When Foreign Patent Protection Makes Sense for Firearms Inventions (The answer is “Probably not, unless…”) As an inventor myself, I know the enthusiastic feeling that your invention is going to be an incredible success, and wouldn’t it be a tragedy if you had only the US market protected and the rest of the world was knocking off your invention willy-nilly without [...]
Sometimes, I know when clients have been reading this newsletter. Sometimes, I’m blown away to see something I wrote about years ago drive a client’s strategy. I just took a call from a client who told me they were getting ready to sell their company, and could we see about resurrecting some old trademark registrations they had earlier decided to let drop to save the [...]
More than five years after Congress threw a little bone to start-up inventors, we’ve learned a few things. The good news is that you might qualify for reduced patent fees under the patent laws, thanks to a “gift” from Congress to small inventors. I didn’t follow the battle, but I expect it was a way for them to look like they are being generous in some small way when [...]
Mustela frenata AKA the Common Weasel. AKA the lawyer for the guy who’s infringing your patent. Imagine being a general going into battle, and all the unanticipated intelligence about your enemy is gained as the battle is engaged. Now imagine having a magic “pause” button that halts the battle, and enables you to resupply, re-arm, and redeploy your troops in the [...]
As I’ve written before, sometimes the Patent Office grants a patent that simply shouldn’t have been granted. (Even government employees make a mistake now and then, after all). The important question is what do you do when you’re accused of infringing a patent you think should never have been granted? One famous but harmless example of a bad patent was the [...]
To SHOT or Not to SHOT? Before I start the main story, I have to address what everyone is asking me about: Will there be a SHOT Show? My current take is that it might happen in some form but would be a faint shadow of its usual self, with many companies pulled out for the year, and many regular attendees skipping. Some data points I have heard but can’t confirm: No [...]
