Patents

Patent Overview

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Firm attorneys provide a wide range of patent protection and enforcement services for all types of inventions. Services include searching, application preparation and prosecution, opinions, and enforcement and defense services.

Computer Searching
The firm has access to computer databases which allow searching of both domestic and foreign patents. Also available are a wide variety of databases containing news articles, academic publications, and technological information. These database are used to search for prior art, to track the issuance of foreign and domestic patents of competitors, to monitor competitors' activities, and to uncover information on emerging technology.

Patent Office Searching
Attorneys in the firm perform on-site searching of Patent Office records in Washington, D.C. Searching of this kind allows attorneys to analyze the state of the art and to render opinions on the prospective patentability of proposed inventions, or on the validity of existing patents. Relationships with foreign counsel are also maintained to obtain foreign patent documents as required.

Patent Application Preparation and Prosecution
Attorneys in the firm prepare patent applications for filing, and prosecute the applications through issuance from the US Patent Office and other patent offices around the world. The firm uses electronic filing at the US Patent Office whenever possible to confirm that documents are received and acknowledged according to applicable deadlines. The patent application process involves responding to Office Actions issued by the US Patent Office as well as handling Appeals before the Patent Office Board of Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Attorneys work with counsel in other countries to complete patent application filings and prosecution in patent offices around the world.

Patentabiliy Opinions
Attorneys in the firm render opinions on the prospective patentability of inventions to enable clients to make informed decisions as to whether a patent application should be filed.

Patent Infringement, Validity, and Enforceability Opinions
Attorneys in the firm render opinions regarding the infringement, validity, and enforceability of U.S. patents. Attorneys engage counsel in other countries to assist with similar types of opinions for foreign patents.

Reexamination and Reissue
As part of their practice before the U.S. Patent Office, firm attorneys may petition the Office for the reexamination or reissuance of U.S. Patents.

Litigation Regarding U.S. Patents
Firm attorneys participate in litigation of patent issues including ownership, validity, enforceability, and infringement. Firm attorneys have represented clients in numerous enforcement and defense actions including numerous defendants in what some consider to be the largest patent infringement litigation in U.S history – the so-called "Katz Patent Cases" enforceability, and infringement.

Licensing and Assignment
Firm attorneys counsel clients in the licensing and transfer of patent rights as part of the commercial exploitation of technology.
Patent Examples
Patent Examples
Crane Plastics

A new method for making vinyl that resists the tendency to curve as the material cools. U.S. PATENT 7,204,062

Patent Facts

An improvement to an existing product or process is patentable subject matter.