Intellectual Property

Trademark Search Before deciding on a brand name, logo, or tagline, it can be helpful to conduct a comprehensive trademark search. This process involves checking databases, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, to see if your chosen mark is already in use. This step is not only about avoiding potential…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. 1. What is the difference between a design patent and a utility patent? A utility patent covers the concept or idea behind a device or process, whereas a design…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A trade secret is any formula, pattern, device, process, tool, mechanism, or compound of peculiar value to its owner (and his or her employees) which is not protected by…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A third type of intellectual property is the copyright. A copyright protects literary and artistic “expression” as well as other types of informative media that derive their value from…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A trademark can be infringed even if the infringer is not using an identical mark. Trademark infringement occurs when another trademark is confusingly similar to the original trademark. Whether…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The registration of a trademark is not a mere formality. The applicant must first have used the trademark in association with goods or services in interstate commerce. The application…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The selection of a trademark can be very important in terms of the trademark owner’s ability to obtain registration and prevent others from using the mark. Trademarks can generally…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. As of November 16, 1989, trademark applicants also have the option of “reserving” a trademark, without actually having used the mark in commerce, by filing for federal application of…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his or her goods and distinguish them from others. A service mark…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. Minn. Stat. § 325A.04 requires invention marketing services soliciting businesses in Minnesota to disclose how many individuals who have come to that service for help have made money on…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. On average, it takes between one to four years from the filing date of a patent application to obtain an issued patent. Some patent applications have remained pending for…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The issues of patentability and infringement are entirely separate. A patent granted by the U.S. Patent Office confers upon the owner the exclusive right to exclude others from “making,…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The financial cost of enforcing a patent against a potential infringer is highly dependent upon the complexity of the case, but legal expenses alone can easily reach hundreds of…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A patent entitles the patent owner to prevent others from making, using or selling the patented invention within the United States for the term of the patent….

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The expenses associated with obtaining patent protection fall into two general categories: patent attorney fees and government fees, both of which are discussed below. Patent Attorney Fees Patent attorney…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The words “patent pending” can be placed on an invention once the inventor has filed a patent application. After a patent issues, the patent number should be placed on…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A patent will be denied if an invention was in public use or on sale more than one year prior to the date of application. However, there is an…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. All U.S. applications filed after November 29, 2000, are published at eighteen (18) months from the filing date (or priority date if earlier). One benefit of the…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. Under current and former Patent laws, an inventor has a grace period of one year (in the United States) in which to file a patent application. During that one…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. Identical Inventions Developed By Two Separate Inventors One of the main changes adopted by the America Invents Act relates to determining how to award patent applications when…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. Once an Examiner issues a final Office Action, patent applicants have limited ability to amend the claims of that application to distinguish those claims from the references cited by…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. An application filed in the Patent and Trademark Office is assigned for examination to a group of patent Examiners having responsibility for the category of inventions to which the…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. A patent application can only be filed with the Patent Office by the actual inventor or his or her representative. The basic elements of a patent application are as…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The type of patent described thus far is known as a utility patent. The term of utility patents was changed after passage of the General Agreement on Tariffs and…

This post is part of a series of posts entitled A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection. For a comprehensive list of articles contained in this series, click here. The United States patent system was created to help achieve various socially desirable goals. By providing an inventor with an exclusive right to exclude others from making, using, or…

This and the following posts have been copied or adopted from A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection, published through a collaborative effort by the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development and Merchant & Gould. Preface to A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection Innovation, invention and the process of translating ideas into products and services has…

Introduction To register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, you generally must identify the author or authors of that work. In addition, you must identify the party that owns the copyright in the work. Ordinarily, the author is the person or persons who actually created the work you intend to register. “Works made for…