As part of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, utility and plant patent applications can now be processed through the new prioritized examination process (aka the Track 1 process).  A patent in the Track 1 process can be granted within twelve months, on average, once Track 1 status is granted.  Although the USPTO has stated that, only 10,000 requests for prioritized status will be granted per fiscal year, the Office may change the amount allowed in the future.

To qualify for  Track 1 status, the application has to be an original nonprovisional utility application and filed electronically.  In addition to the standard fees for a utility patent application filing, you must also pay the prioritized examination fee, which is currently $4,800 for large entities and $2,400 for small entities. There are also some restrictions regarding the application:

• There must be an  executed oath or declaration filed with the application
• The application cannot have more than four independent claims, thirty total claims, and no multiple dependent claims.
• Track 1 processing is not available for design, provisional, PCT, national stage, reissue, or reexamination patent applications.

While the fees may seem to be high, in areas that are rapidly changing, such as technology, software and social media, Track 1 can be a fast and efficient way to bypass the typical 2-4 year application process.  Depending upon your business needs, this procedure can also be highly beneficial to those whose technologies are being infringed or are threatened from being wrongfully copied as they can obtain their patents sooner to stop the infringers.  Startups may also find this procedure beneficial in attracting investors.

If you would like more information or need assistance with your intellectual property needs, please contact me for a free consultation.

A new survey reveals that most U.S. businesses view trademarks and trade secrets as the most important forms of intellectual property (IP) protection. The study was conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Census Bureau as part of their 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS). According to a NSF press statement, the survey polled a nationally representative sample of about 40,000 companies, including companies in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. Here’s the results:

• Fifteen percent of all businesses reported trademarks as either very important or somewhat important to their business (6 percent said trademarks were very important, while 9 percent said they were somewhat important).

• Fourteen percent of surveyed businesses reported trade secrets as very important or somewhat important (6 percent and 8 percent respectively).

• Twelve percent of those surveyed identified copyrights as important.

• Five percent of respondents indicated that design patents are important, while four percent viewed utility patents as an important form of IP protection.

“Much of today’s business derives its competitive advantage from the ability to protect and exploit exclusive rights over investments in intellectual property,” said John Jankowski, lead author of the report in NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. “Hence, IP protection is a persistent and recurrent concern of businesses.”

If you need assistance with protecting your intellectual property or more information about how and what to protect, please contact me.

Under U.S. copyright law, protection is only given to “original works of authorship.”  This means ideas and concepts cannot be protected by copyright.  Those ideas and concepts are protected by Patents.  What else can’t be copyrighted?  The  U.S. Copyright Office states that in order to be protected, a work must contain “a certain minimum amount of authorship in the form of original literary, musical, pictorial, or graphic expression.” This means that words and phrases don’t qualify, even if they are novel or distinctive or feature a clever play on words. For example, the Copyright Office will not register the following:

• Names of products or services

• Names of businesses, organizations, or groups (including the names of performing groups)

• Pseudonyms of individuals (including pen or stage names)

• Titles of works • Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions

• Listings of ingredients, as in recipes, labels, or formulas.

Of course, although slogans and product names can’t be copyrighted, they can still often be protected under state and federal trademark laws.

Please contact me if you need more information or assistance.

The USPTO has posted a warning directly on its Trademarks Home page (www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp) to highlight the problem of non-USPTO solicitations that resemble official USPTO communications. Because of space considerations on the page, a link goes to the full version of the warning on an underlying page (available at www.uspto.gov/trademarks/solication_warnings.jsp).