The Law Office of Van R. Irion

It depends. According to the current USPTO Fee Schedule, the patent filing fees to file a patent is $280 for a basic Utility Patent and $180 each for a basic Design or Plant Patent. To file a Provisional Patent Application the fee is $260. However, if you qualify as a “Small Entity” fees are reduced …

The enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution empowers the United States Congress to: “To 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 Discoveries.”   Fundamentally, the unique ideas of inventors are property …

The costs to file a patent application involve attorney expertise in preparing the application and filing fees. Filing fees, which are paid to the US Patent Office, are significantly lower than the cost of preparing the application. Preparing a patent application requires describing the invention, describing the existing publicly known technology similar to the invention, …

A granted patent gives its owner “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” or “importing” the new and useful invention in the United States. There are three types of patents: Utility, Design and Plant. A trademark (or servicemark) is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in …

Anyone who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof, may obtain a patent.” US Patent Law Several factors determine whether or not an idea is patentable including whether the invention is truly new, is useful and non-obvious. Processes, machinery, compositions of …

Copyright Law protects authors of “original works of authorship” and is provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code). This protection extends to both published and unpublished works including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to (or authorize others to): Reproduce the …

Ideas should belong to inventors. Until March 2013, United States Patent Law protected inventors through the “first to invent” rule. Under the “first to invent” rule, when two or more inventors filed a patent application for the same invention, the patent office would award the patent to the inventor who was first to conceive and …

There are essentially three types of patents: Utility, Design and Plant. A Utility Patent is “issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof.” If granted, its owner may exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period …

Provisional patent applications allow the inventor to establish an early effective filing date by filing a simpler version of a non-provisional application for a patent. Once filed, the inventor may apply the term “Patent Pending” to their invention. Provisional applications may only be filed for Utility and Plant patent applications. Benefits of filing provisional patent …

Under pressure from lobbyists for Big Business and Pharmaceutical companies, Congress passed, and Obama signed, the America Invents Act (AIA) into law in September 2011. The AIA changed the long-standing “first to invent” standard to a “first to file” standard. Before the AIA, when two inventors disagreed over who owned the invention, patent law favored …