High Point Patent Attorneys & Lawyers for Hire

What is a Patent Troll?

A patent troll is a person or business that buys patents from other companies, files lawsuits against other businesses to blame them for patent infringement, and then profit from the lawsuit instead of producing its own goods or services.

What Do They Do?

Patent trolls typically follow this pattern:

1. Patent trolls send letters to businesses in distress or other targets and offer to buy their patents.

2. After the companies sell their patents, the patent trolls find their victims. Their victims can be businesses that might use a process or design that's like the patents they've just bought.

3. Trolls then threaten to sue those companies for patent infringement.

Patent lawsuits can cost millions of dollars. As a res

...

What Does a Patent Do?

When asking "what does a patent do," remember that a patent gives the patent holder exclusive rights to an inventive process or product. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants these rights to inventors who have created a new way of doing something or provided a technical solution to a problem.

To obtain a patent, an inventor must provide information about the invention in a patent application, which is then disclosed to the public. Once granted a patent, the patent owner can give permission to license the invention at his or her discretion. The owner can also sell the rights to the invention, transferring patent ownership to the buyer.

After granting your patent, the USPTO will send your patent issue in the mail. It will feature the USPTO seal and be signed by the Commissioner of Patents and

...

Patent Claims: What Are They?

Patent claims explain the limits of what a patent covers, and they're an important part of the patent application you file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Patent claims usually come last in the order of documents. Together with the description, they are known as the specification.

Patent owners rely on patent claims to protect their intellectual property. If someone makes or sells an invention that has the elements in your claims, you can sue.

All claims should have a few key characteristics:

• Complete: Claims should cover the invention adequately and place it in the right context.
• Clear:

...

Updated July 14, 2020:

Knowing how to patent a design is important because a patent gives you legal claim to your original design, the ability to use and sell it, and the right to profit from the unique look of an object.

What Is a Design Patent?

A design patent gives you legal claim to your original design, the ability to use and sell it, and the right to profit from the unique look of an object. If you want to patent a design, you can file a Design Patent Application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Design patents only protect the look of an object. They aren't the same as utility patents, which cover how objects work and how they're used. A design has to meet some basic requirements to qualify for a patent:

• It doesn't affect the function of an object.
• It is integral to an object and can

...

What Is the Machine-or-Transformation Test?

The machine-or-transformation test was the sole test used by the court, prior to 2010, to determine patent eligibility. The test requires claims to be tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or have it transform an article from one state to another.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court argued in Bilski v. Kappos that a patentable process can't be solely tied to a particular machine or apparatus or involve transformations of a particular article into a different state of matter. This means that many software patents and business method patents remain patentable.

The Supreme Court decided that

...