Patents: What they are, Why you need one, and How to get one

Patents

What they are, Why you need one,
and How to get one
Presented by:
Steven H. VerSteeg

California  Texas  New Jersey  North Carolina

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.

Attorney Client Privilege/Attorney Work Product 2

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.


 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


 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


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