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The idea of seeking international patent protection for your invention is as exciting as it is daunting. On one hand, expanding your reach to new places and new markets is thrilling. On the other, pre...

How hard is it to agree on a single European patent that grants IP protection across Europe? Very, very hard. For decades, companies doing business in Europe have pushed Eurocrats to replace a system ...

The new year is just around the corner. If you’re thinking about how to grow your business in 2019, here’s one way that many Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) often overlook: a comprehensive IP strat...

Technology Transfer Offices determine a university’s intellectual property strategy when it comes to patent protection, licensing and commercialization, but surprisingly few have comprehensive interna...

So, you have been granted a European patent? Now you have one more step to complete with national validation. The EP validation process differs from country to country, with each EPO member state foll...

What do barcode readers, pool enclosures, televisions and backpack chairs all have in common? Each of these products has been investigated by a federal agency for unlawful importation into the United ...

Patent protection is limited by national or regional borders. This means you must file for a new patent or validate your patent in each individual country or region where you wish to protect your inve...

Before the United Kingdom made its exit — or “Brexit” — from the European Union (EU) on January 1, 2021, a great deal of work was done to minimize its disruption to intellectual property ownership...

The number of patents in force worldwide has nearly doubled in the last decade – from 8.5 million in 2009 to 15 million in 2019. And alongside this boom in granted patents, there’s been an increase in...

In developing a strategy for protecting intellectual property (IP), some innovators wonder if a copyright is just as effective as getting a patent. It’s an appealing option since copyrights are less e...

Outsourcing is a well-established phenomenon in today’s global economy. Although initially associated with large, multinational companies, today outsourcing is growing among small-to-medium businesses...

Is your PCT application approaching its national phase deadline? Do you know the country-specific requirements? Each PCT member country has its own set of National Phase filing requirements, making it...

Software is everywhere: You’re probably looking at it right now. The onscreen controls you use to operate a software app — known collectively as the “graphic user interface” or GUI — are a critical pa...

Two things must always be true when you’re applying for a patent, wherever you are in the world — Your invention must be novel and it must be useful. However, different nations have different definit...

Do you use Visual Voicemail? This system allows users to select which voicemail they want to listen to out of a list of all voicemails received. It seems like an obvious solution to the problem of tra...

Imagine this: Company A owns a patent for an energy efficient lawnmower. Company B starts manufacturing a lawnmower that looks eerily similar. When Company A finds out, it sends a cease & desist lette...

As of June 8, 1995, the USPTO has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional patent application, which was “designed to provide a lower-cost first patent filing in the United States.” One of...

In simple terms, patent litigation is the legal process that unfolds when someone who owns the patent for a particular invention enforces their right by suing another for manufacturing or selling the ...

A company’s intellectual property is its number one asset. Protecting that property through patents, however, is expensive and doesn’t include certain types of content, including customer lists, which...

Maintaining an accurate record of an IP owner's name and address is critical to securing IP rights and ensuring that they  remain protected. Therefore, when a merger or acquisition takes place (or an...