EU Members Reject Proposal to Impose Regulating System on Any Shoe Importer

The proposal was supported by shoe producers in member states like Italy, Poland, and Portugal. According to them, European shoe manufacturers had to deal with higher production costs unlike their East Asian competitors and thus could not compete with them in terms of pricing.

Montana Child Support the Treasure State

How do you know if you qualify for child support? Child support is available to all single parents in need of financial assistance from the non-custodial parent.

Patent Research - Part I

Before you register a patent you need to do some basic research. Not only is it the job of the United States Patent Office to issue patents, it also maintains a database of the patents that have been granted. The majority of patents issued by the Patent and Trademark Office are utility patents. With such a large amount of these patents issued yearly, it is necessary for the inventor to research whether someone else has already patented their newest invention.

Why Patent? Part I

If you've wondered why you need a patent, this section will help you understand that. The purpose of a patent is to protect the intellectual property of the inventor. Patents prohibit anyone other than the patent holder from making or selling the patented item (or using the business method, or planting the new plant, in the case of those patent types) without the permission of the patent holder. Some patent seekers intend to manufacture and sell the patented item themselves, while others intend to license the patent to others – in effect, selling the right to produce the invention while retaining ownership of the idea for a period of time. Protecting Yourself Protecting your ownership of an invention is the main reason why you should consider getting a patent. When you want to hold the ....

Patent Laws Defined, Part I

This article will break down some of the laws that a patent carries. An Overview of Patent Laws These laws are difficult for a non-lawyer to understand, but not impossible. The patent laws administered by the Patent and Trademark Office are contained within Title 35 of the United States Code. The USPTO oversee the laws dedicated to patents. Title 35 of the United States Code is further divided into four parts:

How Do You File A Patent

You got a great invention, and you don't want others to create or use the same invention (or at least nobody can claim they invented it). That's the kind of protection a patent offers. It gives you exclusivity to create, reproduce and sell the product or process to the public for a particular length of time (most patents nowadays offer protection for a minimum of 17 years).

China Patent System - An Overview

There was no sustained indigenous intellectual property protection system in China for long. The People's Republic of China (PRC) began to establish an intellectual property protection regime based on the Soviet model during the year 1949. In 1978, China adopted the open-door policy. The Patent Law of China was first promulgated on March 12, 1984. There are three types of patents: patents for inventions, utility models and designs.

Patenting System - A Historic Perspective

News items flooding from our daily information sources on patents, company law suits, intellectual property rights, and the like would make one believe that the system of patenting is quite young. On the contrary, history of patenting dates back to more than five hundred years.

Patent Family and Legal Status Searching

Patent family and legal status searching is very important for litigation and even competitive intelligence. A patent family is a group of patents which, are all related to each other, in this case by way of the priority or priorities of a particular patent document. Since patents protection is territorial, thus a company or an individual have to file patent application in all the countries where they want protection for the invention.

After KSR - Stronger Patents or Just Harder to Get?

Summary of consequences of recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex, Inc. et al. with the effect on strength of future patents and the effect on the difficulty in obtaining patents. Discusses the requirements of an obviousness rejection of patent claims and overcoming such a rejection.

Patenting - An Overview For New Inventors

If you are serious about an idea and want to see it turned into a fully fledged invention, it is essential to obtain some form of patent protection, at least to the 'patent pending' status. Without that, it is unwise to advertise or promote the idea, as it is easily stolen. More than that, businesses you approach will not take you seriously - as without the patent pending status your idea is just that - an idea.

Provisional or Non-provisional Patent Application - Which Should You Choose?

An article discussing that a provisional patent application is not a patent, and usually never becomes a patent, unless directly converted. It automatically expires after twelve months following the day of filing and cannot be revived. Because it must be converted, it is more costly in the long run to obtain a patent by first filing a provisional application.

Commercial Litigation - Patent Infringement in the UK by Defendant

The case of Celem SA and Another v Alcon Electronics PVT Ltd [2006] concerned jurisdictional issues relating to patent infringement. The claimant companies were engaged in the manufacture of components for the electrical induction heating market, and were the holders of a European patent in relation to certain capacitors.