Building a strong base for IP protection will make it difficult for other people and companies to infringe upon protected rights. One way to secure intellectual property protection is to cover IP with various types of IP rights. Patent infringment is a serious threat for anyone interested in patenting an idea or interested in patenting an invention. Imagine that the IP of a particular U.S. company is a novel paintbrush. The company can obtain a utility patent in the United States covering the novel paintbrush. If the company has business in Europe, it might be wise to file a PCT as well. It might be beneficial to write a claim, also, for painting with the paintbrush. By doing so, the company would ensure that both people manufacturing the brush, and each small or large painting using the brush, would be guilty of infringement if they were not first granted a license to use the brush in any manner they saw fit. When the company holding the patent improves the tool, it can always file a new patent covering the improvement (continuation-in-part application). Additionally, a design patent might protect the design of the paintbrush. Finally, the company might have a unique name for the tool that could be trademarked. The patent search tools and resources provided at IPStreet.com, will help you better understand patent duration, how to protect from patent infringement and ways to connect to experienced patent lawyers. The main type of patent, a utility patent, covers inventions that function in a unique manner to produce a utilitarian result. Examples of utility inventions are Velcro® hook-and-loop fasteners, new drugs, electronic circuits, software that is tied to some form of hardware, semiconductor manufacturing processes, new bacteria, newly discovered genes, new animals, plants, automatic transmissions, Internet techniques and methods of doing business (provided physical things are involved), and virtually anything else under the sun that can be made by humans. To get a utility patent, one must file a patent application that consists of a detailed description telling how to make and use the invention, together with claims (formally written sentence fragments) that define the invention, drawings of the invention, formal paperwork, and a filing fee. Sometimes the state of the art, rather than the nature of the novelty, will determine whether a design or utility patent is proper for an invention. If a new feature of a device performs a novel function, than a utility patent is proper. According to the USPTO in 2009, there were 456,106 utility patent applications. Patent law is designed to promote innovation in "science and useful arts." It's right there in the first Article of the Constitution: in order to be patentable, an invention needs to be useful in some way. Utility patents expire 20 years from the date of filing. For us to be successful, we need to understand your needs and deliver technologies that meet your needs. This is the essence of co-creation or synergy. We both benefit from having an ongoing relationship. With this in mind, we want to emphasize our commitment to you, our customer. You are the reason we are in business. Lewis' original idea came from working with people like you — people with a desire to better understand how the IP landscape influences business strategy and decision making. our commitment to you. For us to be successful, we need to understand your needs and deliver technologies that meet your needs. This is the essence of co-creation or synergy. We both benefit from having an ongoing relationship. With this in mind, we want to emphasize our commitment to you, our customer. You are the reason we are in business. Lewis' original idea came from working with people like you — people with a desire to better understand how the IP landscape influences business strategy and decision making. Here at IP Street, we believe you belong on a pedestal. Rather than develop technologies and impose them upon you, we are interested in providing a different model. Listening to you, understanding what you need based on our subject matter expertise, and then providing tools that meet those needs. So far, we have heard that you want a simplification of complex patent documents. You want more than search results, you want visual results that have concrete, real-world significance. You want efficient patent search tools, better resources to patent duration and determining patent value. You want business intelligence from IP that is meaningful and actionable. Are we right? For many of you, based on what you have been telling us about what our product can do, we believe we are. However, we are still listening. So if you have further suggestions and wishes, please do not hesitate to contact us. |