Searcy Patent Attorneys & Lawyers

What is Trademark vs. Patent?

A trademark protects a symbol, name, word, logo, or design used to represent the manufacturer of goods. A patent gives property rights to an inventor for a new product, preventing others from making an identical product. Many companies use both to protect intellectual property, although the two are not interchangeable.

What sets a trademark apart from other legal protections is that it only covers a single mark. That protection might be part of a logo, a symbol, a phrase, a word, or a design. But a trademark does not extend any protection to the products manufactured by the company that owns it. Another business or person can legally produce the same goods or o

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What is a Design Patent Term?

The design patent term is 15 years from the date you file an application. In 2015, the design patent term changed from 14 years to 15 years. The longer term applies to any applications filed on or after May 13, 2015.  Be aware, however, that some websites report that the change began effective December 18, 2013. The confusion based on the Federal Register's original announcement that the change would be effective on the later of December 19, 2013 or three months after the US deposited a paper at WIPO in relation to the Hague Convention. It wasn't until February 13, 2015 that the deposit was finally completed, which means that he change did not take place until three months after,  making it May 13, 2015. 

Design patent holders and applicants alo

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Why Use Multiple Patent Databases?

A patent database comparison is important since multiple patent databases are typically used during a patent search due to the fact that patents get issued worldwide for many inventions and products. If you're searching for a patent, using the right patent database will save you time.

Governments, businesses, and private organizations create patent databases to help inventors see if their ideas are already patented. Each database offers a different time range for patents, updating frequency, types of patents you can look for, and different levels of use. Some patent databases are free to search, and some charge users a fee.

To help you with your patent search, this patent database comparison lists:

• Who publi

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PATENT Act: What Is It?

The PATENT Act is an act passed by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on June 4, 2015, to help regulate the abusive behavior of patent trolls and improve patent litigation.

The PATENT Act or Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 brought about a lot of necessary reforms to U.S. patent law. The PATENT Act was sponsored by Senators Grassley, Leahy, Cornyn, Schumer, Lee, Hatch, and Klobuchar.

The PATENT Act was supported by members of both parties, making it easy to pass. Section 1 of the PATENT Act is the title and table of contents. Section 2 has the definitions of key terms. Sections 3-12 include the changes that the

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What Is Inequitable Conduct?

Inequitable conduct is a plea defense for infringement lawsuits. The defendant claims the patent holder intentionally misinformed, misled, or withheld important information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to get a bad patent. If the court rules in favor of this defense, it can void the patent in question.

How Does the Inequitable Conduct Defense Work?

Patents are supposed to encourage people to innovate and invent. They are public information, and in exchange for showing how an invention works, the inventor gets monopoly power for several years. However, many people try to abuse the patent system by getting patents that are too vague or describe invent

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