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Eminent Domain: The U.S. Giveth, the U.S. Taketh
A fundamental tenet of patent law is that the owner of a patent can preclude others from using or manufacturing inventions that the patent covers. Because of eminent domain, however, that there is a...
View ArticleYou Can Have a Successful Business Even if You Don’t Have a Patent
I recently met a software developer who wants to start a business. He immediately started talking to me about obtaining a patent. Condensed a bit, our conversation went roughly as follows: Dana:...
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I’m One of Several Authors – Who Owns the Copyright?
Let’s assume that several authors co-write an article or a book. Who owns the copyright in the jointly-created work? The answer is that the authors are equal co-owners of the copyright (17 U.S.C....
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Where to File Your Patent Case? Probably NOT Where You Think
Stanford Law School Professor Mark A. Lemley has published a draft paper, Where to File Your Patent Case. Lemley started with the assumption that plaintiffs frequently look for forums that favor...
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Professors Confirm Limits on Startup Interest in Patents
Last November, I wrote You Can Have a Successful Business Even if You Don?t Have a Patent. Many of the points that I made in that post are reiterated in an article that will be published this summer...
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How to Assign a Patent Application to Your Startup
Detail from an illustration of a machine by Leonardo da Vinci Your invention is so novel and non-obvious that you have submitted a patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Good for...
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Present Assignment is Important for Patents, Too
In “Copyright: Why You Need Presence of Mind about Present Assignments“, I wrote about why copyright assignments should be expressed as present assignments (e.g., “I hereby assign”) rather than...
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I’m One of Several Inventors – Who Owns the Patent?
A recently-acquired client is one of three inventors of a device that received a U.S. patent. She asked me whether she can freely license to an LLC owned by two of the inventors the right to...
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How to Perfect an Intellectual Property Security Interest
Copyright Office Document Cover Sheet Last week I explained what a security interest is and how it can be perfected, i.e., made effective against third parties. (See What is a Security Interest, and...
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What are Novelty and Non-obviousness?
Novelty and non-obviousness are requirements for a utility patent to be granted in the United States. This post explains the meaning of novelty and non-obviousness. I have based this on my answer to a...
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