If you submit a new trademark application or if you include your email address on a prior trademark application, there is a good chance you will be scammed. Here is what to look for. The scam usually looks like an official invoice sent to your email address. The...

United States Patent & Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V., ___ U.S. ___, 2020 WL 3518365, No. 19-46 (June 30, 2020) by Clyde Findley and Amber Orr | Intellectual Property |  We used to question whether generic Internet domain names could be trademarked. Now,...

It’s starting to happen. Artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems have become smart enough to create new inventions. Two recent examples of AI-authored inventions were produced by a system called “Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience” or simply...

(This blog post is just a holiday interest story. It does not concern anything legal.) The winter solstice – the shortest day of the year – usually occurs on December 21st. This is the day of the year when the northern hemisphere is tilted the farthest away from the...

(This blog post is just a holiday interest story. It does not concern anything legal.) On January 5, 2020 at 2:48 am Eastern time, the Earth and Sun will be closer to each other than at any other time of year. We call it Perihelion Day. Because the Sun is so close to...

This is one of several blogs about patenting an invention. What is a provisional patent application? A provisional patent application is an optional first step in the process of getting a patent. It is not a real patent application. It is only a temporary placeholder...

This is one of several blogs about patenting an invention. Are there different kinds of patents? Yes. A utility patent can protect a process, a machine, an article of manufacture, or a composition of matter. Most patents are utility patents, but there are two other...

This is one of several blogs about patenting an invention. Tell me more about “patent prosecution.” Patent prosecution is the process of getting the PTO to issue a new patent. At some point after your patent application has been filed, a patent examiner will review...

This is one of several blogs about patenting an invention. Do I really need a patent attorney? Yes, you do. It is possible to obtain a patent by yourself, and the PTO will even help you do it, but it is not likely to be of much value. Let me explain: The value of a...

This is one of several blogs about patenting an invention. How much does a patent cost? This is probably the most frequently asked question. The answer is it depends on several factors. The biggest factor is the complexity of your invention. Here is a rough estimate...