Patenting for Inventors

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.

In this episode I go over one of the procedures you can use at the Patent Office to invalidate someone else's patent, called an Ex Parte Reexamination.

In this episode I go over the basics of patent infringement, including direct infringement, induced infringement, contributory infringement and the doctrine of equivalents.

Patents are not the only type of intellectual property that can protect your product, copyrights can be very useful as well.  Learn about what aspects of your product you should copyright and the process of how to do it.

In this episode of the "Patenting for Inventors" podcast, I go over how to correct simple mistakes in an issued patent using a Certificate of Correction.

If you realize that you made a mistake in your issued patent by claiming that your invention was either too broad or too narrow, all hope is not lost.  You can file a reissue patent application and possibly fix your mistakes. Learn how in this episode.

In this episode I talk about Ex Parte Quayle Actions.  These are a type of notification from the Patent Office that your application is almost ready to be allowed, but before allowance, a few minor things need to fixed up.  I go over what they are and how to respond to them.

In this episode, I go over how to put patent markings on your patented or patent pending product. I also go over the importance of product patent markings, and some pitfalls to watch out for.

In this episode I go over step-by-step how to actually file a United States trademark application online.

In this episode I go through how to figure out whether the name you have picked for your product has already been trademarked by someone else.  Learned how to do a very basic trademark search using the United States Patent and Trademark Office TESS trademark database.

While I focus on patents in this podcast, you should also know some basics about trademarks. In this episode I go over some things to think about when deciding on a name for your product or business.  I go over the five categories of marks: generic, descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary, and fanciful, and what to watch out for when picking a name.

Generally patents last 20 years from the date of filing, but in some situations they can be extended past this date.  Check out this episode to learn about the situations where your patent term can be extended.

In this episode I talk about how to conduct a patent examiner interview. I go over how to schedule one, what to do during an interview and what to do after an interview, as well as some patent interview strategies.

Sometimes your patent or patent application goes abandoned because you didn't respond to a rejection in time or you didn't pay the right amount fees to the patent office. What should you do? Learn the basics of patent and patent application revivals in this episode.

If your patent examiner keeps rejecting your application, what should you do? One option is to appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).  Learn what an appeal is, and how to do one.

In this bonus episode of "Patenting for Inventors," I interview Genein Letford , author, educator, and founder of Alumni360 , an entrepreneurship mentoring program for college bound students.

There are several options for responding to a Final Office Action. One option is to file a Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Request so that your application is reviewed by additional patent examiners.  Learn how to do this, and learn when it is, and when it is not in your interest to file one.

There are several options for responding to a final rejection. In this episode learn how to do one of those options, called a Request for Continued Examination.

If the claims in your patent application have been rejected twice, you usually will receive a final office action.  Don't worry yet! "Final" does not mean final.  There are at least eight options you have, and in this episode I present an overview of these eight options.

You are only allowed one patent per invention, but sometimes you might get a rejection called a "Double Patenting Rejection." What are these and how do you handle them?

Continuation-in-Part applications are useful for when you have some additional features you want to get patent protection for, but you didn't include them in your original patent application. 

This episode goes over the specific type of continuing application called a continuation application. Use continuation applications to broaden your patent protection from your original application, keep it pending to cover possible future design-arounds, or cover aspects of your invention that you didn't claim in your original application.