Tag Archives: patent FAQ

What is an effective filing date?

What is an effective filing date? If you”ve done some reading about patents, you may have seen references to an “effective filing date.” For instance, while patent attorneys will often shorthand an explanation of patents by saying they offer protection … Continue reading

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How to Patent an Idea

Sorry, you can’t. You can’t patent just “an idea.” It isn’t allowed by the law.   Patents are granted only for things, processes, machines, manufactured articles, inventions.  Abstract ideas and theories, alone, cannot be patented.  Recent Supreme Court law just … Continue reading

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Patents Explained: Claims

At last, the claims!  The heart of the patent! Appropriately bringing this series of explanatory posts to an end, the claims conclude a patent.  A patent can have one claim or many; generally, though, they’ve got 20 or less because … Continue reading

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Patents Explained: the Detailed Description

Next in my series of posts, a topic probably deceiving the pithy label recently given: the detailed description. This eponymous section of a patent actually needs more explanation than one might garner from its name alone: the detailed description goes … Continue reading

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Patents Explained: Description of the Drawings

Continuing the post series explaining patents, we now address the drawing descriptions. The description of the drawings is just that.  It refers to each drawing by number and explains what the drawing is.  The description is brief – it isn’t … Continue reading

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How to Protect your Invention with a Patent

I’ve posted a basic description of the patenting process, from inventing to maintaining the patent.  The video is a visual explanation of how an invention forms, how the patent application is prepared, filed, and processed, and what to do when … Continue reading

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