Patents What they are, Why you need one & How to get one ver steeg february 2013

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Patents

What they are, Why you need one

&

How to get one

Presented by:

Steven H. VerSteeg

Attorney Client Privilege/Attorney Work Product 2

What is a patent? A patent is a government authorized monopoly

“A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.”

The government gives you the right to exclude others

from using your invention without your permission.

You are generally free to charge whatever the market

will pay for your invention.

Types of patents

Plant patents

Design patents

Utility patents

Provisional patent applications


Utility Patent

May be granted to anyone who invents or

discovers any new and useful process, machine,

article of manufacture, or composition of matter,

or any new and useful improvement thereof.

Term is 20 years from filing date


Utility Patent


Plant Patent

May be granted to anyone who invents or

discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct

and new variety of plant.

Term – 20 years from filing


Plant Patent


Design Patent

May be granted to anyone who invents a new,

original, and ornamental design for an article of

manufacture.

In other words, you are patenting what the object

looks like.

Term – 14 years from filing


Design Patent


Why do you need a patent?

$$$$$$$

To protect your invention

Confidence in speaking with potential

customers/suppliers

“Patent Pending” is a good deterrent to potential

copiers

Famous clamshell patent - Grid


Grid patent


Grid patent A portable computer constructed to be contained within an outer case for transport

and to be erectable to a viewing and operating configuration for use, said computer

comprising:

a base,

a display housing,

a top cover,

a rear cover,

hinge means for permitting swinging movement display housing about an axis of

rotation adjacent the rear end of the dispaly housing and from a closed and

latched position of the display housing on the base to an erected position for

viewing by an operator, and including stop means for holding the display housing

at the desired angle for viewing,

the hinge means being located in a mid portion of the base and wherein the

hinge means permit swinging movement of the display housing to an erected

position in which the inner surface of the display housing is held in an upward

and rearwardly inclined angle for viewing by an operator in front of the computer,

and

including a keyboard in the portion of the base which is exposed by the

movement of the display housing to the erected position.


Provisional Patent Application A provisional application for patent is a U.S. national application for patent

filed in the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). It allows filing without a formal

patent claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art)

statement. It provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in

a later filed non-provisional patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. §111(a).

It also allows the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the

description of the invention.

A provisional application has a pendency lasting 12 months from the date

the provisional application is filed. The 12-month pendency period cannot

be extended. Therefore, an applicant who files a provisional application

must file a corresponding non-provisional application for patent (non-

provisional application) during the 12-month pendency period of the

provisional application in order to benefit from the earlier filing of the

provisional application. In accordance with 35 U.S.C. §119(e), the

corresponding non-provisional application must contain or be amended to

contain a specific reference to the provisional application.


http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/consolidated_laws.pdf









Provisional Patent Application

The provisional application must be made in the name(s)

of all of the inventor(s). It can be filed up to 12 months

following the date of first sale, offer for sale, public use,

or publication of the invention, whichever occurs first.

(These pre-filing disclosures, although protected in the

United States, may preclude patenting in foreign

countries.)

A filing date will be accorded to a provisional application

only when it contains: a written description of the invention, complying with all requirements of

35 U.S.C. §112 ¶ 1; and

any drawings necessary to understand the invention, complying with

35 U.S.C. §113.








How can you get a patent?

Get a patent lawyer

Write and file a provisional patent application

yourself



Write it however you desire

Can be a PowerPoint presentation (but would be

good to add some text in a word processing

document)

Can be written similar to a term paper or a paper

for a journal article



Requirements:

Provisional Cover Sheet – this is a government form

(SB/16 or SB/16-EFS Web)

http://www.uspto.gov/forms/sb0016.pdf

http://www.uspto.gov/forms/ProvisionalSB.pdf

Filing fee - $125 for small entity

The provisional patent application


http://www.uspto.gov/forms/sb0016.pdf

http://www.uspto.gov/forms/ProvisionalSB.pdf


Signature:

/John Smith/

Small Entity Status

Pay with Credit Card

Print a copy of the webpage confirming your

filing

USPTO will mail you a filing receipt


Thank you!


Steven H. VerSteeg

Patterson & Sheridan, LLP

3040 Post Oak Boulevard

Suite 1500

Houston, TX 77056

(713) 577-4813

Patents What they are, Why you need one & How to get one ver steeg february 2013

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