfboards. You should definitely check out the front page drawing and mathematical formula for lift the inventor has disclosed.

In looking through the surfing patents you will find that increased performance is not the only things inventors want, in fact, many inventor are also concerned with your safety and comfort. For example, United States Patent Application No. 20030233694 titled Protective Swimsuit Incorporating An Electrical Wiring System is direct toward a protective swim suit to be worn by swimmers and surfers. Apparently the inventor believes protection can be obtained by incorporating electrodes into the suit. In use, the suit generates an electromagnetic field in a volume of water about the wearer, which acts to repel targeted aquatic creatures such as sharks. I am sure it must have some other interesting effects as well. In United States Patent No. 6,665,882 titled Surfing Shorts With Wetsuit Undergarment the inventor wants to help us obtain a wet suit garment that can be worn under surfing shorts to allow a much longer time in the water while surfing in waters not requiring a full wet suit while still maintaining the preferred style of surfing shorts.

Even before you actually get to the water there are inventors thinking about you. For example, United States Patent Application 20020170104 titled Body Covering Garment For Use During Clothes Changing. This inventor identifies that the problem of minimal or insufficient changing facilities is not limited to remote coastal areas. In many instances, populated beach environments are also lacking in the availability, number and quality of changing facilities. As a result, swimmers share this difficult problem with surfers in simply attempting to find a suitable means for changing clothes at the beach or other water sport areas. Apparently, this is not your ordinary towel change. In United States Patent Application 20040065705 titled Surfboard Carrying and Mounting Apparatus the inventor is worried we are buying too many products. For instance, one for storing the surfboard, one for carrying the surfboard and one for mounting the surfboard on the roof of a car. The inventor goes on to say what is needed is a low-cost, easy to manufacture surfboard carrying and mounting apparatus which is easy to use, easy to store, wall/ceiling rack and vehicle transportation rack all in one product. The present invention fulfills these needs and many others.

In addition, there are numerous patents and applications that cover things you might instantly recognize or which you might actually own. These well-known items are often part of an organizations intellectual property portfolio. For example, United States Design Patent Number D417,542 published as being assigned to Rip Curl International Pty Ltd. (Torquay, AU). This patent is directed to the ornamental design for a wetsuit neck, as shown and described. Another example is United States Patent No. 5,898,934 titled Neck Entry Wetsuit is published as being assigned to O'Neill, Inc. This patent discloses a neck-entry wetsuit with an expandable collar formed by a gusset insert that folds in on itself, but which allows both the collar and the neck region to expand when unfolded. Patent number 5,898,934 is associated, on at least one web site, with the ONeill Z.E.N. ZIP System Entry system. Based on this last example you can easily see the evolution of an idea, to get a good wetsuit seal, into a commercially successful product. In reading these patents you also get a great understanding of what technology goes into many aspects of surfing. In fact, you can learn about such things as the ocean, hydrodynamics, ocean life, resins, foam, and wetsuit construction.

As you have seen, patents dont just apply to genes and computer chips. So the next time you have an great idea you might just know what to do with it.

Notice: This article has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. This article represents exclusively the ideas and opinions of the author and does not represent the thoughts, opinions, or positions of any firm, attorney, or client the author is associated with.

Do You Need a Registered Trademark?

2008-02-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

It's less of a need than a want. Registering a trademark is NOT mandatory. However, are you a business owner, or do you work with a business that does not currently have a trademark registered or pending with the USPTO? If this last statement in any way describes you, then YES, you may benefit from having a trademark. It is true that many businesses do not register a trademark with the USPTO, but this puts the business at a great disadvantage when compared to another company that does have a trademark.

Having a trademark notifies an individual that you have the corner on your market. It allows you to take court action if another business does attempt to infringe upon your name. You are essentially protecting your market upon registering a trademark by publicly individualizing your name. This protection allows a greater piece of mind for the average business owner, by ensuring that no one may interfere with your customer base by confusing their business with your own. The last scenario is a common occurrence, and many individuals have been forced to deal with legal repercussions because they did not take the time to trademark their name, while a competing business did.

Think about it like this; if your name was Tom Smith and you were a hard-worker, while there was another Tom Smith who was a poor worker, you wouldn?t want to be confused with that other individual, would you? As I mentioned above, this confusion is a common occurrence among businesses. This is why it is important to protect your name, and your products or services! While it is ultimately up to each business owner whether or not they want to protect their name, be aware of the potential ramifications that can come with not applying for a trademark. Whether or not your name is trademarked could have the ability to make or break your business; so why wouldn?t you apply for a trademark?

What is a Trademark?

2008-02-13T03:25:00.000-08:00

At one point or another, we?ve all seen a product or business name with a small, encircled R floating next to it. You?ve probably wondered what this R symbol really means, and how exactly it got there in the first place. Most people will tell you that it means something to the effect of ?registered,? but that?s only a small part of the significance behind the circled R.

It?s correct that this symbol does imply the term registered, but registered with whom, and how?

A "registered trademark", or ?, refers to a name, slogan or logo that has been officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark is beneficial to a business because it publicly states that your trademark is registered with the USPTO and therefore, you have exclusive rights to that name within your industry. This means that if your business had a registered trademark, and you found another business of a similar nature utilizing your name or logo, you would *likely have the legal right to use your name!

Each time an individual applies for a trademark, the USPTO performs a cross reference check of their name and/or design for similarities among Federally registered or pending trademarks ONLY. The USPTO search is lacking in State trademark AND US National Common-Law databases. Because the USPTO protects names in this fashion, you do not run the risk of another business utilizing and possibly soiling the reputation of the company that you worked hard to build!

Once you have applied for your trademark, the USPTO will consider it a pending mark for up to 18 months. This is among the many reasons why it is important to apply for your trademark sooner versus later. The sooner you apply, the sooner it is that you will be doing business under a registered, protected name!

* This is dependent on if the name is truly available at the time of filing. In other words, was there a prior existing Federal or State trademark? Was there prior existing Common-Law usage of the name?

Trademark Search

2008-02-11T04:45:00.001-08:00

A trademark is a unique name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image or a combination of these elements that uniquely identifies your product or service to your customers and distinguishes you from your competitors. By registering your trademark, you provide your company, your product and your services with government protection that are part of the benefits of trademark rights. With a registered trademark, your competitors will not be allowed to use a logo or name of the same likeness, or produce a product or offer services that are similar to yours. For example, Apple produces computer products with an Apple logo. Another company cannot use the apple, or something similar to an apple, to identify themselves within the same industry. Sometimes the benefits extend beyond industries as well.

Trademarks are filed under the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The role of the USPTO is to make sure that there are no other trademarks like yours. This office was not setup for your benefit, but to protect the existing trademarks that are already registered. Their objective is to search for possible infringements in the trademark that you filed and rejecting your application if there is. Application fees are not refundable.

With these possible roadblocks in your application, it is best to do searches on existing trademarks to make sure that the trademark you are applying for is unique and distinctly identify your company, product or service. There are Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTD), where you can visit and manually search for existing trademarks. You can also utilize the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) online to look for existing trademarks that are registered in the United States of America. To search for existing applications, you can use the Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval System under the USPTO. By doing these searches, you save the trouble of your application being rejected.

What You Need to Know About Trademarks

2008-02-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

Once you have trademarked your identity, your company has the right to prevent others from using a trademark this is similar or confusing. That means that no one can use a trademark that can be confused with yours. This protects your company identity, reputation, and market share. The term of a trademark is 20 years.

Trademark protection can be obtained two ways. First, trademark protection is available for inexpensive registration in most states. Contact your state?s secretary of state to find out the procedure for registering your trademark in the state where your business operates. Secondly, trademark protection can be obtained from the federal government for approximately $335. This can be done online at the website for the United States Patent and Trademark Office website www.uspto.gov. The forms can all be completed and submitted online.

Only certain words or symbols can be protected as trademarks. The word or symbol must identify your company as the creator of the product or service with which the trademark is used. You cannot trademark a word that is commonly used to describe your product or service. For example, you cann trademark the word ?consultant? if you are a consultant. You can, however, trademark the name of your consulting company.

Colors, sounds, scents, and packaging can be protected as trademarks. To be trademarked, those items must be shown to be associated with the particular product or service that your company sells. It must identify and distinguish your product or service. The design and appearance of products and their packaging or labeling can be trademarked.

Before you can obtain a trademark, you must search the website to determine that no other company has trademarked the same or similar item. The first company to obtain trademark rights owns the trademark, and the can sue another other company that uses their trademarked item. Before obtaining a trademark, you may also want to find out if you can use that item in your domain name so that you will have the same identifier online.

While your trademark application is pending, you should use TM on the item. Once you have trademark protection, you should use the ?circled R? symbol to put the public on notice that you own the item. Trademark protection may also be available internationally, but you will have to trademark in each individual country where your product will be sold. Before you apply for a trademark in another country, be sure the country will enforce your exclusive right to use the trademarked item. If you register your trademark on the internet as a domain name, you will have trademark protection.

Trademark protection is important and it is valuable. If another company uses your company?s trademark, it can divert business away from your company. It may also damage your company?s reputation if the other company has shabby operating procedures. The estimated value of counterfeit goods in the U.S. is approximately $250 billion, so be proactive in protecting your company?s trademark.

Jo Ann Joy is the CEO and owner of Indigo Business Solutions, a legal and business consulting firm. Indigo Business Solutions is a ?one stop shop? for small businesses, because we offer both legal and business services. We can provide all the professional services that a business requires, and they won't have to be "referred out" and pay another professional.

Jo Ann has a law degree, an MBA, and a degree in Economics. She is a strategic business attorney who works closely with clients to greatly improve their chance of success. Her background includes commercial, corporate, contract and real estate law, and she has experience in accounting, financial planning, mortgages, marketing, product development, banking, and business planning and strategies. She ran a successful business for 10 years, and she has written and given presentations on many different legal and business subjects.

If you have questions about legal, business or tax topics, please visit our website http://www.IndigoBusinessSolutions.net Phone: 602-663-7007; Fax: 602-324-7582.

Effective Trademarks - How to Select a Good Name

2008-02-09T02:09:00.001-08:00

Your trademark is the most important asset your business will ever own. A good trademark will distinguish you from the competition and help you stand out in a crowd. A poor trademark will entangle you in legal disputes and blunt your marketing efforts. Selecting a good trademark is as simple as following these guidelines.

First of all, avoid Trademarks that cannot be Registered. There is no point investing in a trademark that you can?t register. Registering the mark protects it from competitors, ensures your ownership rights in the mark and makes it easier to enforce your rights against copy cats. As you will read below, certain types of words are inherently poor choices as trademarks because they cannot be registered.

Avoid Purely Descriptive Words. Words which describe the nature or quality of the goods or services sold with the mark are not permitted to be registered. Hence, the mark ?Cold Beer? for use with malt beverages cannot be registered because it describes the actual product being sold. If registered, it would prevent anyone from using the terms Cold and Beer to describe a malt beverage.

Avoid Surnames. Surnames cannot be registered as trademarks. Hence the mark ?Wilson Power Boats? is a poor choice for a trademark because the word Wilson is a surname (and the rest of the mark is descriptive).

Avoid Confusing Trademarks. A trademark which is confusingly similar to a registered trademark cannot be registered. Hence, the mark ?Sun-Screen? cannot be registered if the trademark ?Sun Screen? has already been registered for a similar type of product. A search of the US Trademarks Database and/or the Canadian Trademarks Database is a good idea.

Avoid Generic Words in a Trademark. The goal is to select a trademark which is as unique and distinctive as possible; therefore, avoid generic words. Examples of generic words include ?green, superior, American, Canadian, deluxe, gold, economy, premium? and a plethora of others. If you incorporate generic words into your trademark, then you blend into the crowd, not stand out in front of it. Geographic words fall into this category.

Avoid TLA?s (Three Letter Acronyms) and Numbers. IBM, CNN and ATT are distinctive trademarks because their respective owners invested tens of millions of dollars into making the marks famous. Even a poor trademark can be made famous if you through enough money at it. But acronyms are intrinsically difficult to remember, while words, especially colorful words, are easily remembered. Hence ?ELS System Solutions? is not as memorable as ?Volcanic Silicon.? Likewise, avoid using numbers in a trademark as they tend to be less memorable. Furthermore, there are a limited number of unused acronyms available, so there is an excellent chance that your TLA will be confused with another.

Do use invented words. Invented words are words which do not exist in any language, apart from your trademark. Examples include SPANDEX, EXXON, KODAK, VIAGRA, and several other famous trademarks. Invented words are a good choice because they tend to be quite distinctive. You can create an invented word by simply combining parts of other words. For example, MICROSOFT is a combination of ?Micro computer? and ?software.?

Try animal or plant names. Animal and plant names tend to be quite memorable and, if used correctly, can convey a good image while still being distinctive. APPLE COMPUTERS, TIGER DIRECT, and Ford MUSTANG, are good examples.

Finally, make sure that the first word in your trademark is as distinctive as possible. It is often necessary to add descriptive words to the trademark in order to convey what is being sold or marketed in association with the mark. If generic words must be included, then it is vital that the first word of the mark be as distinctive as possible.

Elias Borges is a patent and trademark lawyer and a registered patent and trademark agent with the law firm of Borges & Rolle LLP in Toronto, Canada. http://www.borgesrolle.com/

Trademark a Name - How to Register a Trademark for Your Business

2008-02-08T00:24:00.000-08:00

So, you finally settled on the perfect name for your product or service ? it describes the business without being overly descriptive, it tells your customers exactly what you want them to know and it's catchy. That's fantastic! Finding just the right name is vitally important to the success of any product line or service.

Is it required that I register my trademark?

No, not at all. However, registering your trademark, specifically your Federal trademark, does provide you with several advantages:

The right to use the circle-R symbol as notice to the public about your Federal trademark

The exclusive rights to the name within your industry across the country

Establishing brand identity

But what if someone else already came up with that name?

While the name may be unique and distinctive to you, there is a possibility that another party already has prior trademark or common-law rights to the name for your industry. Before you invest time, money and effort into your name, do some research. The first places to check are right at your fingertips ? the World Wide Web ? and they're free!

Preliminary Search Sites:

The Trademarks section on the USPTO Web Site

Your Secretary of State to see if they have a searchable database of names. You can find a listing of all states here

Major search engines ? put your product name in quotes to find exact matches; use keywords with your product name to find relevant hits

Yellow pages

However, please be aware that this is merely scratching the surface of what's out there. Only comprehensive research will tell you if the name is truly available. But, these links are free & a great place to start, so try them first. If the name appears to be available, then you can move on to getting comprehensive research done by a private company or an attorney.

Ok, so the name is clear; now what?

To register your trademark, you have 2 options ? file for a Federal or a State trademark. If you are only going to sell your product or services in 1 state, then a State trademark is the way to go. The trademark form can be acquired through the Secretary of State (see link above). If you are OR will be selling your products or services in at least 2 states, then you're able to file for a Federal trademark. The form can be completed online at the USPTO (see link above).

While anyone has the ability to go online to access these forms,it's strongly recommended to hire a private company or an attorney for the preparation and/or filing of the trademark application.To ensure a successful filing, it's best to leave it in the hands of those with experience.

You found the perfect name ? now, make sure it's truly yours!

Trademarks - A Quick Introduction

2008-02-06T23:15:00.001-08:00

With the combined advent of the internet/dot-com boom and the prevailing trend of individuals going into business for themselves, the focus and importance surrounding intellectual property has been in the forefront of the minds of entrepreneurs, artists, inventors and anyone wanting to protect the fruits of their labors.

Because intellectual property and the laws therewith can change as rapidly as our ever-increasing technological world, it is imperative that when doing research on these topics to use accredited resources ? contact either the appropriate governmental agencies, attorneys or private companies that specialize in these topics.

TRADEMARKS :

Trademarks are frequently thought of as those items that identify either a product or a service. This can include names of services (e.g. McDonald?s ? for restaurant services) or products (e.g. Coca-Cola ? for soft drinks), logos (e.g. Nike?s ? swoosh design), slogans (e.g. American Express? ? Don?t Leave Home Without It ?), packaging, sounds and smells.

There are over 2,500,000 Trademarks, and over 16,000,000 commercial Common Law trade names in use! An existing Federal Trademark, State Trademark or commercial Common Law use can take precedence over your new business or product name, IF there is a conflict or similarity in sound, appearance or meaning!

SIMILARITIES IN SOUND, APPEARANCE & MEANING:

What exactly is a similarity in Sound, Appearance or Meaning? This is the most complex portion of any legal name research. In order to determine what may or may not be a similarity, one has to be as open minded as possible to include any & all variations that could possibly confuse the common consumer. Some examples may help with this:

Joe has a pending Federal trademark for his auto detailing service called It?s in the Details. Becky wants to call her new auto detailing service, It is the Details. They are both offering the same service and their trade areas cross. This is a Strong Similarity, based on Sound & Appearance, their crossing of trade areas & Joe?s pending Federal application.

Mary has a Federally registered trademark for her clothing line, Scary Mary?s Apparel. Dan wants to use the name Mary Frightful Wear for his clothing line. This is a Strong Similarity, based on Meaning & Mary?s Federal registration.

Sam has a California state registered trademark for his restaurant, Crabtastic Eats! and has no plans to expand outside of the state and primarily serves locals. Hannah's restaurant, Crabtastic, is located in Maine. She also has no plans to expand outside of the state and primarily serves locals. This is NOT a Strong Similarity based on their different trade areas.

Lorena?s online payroll service, Pay Up, has been in use for 15 years and has clients across the country. Gene wants to start an online payroll service called Wage Wizard. Neither of them have trademarks. This is NOT a Strong Similarity based on the dissimilarity in the names.

No claim is made to the ownership, knowledge or liability of the above personal and/or company names. The above examples are merely for informational purposes and should only be seen as such.

Naturally, there will be exceptions to every situation. For instance, similar trademarks (in name and goods/services) can coexist peacefully if both parties are comfortable with one another?s existence. This can happen if trade areas do not cross (e.g. located on opposite coasts), if they appeal to different consumers (e.g. one sells to private industry while the other sells to the general public), etc.

FAMOUS TRADEMARKS:

Trademarks that are famous are afforded slightly different protection based on the very nature of their recognizability. Simply, the argument for famous marks is that since their brand name is recognized by a vast majority of consumers, any marks similar to it, even in different industries, could be construed as an infringement. The main justification for this is if "the owner of a famous mark shall be entitled, subject to the principles of equity and upon such terms as the court deems reasonable, to an injunction against another person?s commercial use in commerce of a mark or trade name, if such use begins after the mark has become famous and causes dilution of the distinctive quality of the mark."

Of course, like with all trademark issues, there are gray areas. Each potential infringement is taken on a case by case basis. Not all cases end up favoring large corporations either. Take the famous case of Victor?s Secret & Victoria?s Secret (Moseley et. al. d/b/a Victor's Little Secret v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc., et al.), in which the smaller company won their case.

The best route to take if there is a possibility of an infringement, famous mark or not, is to speak to a trademark attorney. She will assist you in determining what the next best step is as well as offer assistance with any preparation and filing of documents.

SUMMARY:

While trademark law can be intimidating to the uninitiated, obtaining the help of a trademark attorney or an experienced private company will make the entire process go much smoother. There are preliminary steps one can do when starting a business and/or renaming a business:

Choose a name that is unique & distinctive ? generic or descriptive names are not generally allowed registration by the USPTO and are more difficult to enforce.
Do as much free research as you can before hiring an attorney or a private company. Check the internet, yellow pages, domain names & the USPTO.
Be aware that any research you do for free online is merely preliminary and only comprehensive research will tell if the name is available.
Once you receive the trademark, it is your responsibility to enforce your trademark rights. To do this, either have research conducted every 2-3 years OR hire a monitoring service.

Link to Above Quote

Trademarks - What You Ought to Know

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Trademark law affects every business in the United States. Don't assume that your new business name, new product name, slogan or logo has not already been used commercially OR trademarked!

No business name may be used in any one of the following cases, IF there is a conflict or similarity in sound, appearance or meaning & industry:

A Federally registered trademark anywhere in the U.S., or

A State registered trademark in any state they do business in, or

Used within same geographic trade area with "first use" Common-Law protection.

There are over 2,500,000 Trademarks, and over 16,000,000 commercial Common Law trade names in use. ANY existing Federal Trademark, State Trademark or commercial Common Law use takes precedence over your new business or product name, IF there is a conflict or similarity in sound, appearance or meaning & industry.

When you create a new business name, product name, slogan or logo, you will begin to establish your legal rights to your name in the geographic trade area where you do business based on Common-Law usage.

However, the question is: Is your trade name truly available?

It is a company's obligation and it is in their best interest to enforce its marks. Trademark owners have up to six years to find and order businesses to change any infringing trade name.

Infringing trademark companies could face costly attorney bills ($200 to $350 hour), immediate renaming of their company or product, recall of products, forfeiture of profits, re-marketing of the new name, and marketing change-over for a new name, including logo, signs, corporation, forms, checks, packaging, yellow page listings, web site, etc.

Comprehensive research is truly a need for any new business name, new product name, new slogan or new logo.

FAQs Trademarks

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It?s very upsetting to find someone using your business name, or one that is ?confusingly similar.? Taking advantage of Trademark law can help prevent problems and protect your rights.

Question: What does Trademark law protect?

Trademark protection may be available for any word, phrase, name, symbol, sound (called ?the mark?) that identifies or distinguishes your product or service from those made or sold by others. It includes the exclusive right to use the mark in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration.

Question: When can I use the ? SM or ? ?

Proper usage is important! TM applies to products; SM applies to services. You can use TM or SM without registration. ? stands for registered and can only be used when a trademark has been approved (registered) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A trademark should be used as an adjective (not a noun or verb).

For example:

Correct: Rollerblade? inline skates Incorrect: ?rollerblades?

Correct: Make copies on the XEROX? copier. Incorrect: XEROX this report.

Question: How can I find out if my name (or mark) is eligible for trademark protection?

To see if anyone else is claiming the name or similar name, you can search online (e.g., www. google.com) and you will want to confirm the availability of the Internet domain name. You can also search on the Website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov). These searches do not guarantee that the name is not in use, but they are a good indication of U.S. availability. More sophisticated international searches are needed if you plan to do business outside the U.S.

Question: Do I have to register my mark?

Registration is not required. Common law rights attach as a result of using the mark.

Question: What are the benefits of Trademark Registration?

You can register a mark in your state, nationwide, and internationally. If you register your name/mark, it will show up in search reports and hence others will be on notice of your claim. You also get a legal presumption of ownership and the exclusive right to use the mark when a mark is registered. Registration also helps in enforcing your rights against an infringement.

Question: How do I register my Trademark?

To register a work, go to the Website for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) and click on Trademarks. You?ll find a wealth of information with forms and filing instructions.

Question: How do I stop someone from using my name?

The first step is to investigate whether the other party has registered their name/mark. If your mark is not registered, you should consider registering it. If you think you have superior rights to the name/mark, you will want to notify the other party and make them aware that their name is confusingly similar to yours. Best case, the person will stop using the name/mark. Sometimes an agreement can be worked out for concurrent usage with geographic or other restrictions. Litigation is a last resort, since it is expensive and time consuming.

Question: When can I use someone else?s Trademark?

It is lawful to use someone else?s mark in certain instances ? called ?descriptive fair use? and ?nominative fair use.? For example, it is OK to use a famous mark in comparative advertising, for news reporting and non-commercial uses. It is not OK to use a mark in a way that implies endorsement, sponsorship or appears to be ?passing off? your goods or services as those of the well-known trademark owner.

Making fun of or criticizing a famous mark is OK under certain circumstances ? such as http://www.atkinsdietsucks.com/. To avoid problems, you may want to consult with a knowledgeable attorney before using someone else?s trademark.

In conclusion, it?s a good business practice to think strategically about your name and brand and to be proactive in checking out the availability of the name and protecting your rights.

Jean Sifleet is a practical and experienced business attorney whose career spans many years in large multi-national corporations and includes three successful entrepreneurial ventures. Jean has extensive experience in dealing with intellectual property matters in the large and small companies and as a small business owner. She has authored numerous books and publications on avoiding legal pitfalls in doing business. This article is excerpted from her new book, Advantage IP ? Profit from Your Great Ideas (Infinity 2005). For more information, Jean's website is http://www.smartfast.com.