Patenting for Inventors

If you knew about someone else's patent but decided to make a product anyway that infringed that patent, you could be liable for triple the damages you caused under the doctrine of willful infringement. Learn what willful infringement is and how to avoid it.

As an inventor, you will want to have trademarks for your business name and products. You might also want to make sure that you're protected throughout the world. Learn one way to simplify getting world-wide trademark protection by using what is called the Madrid System.

Is there a simplified process to get near worldwide design patent protection? Learn about the closest thing we have to worldwide design patent registration by filing your design through the International Design Registration system under the Hague Agreement.

Who gets to be listed as an inventor on a patent? Do you have to physically make the product to be considered an inventor? Are engineers or manufacturers that just take your idea and figure out how to physically make it considered joint inventors with you? Answers to these questions and more are answered in this episode.

How words are defined in a patent can make the difference between patenting infringing and non-infringement. But how should words be defined if there's a fight about the meaning of a word in a patent? Should expert testimony be used? Dictionaries? Scholarly journals? The patent itself? Learn the hierarchy of sources for how words are defined in a patent to help you better draft your own patent application.

In this episode I go over a procedure in case someone steals your invention and then files a patent application before you do. You can initiate a Derivation Proceeding so that the person that stole your invention is not rewarded with a patent.

In this episode I go over a way to protect yourself in case you think someone might assert that you committed fraud on the Patent Office because you didn't submit important information. You can use a Supplemental Examination so that the Patent Office can re-review your issued patent with information that you forgot the first time around.

In this episode I go over a way of invalidating someone else's patent in a very specific situation. Covered Business Method (CBM) Reviews are for invalidating patents where the patent is related to financial products and services.

In this episode I go over a third way to invalidate someone else's patent at the Patent Office, using a procedure called a Post Grant Review.

In this episode I go over a second way to invalidate someone else's patent at the Patent Office, using a procedure called an Inter Partes Review.