SLPL_Patenttrademark

The USPTO has encouraged electronic transactions for some time with higher fees for paper filing, but soon, electronic applications for trademark registration may become mandatory.  In May, the USPTO proposed changes to the trademark application process.  From the announcement: The proposed changes would generally require trademark applicants and registrants to: 1. File trademark applications and…

Next month, in Milan, is an international Patent Olympiad (the first event!).  If you enjoy searching for patents, it is an opportunity to show your research skills and bond with fellow patent searchers. The competition will have three parts: finding prior art, crafting a search strategy, and multiple-choice patent questions. Afterwards, competitors can attend the 10th Year Anniversary Conference of…

On Tuesday, June 19, patent number 10,000,000 was issued, for “Coherent LADAR Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection,” which improves laser detection and ranging (LADAR). The inventor is Joseph Marron and Raytheon Company is the assignee.  The application was filed on March 10, 2015, which gives an idea of the length of time it takes for a patent…

Are you visiting Washington, D.C. at the end of July? The USPTO's National Trademark Exposition will be at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History on July 27 & 28.  Exhibitors include NASA, Under Armour, Inc., the Idaho Potato Commission, and Velcro BVBA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be kicking it off at the opening ceremony on Friday at…

Both the patent and the trademark sides of the USPTO have committees that advise the Director.  The PPAC reviews patent operations, and the TPAC reviews trademark operations.  They represent the interests of small entities and individual inventors, and the meetings are open to the public except when addressing confidential information (such as personnel matters).  Each…

Mistakes: we all make them.  When it's in the context of filing forms with the US Patent & Trademark Office, those mistakes may result in additional fees.  They can also put intellectual property rights in jeopardy.   To help inventors avoid mistakes, the USPTO offers several places to go for help.  Two, which are accessible at any…

For a few minutes of delightful harmonization, check out this video of a quartet singing a love song to patents and trademarks.  Not only is it very entertaining, but it also contains some basic information about these two forms of intellectual property protection ("one says your invention's grand, the other one protects your brand"). So…

This new interface is a simple, consolidated place for all your interactions with the USPTO. It is a "personalized homepage and gateway to USPTO business." It can do almost everything! It provides shortcuts to USPTO applications and other sites, you can link payment methods for one-stop shopping, and the widgets are customizable to meet your…

Whether you celebrate with pizza or with pie or with something else round, Happy Pi Day! (March 14 = 3.14, π = 3.1415926...., so Pi Day is most appropriately celebrated at 1:59) In honor of this nerdy holiday, here's some pi-related patents Pi coupling agents for dispersion of graphene nanoplatelets in polymers Pie chart based information…

On March 11, the US Patent and Trademark Office will unveil the latest redesign of the patent cover.  This is only the second time that the patent cover has been redone in the past hundred years, so they're making a production of it.  Go here to see the "trailer", and go to SXSW to see Andrei…