Helena Patent Attorneys & Lawyers

How Long Does a Utility Patent Last?

Utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, last for 20 years from the application filing date.

Before this date, patent protections in the United States lasted for 17 years from when the USPTO first gave the patent. The law changed to obey Article 33 of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement from the Uruguay Round Agreements of the General Agreement on Tariffs. Because of this article, the U.S. had to set up a patent protection term that ends no sooner than 20 years from the first application date.

The 20-year patent term is a general one. For instance, a patent application that refers to an earlier filed patent application follows different rules. In this case, the patent term ends 20 years from the earliest application's fil

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What Is Patentable Subject Matter?

Patentable subject matter, also known as patent eligibility, refers to an invention that meets the standards set forth by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to receive patent protection. Statutory law, per §35 U.S.C. 101, defines patentable subject matter in the following way: "Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title."

To qualify as patentable subject matter, an invention has to satisfy two criteria: one statutory, one judicial. First, as §35 U.S.C. 101 requires, the subject matter of the invention must fall into the category of process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Second, that

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What Are March-In Rights?

March-in rights are rights granted to the federal government. These allow the government to grant patent licenses to other parties or to take licenses for themselves if they helped fund the patent owner's research and development. Such licenses can even be granted to competitors if the government deems it necessary. 

Generally speaking, these rights won't be used unless there are some public safety threats that patent owners cannot handle themselves.

March-In Rights: When They're Used

Besides public safety concerns, the government may also grant patent licenses if the patent owner has not taken any practical steps towards executing the patent. They can even remove exclusive patent rights if the patent isn't deemed suitable for public use. 

In order to avoid march-in rights, patent holders need to consider a few important things. First, can the pa

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What Is Patent Number Search?

A patent number search is when you search for a specific patent using its assigned number. To do this type of search you will first need to know the patent number. You can usually find this on a commercial product or its packaging. Utility patents have numbers that are in the millions. Design patents have numbers in the hundreds of thousands and start with the letter D or the letters Des.

Before investing in any patent application it is important to seek the counsel of a patent attorney and conduct a prior art search. This should include an investigation of known references through a patent number search to ensure that there are no possible blocking patents.

Sometimes inventors come up with a product that has already been patented. By doing a patent number search, you will better understand the scope of p

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