Showing 22 posts in Patents.
Startups or Corporations: IP Strategies for All Businesses
Foster Swift attorney Mikhail "Mike" Murshak recently appeared on an episode of Michigan Reimagined, a podcast that discusses entrepreneurship and small business development and shares the stories of the people and organizations driving Michigan’s economic sustainability, to discuss the importance for a business to protect its intellectual property (IP). Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Licensing, Patents
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Million Dollar Baby: Licensing Terms to Protect Your Ideas
You have an idea, a million dollar invention! You have applied for and received a patent to protect that invention, but now what? One way to make money with your invention is to license your intellectual property rights to a third-party for production or use. Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Licensing, Patents, Startup
Supreme Court Examines Where Proper Venue Lies for Patent Infringement Lawsuit
The Supreme Court recently decided a case involving the patent venue statute 28 U. S. C. §1400(b). The case, TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, No. 16-341, concerned flavored drink mixes made by TC Heartland, which is based in Indiana. Kraft sued it claiming patent infringement in Delaware, which has a high concentration of patent suits. Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents
Does my Small Business Need to Protect its Intellectual Property?
There are four basic kinds of intellectual property that you can protect: trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. At the very early stages of starting a business you will want to protect your business name or brand through a trademark. Learn more about intellectual property basics and what you need to protect, in the Youtube video below.
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Secrets, Trademarks
How to Protect Your Business's Intellectual Property
Sam Frederick and John Mashni, both attorneys for Foster Swift, will be presenting a live webinar on how to protect your business's intellectual property on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at the Lansing Regional Chamber Board Room. The webinar will be held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
They will discuss copyright, trademark and trade secret basics and the importance of monitoring and enforcing your intellectual property rights. Frederick and Mashni will also present the best practices for protecting your intellectual property.
For more information and to register for the webinar, click here (We have identified that the following link is no longer active, and it has been removed.)
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Secrets, Trademarks
Patent Basics
So you just had a Eureka moment and your epiphany is going to make you millions as soon as it hits shelves. Learn more about patent basics in this short video including:
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents
Trade Secrets: The Big Thing for Tech Companies
What do Google and WD-40 have in common? They can both attribute their continued success to trade secrets. It may be relatively easy to build a search engine or an aerosol can that sprays lubricant, but it is practically impossible to replicate the success of Google and WD-40. The two companies do not have patents on their products, precisely because that would require public disclosure of how to produce the product that has made them so successful. The benefit of a trade secret is that it continues in perpetuity. Coca-Cola's trade secret for its formula is over 120 years old. If Coke had decided to patent its formula instead, the patent would have expired over a century ago and the company would not be the giant it is today.
In order to qualify as a "trade secret," the information must have economic value and must be kept confidential by the company. This can be done through legal documents, compartmentalizing information, physical and digital security, and enforcement actions against leakers of information. Tech companies should consider the use of trade secrets if a product is one that is not easy to develop independently. Software code and chemical formulas are two prime candidates. Importantly, trade secrets are governed by state law, which can vary as to confidentiality requirements. Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Secrets
Design Patents
It is time that we talk about design patents. Generally, when I mention design patents to potential clients, they invariably protest that they have an “invention” and not a “design.” However, most “inventions” at least contain ornamental elements that have the potential for design infringement in the marketplace. In those cases, pursuing a design patent, by itself or in combination with a utility application, can be an effective and affordable way to secure valuable intellectual property protection.
To help you decide if a design patent might be right for you, I have devoted this post to answering the most common questions I get regarding design patents. Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents
Beware of the Statutory Bars
So you had one of those “Eureka!” moments a while ago and your epiphany is going to make millions as soon as it hits the shelves. This blog is about making sure you don’t lose your right to patent that million dollar idea by waiting too long to file a patent application.
Generally, an invention can only be patented if a patent application is filed within one year of the invention's first disclosure. A public disclosure can take the form of: 1) a publication, 2) a public use, or 3) an offer for sale. In the patent world, these events are called the statutory bars because they bar you from filing a patent on the idea if one year has elapsed since the event. Read More ›
Categories: Intellectual Property, Patents
Provisional Patent Applications
I get a lot of questions from clients about “provisional patents." Let me just start this blog by clarifying once and for all that there is no such thing as a “provisional patent” anywhere in the Patent Act. However, since 1995 the USPTO has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional patent application under §11(b) of the Patent Act. Provisional applications have some interesting advantages of which you should be aware. Read More ›
Categories: Patents
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