Patent Drafting
USPTO’s Track One vs Patent Prosecution Highway
Updated April 2020 Screenshot taken 5 Apr 2021 from https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/patents/pendency.html Why the USPTO’s Track One[1] is the mark of a lazy patent attorney. If your patent attorney is suggesting “Track One” to expedite your patent case – be wary. It is a trap. I would go so far as to say that Track One is…
Read MoreWhat Does A Quality Patent Look Like?
What does a quality patent look like? We evaluate patents every day. We underwrite investments in intellectual property, either for financing patents before they are written or for providing loans against patents that already exist. After doing this for a long time, there are certain elements that we evaluate every time we pick up a…
Read MoreInvestment Grade Patents Start with a Solid Foundation
Photo by Jack Niles on Unsplash An investment-grade patent[1][2] starts with a solid foundation. Most patents are worthless[3], and getting a good patent is less about finding the gem as much as removing the dirt so that there are more possible gems in the portfolio. We do not know which patent will ultimately be gem,…
Read MoreHow to Make Your Patent Strong Against Inter Partes Reexam
Strengthen your patent against Inter Partes Reexam One of the easiest ways for infringers to challenge an issued patent is through the Inter Partes Reexam process, commonly known as IPR. To successfully challenge a patent, someone has to produce a prior art document that would have changed the examiner’s mind. This is known as raising…
Read MoreOver-broad Patents Are No Longer A Good Thing
It used to be that “broad” patents were the best things for litigation. That is no longer the case. A patent drafting theory from 10 years ago was to draft a patent with the loosest language possible and go for claims that are nebulous. This drafting theory results in extremely broad descriptions of an invention…
Read MoreWorthless Patents – How to Avoid the Biggest Pitfalls
Airplane wreckage on black sand beach, Iceland Worthless patent[1]s: they don’t have to be that way. Worthless patents happen for two reasons: the original invention was not selected properly and the patent was poorly prosecuted with the patent examiner. Properly selecting the invention is crucial for getting a good patent. Your conventional patent attorney will…
Read MoreHow to Review a Patent Application
How can you mess up reviewing a patent application? It’s a lot easier than you think. Some comments made by an inventor, even the most innocuous comments, can be misconstrued if a patent ever was litigated. Rather than create a messy trail of documented comments remember the most important rule: Good news by mail, bad…
Read MorePatents that “Hide the Ball”
Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash I had a telephone interview with a patent examiner the other week and in the course of the interview, the examiner said that he really liked my patent application because I did not try to hide the ball with the invention. I was originally taught to write patent applications…
Read MoreBlueIron’s Patent Rating Checklist
A Patent Checklist to find out: How good is your invention? The spreadsheet contains many of the parameters discussed in BlueIron’s blog posts on patent due diligence.Please let us know if you have any suggestions/comments to make the checklist a better tool. Related Articles Actor Analysis for Patent Infringement Patent Descriptions: Every Word Hurts You…
Read MoreWriting Your Own Patent
Writing your own patent? Do a business plan first. Some inventors write their own patent applications. This can be a very valuable exercise because forcing yourself to put the invention down on paper can help you better understand the invention, as well as think through new versions of the invention. In many cases, these pro…
Read More