Irvine Intellectual Property Attorneys & Lawyers

Updated November 24, 2020:

What Are Patents and Trademarks?

Patents, typically utility patents, and trademarks both protect types of intellectual property. A patent protects the products, while trademarks protect the brand and images of that product.

What is Trademark Protection?

A trademark is often used by a business to protect a specific word, design, or symbol that is tied to the company. Most companies trademark their brand names, products, and logos to prevent copyc

...

Updated November 5, 2020:

What Does Trademarking Goods and Services Involve?

To protect the intellectual property of your brand in relation to the goods and services you provide, it is important to obtain a trademark or service mark. Trademarking your brand in association with your goods and services gives you exclusive rights to the use of your name and logo in conjunction with these goods and services. This can include words, names, symbols, and designs or a combination of these things that identify your brand.

Obtaining a trademark is relatively simple with a few critical steps:

• Select your trademark or service mark: Create your brand name and image. Your mark should be able to be registered and protected. It should be specific and unique enough to identify th

...

What Is a Post Grant Review?

A post grant review is a way of questioning a patent's validity recently issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. The America Invents Act (AIA) created it as a counterpart to inter partes review. Together, they replace the inter partes re-examination. A post grant review is available immediately after the patent has been issued. An inter partes review becomes available after the post grant review period has passed.

Post Grant Proceedings

The post grant review process was designed to allow the proceeds to be quick. The Director needs to set the rules that explain how long the proceedings will last within one year from the start of the proceedings. If the Director can show sufficient cause, he or she can set the rules within 18 months.

The Patent Trial and Ap

...

What Are Certification Marks?

Certification marks are names, symbols, or devices used by groups or persons that show compliance to a set of standards. A certification mark does not distinguish between producers. In addition, the user of the mark is not the registered owner, and the owner is not permitted to use the mark. These marks can show geographic origin, standards met with respect to quality or manufacture, or work performed by a person that meets certain standards. The party that applies for a certification mark must also be considered competent to certify the products in question.

Why Are Certification Marks Important?

Certification marks are important for businesses that want to demonstrate the quality of their products. Trade associations and centralized commercial groups are the most common owners of these marks. To get the rights to use a given mark, the business's go

...

What Is the Patent Pending Process?

The patent pending process means you've filed a patent application that's now pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The office is also called the U.S. Patent Office or the USPTO. Another term for your invention is intellectual property.

Getting funds for an invention requires talking about it. But many inventors don't want to discuss their invention because they may lose patent rights to it, or someone might steal their idea. In the U.S., you have one year to file a patent application after you first publicly discuss the invention. That's why many inventors quickly file a utility patent application. Once you file an application,

...