United States patent and trademark office

Intellectual property Rights | United States patent and trademark office

Intellectual property Rights, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce. The United States Patent and Trademark Office occupies five interconnected buildings in Alexandria, Virginia. The office employs over 7,000 full time staff to support its major functions namely the examination, issuance of patents, examination and registration of trademarks.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has evolved into a unique government agency. Since 1991 under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990 the agency has been fully fee funded. In the primary services the agency service includes processing patent and trademark applications and disseminating patent and trademark information.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office mission is to ensure that the intellectual property system contributes to a strong global economy, encourages investment in innovation, and fosters entrepreneurial spirit. The United States Patent and Trademark Office promotes industrial and technological progress in the United States and strengthens the national economy. The United States Patent and Trademark Office will lead the way in creating a quality-focused, highly productive, responsive organization supporting a market-driven intellectual property system for the 21st Century.

Through the issuance of patents, the United States Patent Trademark Office encourages technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, the agency assists businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace.

By disseminating both patent and trademark information, the United States Patent and Trademark Office promotes an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitates the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide as well copyright.

United States Patent and Trademark Office provides a free database to learn how to search patents, trademarks etc. It includes some important links such as buisness, Ebiz ALERTS, news related to intellectual property etc. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the opening of the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the museum of its Alexandria, Va., campus. The Hall of Fame honors and encourages the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible

 

 

 

Patent Law

Intellectual Property Rights | Patent Law

An Intellectual Property Rights, The patent law is to encourage scientific research, new technology and industrial progress. The Patent is granted to encourage inventions and to secure the inventions which are worked in India on a commercial scale without any delay. Patent is a monopoly right granted by the patent office.

The fundamental principles of patent law are that a patent is granted for an invention which must be new, useful and non-obvious. Novelty and utility are factors to be considered. It is essential for the validity of a patent that it must be inventors own discovery as opposed to mere verification of what was already known before the date of the patent. The invention must be non obvious to a person in the art to which the invention relates.

 A patent is not a right to practice or use the invention. A patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention. The term of the patent is usually 20 years from the filing date of provisional or complete specification.

The patent is of two kinds namely product patent and process patents. A product patent is one where the patent holder has the absolute right to produce and market the product.  A process patent is one where the exact process of the product is patented. In order to avail the benefits conferred under the patent law, the applicant has to disclose its specification. He can also prevent others from infringing his rights who imitate the patent without his consent or without paying royalties to him for a fixed period.

For an Invention it should satisfy the following conditions namely it should be new product or process, it must involve an inventive step and it must be capable of industrial application.

The salient features of patent law are as follows

• The patent must be in respect of an invention and not a discovery.
• In respect of one single invention there must be one single patent.
• A patent may be in respect of a substance or in a respect of a process.
• In order to grant a patent, complete specification and claims should be clearly written without any confusion.

Under the Patent law, there are few treaties and conventions for patent namely patent co operation treaty -1970, Budapest treaty -1980, the Paris convention for the protection of industrial property -1967 and the agreement on trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).

 

 

 

 

Patent Agents

Intellectual property Rights | Patent Agents

Intellectual property Rights Patent Agents are those who are specially qualified in the science and technology in representing the clients for obtaining the patents and various other IP's. They offer service to the clients in drafting, search, patent mapping, landscaping etc apart from legal. They don't have the law background for dealing with the legal matters.

In patent office a register called as register of patent agents is maintained which includes names, addresses nationality, and other relevant particulars, of patent agents.  They maintain the register of patent agents' details in computer floppies, diskettes or in any other electronic form which will be maintained in each patent office. If there is any alteration in the name, address of patent agent, then the patent agent shall apply for alteration by paying respective fee in the patent office. Every alteration made in the register of patent agents shall be published.

To become a patent agent one should satisfy the following requirements namely he shall be a citizen of India, he has completed the age of 21 years, he has obtained a degree in science, engineering or technology from any university, and fees payment as required by the patent office. He should apply for form 22 to become a patent agent.

Patent agent examination consists of written test and viva-voice examination. Written test includes paper I, II and viva-voice for each 100. The qualifying marks for each written paper and for the viva- voice examination shall be fifty per cent, each, of total marks and a candidate shall be declared to have passed the examination only if he obtains an aggregate of sixty per cent, of the total marks. After he passed the examination and his name will be registered in the register of patent agents and controller may issue a certificate of registration as a patent agent. Patent agent should pay respective fee prescribed in the first schedule to maintain his name in the register of patent agents.

When the person loss his original patent agent certificate then The Controller may issue a duplicate certificate of registration as patent agent on a request made by the person along with fee specified in the First Schedule.A person shall not be eligible to be registered as a patent agent, if he has been punished by the court, or he has not obtained a certificate from the court for not doing misconduct on his part etc.

The Controller may delete from the register of patent agents, for the following conditions namely when he is dead; or when the Controller has removed the name of a person for his imprisonment in court or if he has defaulted in the payment of fees or more than three months after they are due. The removal of the name of any person from the register of patent agents shall be published and communicated to the person concerned.

PATENT RIGHTS

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS | PATENT RIGHTS       Intellectual Property Rights, Patent Rights is an exclusive right to prevent third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the products in India . Patent Rights is to prevent the third parties who do not have the right of using the process, offering the sale, selling or importing the product in India .   When an invention is registered in foreign country or is owned by a person who is residing in a foreign country, such invention's patent rights when comes to India either temporarily or accidentally cannot be infringed by the use of the invention.   When a patent is granted to two or more person, then both the persons are entitled to an equal undivided share in the patent. Patent rights to both the patentee will be granted only if an agreement is made specific. Unless an agreement is not made, the share will not be benefited by the other person or persons. The license of the patent shall not be granted without the due permission of the other person.   A patent is a kind of Intellectual Property Right. It allows rights including exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights pertaining to the object or process with a view to rewarding the invention.   The government mandates patent rights for the inventor of the product or process. Since a Patent Right is trade-related, the relevant norms under the TRIPs agreement of the World Trade Organization should apply to patent systems of WTO member countries. Being a member of the WTO, India is mandated to make its patent related law and other trade related law in conformity with the TRIPs norms.   A Patent Right is defined as a patent of exclusive right granted by a state and an inventor or is assignee for a fixed time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention is termed as patent right

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PATENT ATTORNEY

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS | PATENT ATTORNEY     Intellectual Property Rights, Patent Attorney is one who has the specialized qualifications for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice such as filing an opposition. The term is used differently in different countries and thus may or may not require the same legal qualification as a general legal practitioner. In some countries they are called as patent agent or patent lawyer.   The requirements for practicing as Patent Attorney in Europe should be distinguished from those needed for practicing before the European patent office. The requirements are not harmonized across the European Union except that the EU makes sure that professional qualifications are mutually recognized to some degree. Before the EPO, the Patent Attorney must first be registered to act in that capacity as a professional representative.      In United States , a practitioner may either be a Patent Attorney or a Patent Agent.  Both Patent Attorney and Patent Agent have the same license to practice and represent clients before the Patent Office. Both Patent Attorney and Patent agent may prepare file, and prosecute patent applications and can also provide patentability opinions. In order to be registered as a Patent attorney one must pass the USPTO registration examination. This exam is referred to as the "Patent Bar"   In India , a person registered to practice before the Indian Patent Office is called as "Registered Patent Agent" or simply a "Patent Agent". The Indian Patent Law specifically does not mention the designation "Patent Attorney". The Indian Patent Agent can be considered the counterpart of the Patent Attorney in Australia , EPO or Japan .   The Indian Patent Office conducts a qualifying examination for patent agent registration twice a year. Indian Patent Law mandates a science or technical degree for persons to appear for the qualifying examination. Other criteria for eligibility include being an Indian Citizen and 21 years of age. There are approximately 1100 registered patent agents in India . Many of the patent agents got themselves registered without appearing for the qualifying examination before the amendment that took place in the year 2003. It can also be inferred that many of them who got registered before the amendment took place do not have any science or technical degree.

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Intellectual property seminar

Intellectual property Rights |  Intellectual Property seminar

Intellectual Property Rights, World Intellectual Property Organization has conducted a two day International Intellectual Property seminar on "Intellectual property education and research" held at Hyderabad. This seminar was Jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law and the NALSAR University of Law.

There were eight technical sessions such as Intellectual Property and Development: Innovation, IP Law and its Impact on Social, Cultural and Economic Development: Perspectives from India, Europe and WIPO, Intellectual Property and Agriculture: Plant Varieties, UPOV and Special Protection of Farmer's Interests under Indian Law, Intellectual Property and Health: Patents in Drugs and Pharmaceuticals – Emerging Issues, Intellectual Property and Culture: Copyright Issues, Protection of Geographical Indications, Intellectual Property and Information Technology and IP and Competition: Remedies against Abuse of IP.The Texas A&M University System's Office of Technology Commercialization has conducted an intellectual property seminar on "From Discovery to Commercialization - Technology Transfer across the A&M System".

ESA Technology and transfer programme has conducted one-day Intellectual Property Seminar on "providing start-up companies with advice on how to best protect their ideas". It was held in the Mission Control Room of the Erasmus Centre at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre. The event brought together start-up companies, experts in the field of Intellectual Property and ESA staff. Mr. Peter van Dongen, from the Octrooicentrum Nederland (Dutch patent office), addressed the Seminar on how Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) can be used as a tool for development by start-up companies.

SMALL business legal clinic   (SBLC) has conducted an Intellectual Property Seminar on Protect What Makes Your Business Unique at portland. The technical session includes what are copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and patents? , Why is intellectual property valuable to my business? , How do I obtain these valuable business assets? When should I register a copyright or trademark? , How do I protect my trade secrets?  What can be patented? Etc and it was covered by the leading intellectual property attorneys.

The Heath Business & Technical Park, Runcorn, Cheshire has conducted the fifth Intellectual Property Seminar which was a free evening event aimed at people in small chemical science companies who want to find out more about IP and it's affects on their business.  The technical sessions covers the main issues surrounding IP for small businesses of Top 10 things people get wrong when applying for a patent, Infringement and Enforcement, How we can help - Patent Advice Centre, Local Entrepreneur Case Study etc.

KUHNEN & WACKER Intellectual Property Law Firm has conducted European Intellectual Property Seminar on 2008. The topics includes Design protection in Europe and Germany, The European patent system and the effects of the "EPC 2000", Patent specialties Such as Workshop Group A: Computer-implemented inventions, protection for business methods (presented by Eva Hopper, PhD, EPO) And Workshop Group B: Patents in chemistry and biotech, EP claim drafting specialties, EP case law of interest Patent infringement litigation and doctrine of equivalents, cross border litigation etc.

 

 

Intellectual property business

Intellectual Property Rights | Intellectual Property business

Intellectual property Rights Intellectual property (IP) refers to any Intellectual creation of mind. Intellectual property may generate business for Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneur; Academician, Research Scholars, Corporate Law Firms, etc. In every human creativity, any improvement and inventiveness leads to a product of Intellectual Property. It is widely accepted that protecting intellectual property is important for business but for start-up companies with limited resources and experience protection can often seem discouraging and perhaps an impossible task. As a result small and medium sized companies often fail to protect their intellectual property rights. 

Intellectual Property business may be broadly classified such as physical assets which include (buildings, machinery, financial assets and infrastructure) and intangible assets - ranging from human investment and other intangible fruits of a company's creative and innovative capacity.

Intellectual Property business of Physical assets has been responsible for the bulk of the value of a company, and was considered to be largely responsible for determining the competitiveness of an enterprise in the market place. In short and large factories, software and innovative ideas are the main source of income for a large and growing proportion of enterprises worldwide. And even in sectors where traditional production techniques remains dominant, continuous innovation and endless creativity are becoming the keys to greater competitiveness in fiercely competitive markets. Intangible assets are therefore taking center stage and SMEs, Academician and business people should seek how to make best use of their intangible assets.

Intellectual Property business assets includes Innovative products and processes, Cultural, artistic and literary works,  Creative designs, including textile designs ,Distinctive signs trademarks including collective and certification marks, geographical indications, Microchips through protection of layout-designs or topographies of integrated circuits, and Trade secrets etc.

Intellectual Property business will generate an income for SME, Academician through the licensing, sale, or commercialization of the Intellectual property protected products or services that may significantly improve an enterprises market share or raise its profit margins. Intellectual property rights can enhance the value or worth of your SME in the eyes of investors and financing institutions. In the event of a sale, merger or acquisition, Intellectual Property assets may significantly raise the value of our enterprise, and at times may be the primary or only true assets of value.