Amarillo Patent Attorneys & Lawyers

How to File a Patent

Learning how to file a patent is complex as it requires you to send written statements about your design or invention, fill out the correct paperwork for the United States (U.S.) Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO), create detailed drawings of a product you want to patent, and pay the patent fee. When you file a patent, you create a public disclosure of your design or invention.

Steps to File a Patent

As of March 2013, the USPTO gives patents based on the first person or company to file the patent, not the first person or company to invent it. This "first to file" legislation can motivate inventors to file faster to protect their intellectual properties.

1. Keep track of how you shape your product or process during the concept stage.

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What Is Patent Litigation?

Patent litigation is a law process in which one party sues another over the unlawful use of a patent. A patent holder might sue a company or individual in federal district court for monetary damages and an injunction against the infringement. The patent holder must take legal action within six years of the infringing date.

Why Is Patent Litigation Important?

Patent litigation is important for protecting your patents from infringement or violation. Even if you own a patent, you're not necessarily protected from infringement. With patent litigation, you can take another party to court if you believe they've used your patent without licensing or approval. However, patent litigation costs time and money. In most cases, the plaintiff is a small business and the defendant is a large corporation. This makes it hard for the plaintiff to win the case.

If you'r

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Updated July 16, 2020:

How to Patent a Logo

While you can learn how to patent an idea, logos cannot be patented because the term patent describes ownership that protects inventions.

However, logos can be protected in a similar way by a trademark or service mark. Trademarks protect logos attached to products while service marks protect logos attached to services. Both trademarks and service marks are often referred to as trademarks. Following these established steps is the best way to trademark your logo.

Reasons to Trademark Your Logo

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What Is a Plant Patent Search?

A plant patent search covers information about patents granted by the government to protect ownership rights of unique and asexually reproducing plants. As you might expect, plant patents are only a fraction of the patents filed every year. For example, in 2012 there were 576,763 patent applications filed—860 were granted. Only 1,149 of those were for plants.

Before you file for a patent of any kind, it is essential to determine if any similar creations have already been patented. The same goes for the protections afforded to those who create new varieties of plants. You must determine that no one else has created a substantially similar variety of

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Updated November 6, 2020:

What Is a Provisional Patent Search?

You can't do a provisional patent search online since they aren't published. That's because provisional applications do not yet hold any patent rights; they're just used to get a priority patent filing date. More than that, reading a provisional patent wouldn't do you much good since the patent hasn't yet gone through the whole patent process. That's why you should search for issued and pending patents rather than provisional patents.

You can search for issued or pending patents before subm

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