Category Archives: News

Local Medical Device Inventor

Kim Manwaring is a Phoenix neurosurgeon who invented a number of medical devices in his garage-turned-laboratory.  He was profiled in the Arizona Republic this weekend, and I thought it was a great story of the and hard work and creative … Continue reading

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Skee-Ball Trademark Dispute

I received my latest bit of trademark happenings from this weekend’s Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, not a colleague’s blog. Skee-Ball, Inc., the owner of Skee-ball games filed suit against a company that runs Skee-ball tournaments under the moniker “Brewksee-Ball.” … Continue reading

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Patentable Subject Matter – Mayo v. Prometheus

An invention must be of the appropriate subject matter to be eligible for a patent.  Appropriate subject matter includes, by statutory definition, a machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter, or process.  For most inventions, the determination regarding whether the … Continue reading

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America Invents Act Online Guide

I’ve already received many calls from clients about the American Invents Act.  For those who want an online reference, the USPTO has created a site that contains some very basic information about the changes it will bring.  Some of those … Continue reading

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Patent Reform

You may have heard that a patent reform bill was recently passed by Congress reforming the way our patent system runs.  If signed by the President, it will bring the largest changes to the patent system in over a hundred … Continue reading

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First to File Risks to Individual Inventors

David Abrams and Dennis Crouch have published a comparative study on the switch from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system in Canada and applied the analysis to the potential change to the US patent system by the America Invents … Continue reading

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Sampled “Success” Rates of Patent Applications, Courtesy Patently-O

Patently-O did a brief post yesterday on a selected group of patent applications to see how the applications have proceeded through the PTO.  Of the applications filed in February 2006, 57% have matured into a patent, 28% are abandoned, and … Continue reading

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Copyright for Tyson’s Face

Did you love The Hangover and are you desperately waiting for The Hangover: Part II to come out in a few weeks?  Well, a tattoo artist is trying to stymie your anticipation by preventing its release!  In The Hangover: Part … Continue reading

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PTO still not sure about Trademark Bullying

A few weeks ago, I argued that the term “trademark bully” should be carefully applied and not overused.  The tendency is to inflate every act of trademark patrolling as bullying.  Of course, the term didn’t arise without reason – there … Continue reading

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United States Patent and Trademark Office’s National Trademark Expo

Yes, the event you have been waiting for is fast approaching.  The 2011 National Trademark Expo will be held on Friday, October 14th and Saturday, October 15th.  The expo is designed to educate the public about trademarks, their value and … Continue reading

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