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The ordinary course of patent examination is slow.  Typically, it takes two to three years, or more, to have a patent application allowed, or to receive a final rejection from the USPTO.  For [...]

Design patents protect the ornamental appearance of an object.  With a design patent application, you can protect the shape of the object, the surface ornamentation of the object, or both.  A [...]

To prepare, file, and prosecute a patent application to get a patent granted costs money.  The costs fall into a few categories: cost for preparing the application (see my post on application [...]

Software can be protected with patents.  The source code of the software is not protectable with patents (though it may be protectable with copyright), and neither is the object code or the [...]

Groundhog Day is a tradition celebrated mostly in the US and Canada, yearly on Feb. 2nd, in which if a groundhog sees its shadow, winter will persist, and if the groundhog doesn’t, then [...]

You have a registered trademark – well done.  But your work isn’t over.  Now, you have to do several things to keep your trademark registration alive, and you must avoid a few other [...]

“Patent Marking” means putting a notice on your product that your product is patented.  By marking your product with “Patent” (or “Pat.”) and your patent number – such as [...]

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been selected to the 2016-2017 Massachusetts Rising Stars list – you can see my Super Lawyers bio here. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the [...]

A patent examiner at the USPTO will sometimes send an Election/Restriction Requirement in response to a patent application.  This is an assertion by the examiner that the application claims more [...]

After you’ve filed a PCT patent application, what are the next PCT deadlines?  Your next steps are to decide on which countries you want to pursue patent protection in, and on what makes [...]