Inland Empire Patent Attorneys

Experienced Patent Attorneys Help Inland Empire Inventors Protect Their Work

Many children dream of inventing a device that will change the world, but not all adults become inventors. Those who become inventors understand that invention takes much more than a dream. It also requires hard work and significant time, money, thought, and effort. Inventors are also investors – and their investment can be steep.

Patent law protects that investment. It limits the rights of others to use the invented work, granting certain exclusive rights to the owner of the patent for a defined period. Without this protection, an invention may be freely used by others the moment it’s created – leaving the inventor, who has invested so much, with no way to recoup that effort.

If your invention needs patent protection, talk to an experienced Inland Empire patent attorney today. The team at Cohen IP can help you pursue patent protection, giving your work the protection it deserves.

Patent Basics

A patent protects intellectual property – specifically, inventions. A patent grants certain rights to the inventor who holds it. These rights include:

• The right to make, use, sell, or import/export the patented invention.
• The right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing/exporting the patented invention.
• The right to grant permission in the form of a license to others to make, use, sell, import, or export the invention.
• The right to decide the limits of any license the patent holder chooses to grant. 

Patent protection grants one final right to secure the others: The right to hold another party accountable if they violate the patent holder’s rights. If someone else makes, uses, sells, or imports or exports the invention without permission, the patent holder can bring a suit in court. 

Patent Limits

Currently, a patent is limited by location and time. 

Patent protections are limited to the country or territory that grants the patent. A patent granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for instance, applies only within the boundaries of the United States. No single patent provides worldwide protection. In some countries, however, inventors can use another country’s patent as evidence that they own the invention and should receive a patent in that nation. 

Patent protections also apply only for a limited time. The time a patent is in force depends on the type of patent. Utility and plant patents typically last for 20 years, while design patents typically last 14 years. 

Patent Tradeoffs

A patent grants powerful rights to the patent’s owner and powerful means to enforce those rights. To receive these benefits, patent holders in the US must meet one additional requirement: They must allow the information in their patent application to be publicly searchable in the USPTO database.

Making the patent application available means anyone with an interest in the subject matter can look up the patent and see how the invention is made. This freely available information can feel daunting to inventors, who often keep their work secret. Yet it offers two significant benefits. 

First, publicly available patent information allows others to build more quickly on the work of previous inventors. Instead of re-inventing your work, other inventors can move toward refining it, applying the principles to new fields, or taking the next step in innovation. 

Second, when patent information is readily available, other inventors can more easily avoid inadvertently infringing on existing patents. They can look up inventions to see whether work has already been done. If it has, they can contact the patent holder to discuss licensing. 

The Five Patent Requirements

Patents are only granted to inventions that are “patentable” under law. Patentable inventions display five features: patentable subject matter, utility, novelty, nonobviousness, and enablement.

An item has patentable subject matter when it deals with “any process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or improvement thereof.” In addition, an invention must be made by a human to receive a patent. 

Patentable subject matter does not include:

• Laws of nature,
• Physical phenomena, 
• Abstract ideas, and
• Intellectual property that doesn’t include a process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or improvement thereof – such as a painting or a brand logo. These works are covered by copyright or trademark law. 

An invention possesses utility when it is useful in some way. The USPTO assesses utility claims under three criteria:

• The utility claims are credible. They make rational sense. Another expert, on viewing the patent application, would agree that the invention can do what it says it will do. 
• The utility claims are specific. They connect the item’s usefulness to its subject matter. Broad claims that might appear in ads, like “hundreds of household uses!,” do not meet the specificity requirement. 
• The utility claims are substantial. They identify a current real-world use for the invention. “Someday someone might find this useful” will not meet the substantial requirement. 

In addition to being patentable and useful, an invention must possess novelty. Novelty requires an invention to be “new.”

New inventions are those that weren’t known or used in the United States before the patent application. A new invention can’t be the subject of a previous patent or patent application, nor can it be in use in the US already. It also cannot appear in discussions in scientific or trade journals. 

The novelty requirement also has a time limit. A patent application must be filed within one year of the date an item becomes available for sale or use in the US or is identified in a printed publication. 

An invention must also possess nonobviousness. A “nonobvious” invention is one that a person of ordinary skill in the field wouldn’t have thought of. 

Nonobviousness is the element of inspiration involved in invention. It’s more than just the predictable next step following existing inventions – it’s a new twist, a new take, or a new creation that not everyone could have seen. 

Finally, a patent application must display enablement, allowing someone else “skilled in the art” to understand, make, and use the invention. Patent applications meet this requirement when they provide enough information for others in the field to thoroughly understand the invention. 

Many of these elements are highly technical. To meet all five, an inventor needs knowledge of the invention, the field of existing prior inventions, and patent law. An experienced attorney can help inventors access the information they need to file a valid patent application. 

Patent Types

Patentable subject matter includes “any process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or improvement thereof,” which is a large field. To organize applications, the USPTO divides this field into three categories: utility, design, and plant patents. 

Utility patents protect the invention’s workings – its parts and processes. It also covers nonobvious improvements to existing items and processes. Utility patents typically last 20 years.

Design patents protect distinctive ornamental or non-functional designs. They may cover the overall shape of an item or the design of one or more of its parts. Design patents differ from copyright in that they protect the design as it is applied to a specific item. Design patents typically last 14 years. 

Plant patents protect new varieties of plants developed through genetic engineering, cloning, and similar approaches. Plant patents typically last 20 years. 

Patent, Trademark, and Copyright

Patents are one form of intellectual property protection. Not all forms of intellectual property can be protected by a patent. If your work doesn’t meet the definitions required for a patent, it may still be eligible for protection under copyright or trademark law.

The USPTO handles both patents and trademarks. Trademarks protect logos, brand names, colors, and other distinctive features used to communicate the source of a good or service to consumers. 

In some cases, distinguishing a distinctive feature that requires a trademark from one that requires a design patent can be challenging. An experienced intellectual property lawyer can help you determine which type of protection your work needs. 

Copyright protects creative or expressive works. Copyright attaches as soon as the work is “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” In the US, copyright is handled by the US Copyright Office. 

Some design elements can also seem to fall under copyright law. Manuals for using an invention or materials used to market the invention may also be eligible for copyright protection. Speak to an experienced intellectual property lawyer to understand where you may need to register a copyright in addition to filing for a patent. 

How an Inland Empire Patent Lawyer Can Help

On average, simple inventions take two to five years from idea to finished product. Complex inventions can take longer. All types of inventions require significant investments of time, money, and effort. 

Filing for a patent can be challenging as well. Preparing a strong patent application requires deep knowledge not only of your invention but also of related patents and patent law. 

At Cohen IP, we’re committed to helping our clients in the Inland Empire and throughout southern California. You know your invention; we know patent law. 

Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation with one of our Southern California patent attorneys.