Intellectual Property Law

Florida Patent Expo: Calling All Inventors!
Inventors in the South Florida area are invited to showcase their inventions at the upcoming "Latest Inventions Under the Moon Expo" at the Broward County Library.

Don't Feel So Restricted
From MPEP 802.02: Restriction practice is designed to require applicants to "elect a single claimed invention (e.g., a combination or subcombination invention, a product or process invention, a species within a genus) for examination when two or more independent inventions and/or two or more distinct inventions are claimed in an application...

Jorda on: Trade Secrets are Not Secrets
It is a serious misconception that it is reprehensible to keep inventions secret, inasmuch as this supposedly flies in the face of the patent system, the essence of which is disclosure of inventions for the benefit of the public...

UK Patent Office To Fast-Track Green Inventions
The United Kingdom will now fast-track patent applications for inventions that could have a significant impact on combatting climate change. The ?green” patent initiative was launched on 12 May by David Lammy, UK Minister for Intellectual Property...

LSI Commercialization of Life Sciences Inventions Conference
Law Seminars International (LSI) will be holding a conference on Innovative Strategies for Accelerating the Commercialization of Life Sciences Inventions on January 29-30, 2009 in Phoenix, AZ...

Do your employee IP agreements automatically assign future inventions
A recent opinion issued by the Federal Circuit serves as a reminder that IP assignment clauses of employment agreements and employer IP policies must be carefully worded.  A vague obligation relating to future inventions may create questions about patent ownership if an inventor-employee leaves the company or otherwise becomes unavailable to sign patent assignment documents...