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You can disclose your ideas, designs and product plan details in various ways to try to make them readily findable by patent examiners doing searches. One defensive publication site is IP.com. It is fee based. But the best way to have a high probability of a patent examiner finding your defensive publications when examining someone else's application is to ...
5
Quoting from http://www.bitlaw.com/patent/requirements.html
If an invention is not exactly the same as prior products or processes (which are referred to as the "prior art"), then it is considered novel. However, in order for an invention to be patentable, it must not only be novel, but it must also be a nonobvious improvement over the prior art. This ...
3
The Claims describe exactly what a patent covers. In most cases, the first claim is the most general.
In this case, the first claim says "A combination stacking damage detector and antistacking warning device, comprising:" and then lists four items.
If a new design did not satisfy all four of these items, then it would not be infringing.
2
Design patents cover the ornamental design of functional objects. This page describes what a design patent is and compares them to utility patents. What is covered is described in the patents drawings. In those drawings parts of the device shown with dashed lines are not covered. In any case, you need to discuss this with a patent attorney. Whether or not ...
2
Design patents cover the ornamental appearance of an item. The patent in question was issued a final rejection for not being novel in light of US5,003,993, Silver. The applicant pointed out that the spacing between the spirals were wider in '993 (relative to the width of the spirals than in the applicant's design.) If you look up US5,003,993, you will see ...
2
A European intellectual property right is not enforceable in the US. It is enforceable on imports into a country where the protection applies.
I can't find more information on this special design apart from this source https://www.google.de/search?sclient=psy-ab&site=&tbm=pts&source=hp&btnG=Suche&q=+++++6PetalTulip-1-L+ where the ...
2
If the application is rejected, the claims are likely deemed not patent eligible which means others can use them, but not patent them. (Even if the rejection is based on some other factor, the designs are now in the public sphere, and thus no longer patent eligible.)
If the decision regarding the grant is still pending, the designs are protected in the ...
2
Worthiness of a patent having a variation (marginal/drastic) can be gauged in different terms. However it is advisable to gauge worthiness of patent in terms of technological advancement, consumer demand and monetary benefits.
For a proposed invention to be patentable it has to fulfill novelty and non-obviousness criteria.
Since the device that you propose ...
1
If I can add something to my quick answer. I just looked at the design patent invoked. It seems this gentleman only has rights in the US and nowhere else. I clicked on:
Darts-IP
OVERVIEW OF PATENT CASES FOR THE FAMILY OF USD722681(S1)
and saw there was one case in the US (which I'm not signed up to look at), but, for obvious reasons nowhere else. What the ...
1
Patent 4,176,410 at least is long dead (i.e. very expired). Of course, there could be other patents out there to worry about, but 4,176,410 is not a problem for you.
You can see when this patent expired using the USPTO Patent term calculator.
If you do decide to file your own patent, however, be sure to cite 4,176,410 so that the examiner can look at it ...
1
You must introduce some novel aspect to that product' design. You would file for a patent on that novel aspect. If the novel aspect has not been discussed before you have a chance of receiving a patent protecting only that novelty. You would be able to control how that novel aspect is used.
Whether you can market your product at all depends on the other ...
1
Prior art for novelty and for inventive step is assessed worldwide, so it doesn't matter where the document originated, it has to be considered for patentability.
For patent infringement only the countries your product enters or is produced in matter.
1
Yes. Read for example this article for more background information: http://www.cdfslaw.com/publications/practice-tip-claiming-priority-design-utility-patent-applications/
Design and utility patents have different scopes of protection, so filing both might be a good idea even if the utility patent gets granted.
1
While you may lose the right for patent protection of your designs if a patent is not granted, you may still have some protection under copyright law for the appearance of the designs. Copyright protection occurs upon the creation of an original work to the extent that the work falls within copyrightable subject matter. Publication will not affect the ...
1
By publishing them your designs lose novelty and cannot be protected anymore, unless you can claim priority to the pct application. I am not sure if that is possible, especially after so much time, but you could ask a patent attorney or try to find out another way. Claiming priority is the relevant search term.
For the next time, this should not happen. It ...
1
To answer this question requires some specialized knowledge. Fortunately I know a bit about this field. If you are trying to get a patent in order to make money licensing to other companies, there is an incentive to make the patent as universal as possible. If your innovation applies across a range of assays then it could be very valuable to others. In this ...
1
I've contracted engineers and product development firms several times. The standard agreement is that any patentable content developed during the course of the agreement would be owned by you (or your company) since you are paying for the work. You need to make sure this is clearly spelled out in the contract, but as I said, it is pretty much standard at ...
1
One example that would lead me to believe 'no':
Consider a modern cellphone, which could easily comprise technology covered by 100s of patents. Would it be reasonable for Apple to maintain a list of all the (ever-changing) patents covering their product? Additionally, would they be responsible for listing the patents of the components provided by ...
1
Short: No.
Long: One requirement for patentability is called novelty. It basically translates to “nothing which is known to the public (be it by public use or publication) can be patented.“
However, if you invent improvements who which are not obvious in light of the prior art which is known to the public, those can be patentable.
Other than that, you can ...
1
The examination process for design patents is extremely limited. In this case, it seems like an invalid patent was granted. Yes, the scope of this patent is almost infinite because the claimed design is merely two parallel faces/edges. However, if the owners were to attempt to enforce their patent, it could be effortlessly invalidated by presenting evidence ...
1
The Australian patent represents prior art even in the US. It doesn't matter whether or not it is lapsed. Whether the new patent application will be granted depends on how "similar" the prior art is.
1
Since theirs is a design patent, not a utility patent, I'd focus on making a distinctive visual appearance for my bottle design, and then do another design patent on that. Don't confuse design and utility patents. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/patdesc.htm
1
In order to be allowed, the broader claims must be supported by the disclosure of the original application, and be novel and non-obvious in light of art prior to the original application's priority date. If that is not the case, and the inventor is relying on a new specification to support the new claims, it is possible that those new claims read on the ...
1
Should I now file a specific design patent for my shoe[?]
Ideally, you should discuss your case with a qualified patent attorney or agent.
If you insist on self-help, you should ask yourself the key question differentiating utility vs. design patents: does the novelty principally relate to the function or the aesthetics? Keep in mind there may some overlap ...
1
One, granted design patents are published. Design patents and utility patents cover different aspects of a product. Design patents cover the ornamental features of a product, not the function of a product. For example, the design patent was for an airplane and B made an actual airplane that looked like the drawings in the published design patent. If B gets ...
1
Assuming you mean the design patent, D361,211: this issued in 1995 and expired 17 years later in 2012. So it's dead and cannot be revived.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/D361211
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A design patent covers the visual impression of a product while a utility patent covers the structure and functioning of a product. If you have something new and not obvious that provides a functional benefit, that would be a utility patent application.
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Patents are state-granted monopolies for a limited time in exchange for providing the community (public domain) all elements allowing it to reproduce the invention (especially after the monopoly lapses).
This principle has three consequences that makes building at least a prototype desirable before filing a formal patent:
in most international patent laws, ...
1
Pretty much "everything under the Sun" is patentable as long as it is not an abstract idea, natural law, or has a human in it. So an innovative functioning wallet could be patented with a utility patent and an innovating looking wallet could be patented as a design patent. A very rough guide would be about 20 years from filing. That is not at all precise so ...
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