Patent Law

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About Patent Law.

If you invent something new and useful, you can file a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. An issued patent grants you the sole right to make or use your invention for 20 years (or 14 years in the case of design patents) following the effective filing date of your patent application. An invention can be a physical object, process, system, plant, or design.

Patents encourage inventors to disclose new inventions; this contributes to the advancement of ideas and technology. They are intended to incentivize inventors and investors to work on and capitalize revolutionary new innovations by excluding competitors from using the same invention for twenty years, with some exceptions that are under 20 years (e.g., design patents, which are protected for 14 years).

Once you patent your invention, in addition to using it yourself—i.e., to make or do whatever you invented—you can also sell or license the patent to others. Patents can also be inherited, mortgaged, and taxed. You must file your U.S. patent application within a year of making the invention publicly available, and the process is complex.

Res Nova Lawcan help you file a patent application for your invention, and lead you through the patent enforcement and litigation process.

Protect Your Inventions.

We can help you with:

  • Patentability analysis, clearance, freedom to operate, and opinion letters;

  • Provisional patent applications;

  • Non-provisional patent applications (e.g., devices, methods, plants, & designs);

  • Patent advising and strategy;

  • Patent portfolio management and evaluation;

  • Due diligence;

  • Valuation of a company's patent assets;

  • Patent licensing and assignment agreements (e.g., software licensing agreements);

  • Drafting and responding to cease-and-desist letters;

  • Patent litigation in federal court and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB"); and

  • Settlement negotiations and alternative dispute resolution (e.g., mediation and arbitration).

Check out our other articles on patent law, and click below to learn more about the other types of intellectual property:

Trademarks

Copyrights

Trade Secrets  

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