Patent Guidance, from the attorneys of Tysver Beck Evans
The law firm of Tysver Beck Evans provides the following guidance for companies and individuals looking to maximize protection for their innovation.
Guidance on Filing A Patent Application
These pages provide guidance on filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent filing overview page gives a general summary of the guidance available in this section.
What is a patent application?
What rights are created by a patent?
What if you cannot afford to enforce your patent rights?
What are the benefits of patent pending status?
What makes patent application so expensive?
What is the cost breakdown of a patent application?
What is the cost of a design patent application?
Can't I get a cheaper patent somewhere else?
How to identify your invention (not my proposed product)?
How to value your invention
Should you trust invention submission companies?
What difference do the "first to file" laws make?
What are the deadlines for filing a patent application?
Do you need to create a working model of your invention?
What is a patentability search?
How can searches avoid wasteful patent applications?
How can searches improve a patent applications?
When is a search unnecessary (or even unhelpful)?
What is a provisional application?
Do provisional applications save money?
What are the benefits of a provisional application?
Can I file a provisional application without an attorney?
Guidance on Patent Prosecution--Section 101 (Patent Subject Matter Eligibility)
The following pages provide guidance on how to analyze and respond to section 101 rejections at the patent office, or section 101 claims of invalidity against issued patents.
Section 101 Rejections
Four statutory categories under Section 101
Non-statutory exceptions to subject matter eligibility
Overview of the Alice text
Overview of step one of the Alice test
Analyzing step one for abstract ideas
Analyzing step one for natural phenomena
Applying the Markedly Different Characteristics test
Overview--Searching for an "inventive concept"
Evaluating the "conventionality" of the claim elements
What is enough for inventive concept?
The machine-or-transformation test
Responding to a statutory rejection (outside four categories)
Proving patent eligibility under step one
Proving patent eligibility under step two
Legal Stuff
Of course we have to have some caveats and limitations here:
The legal information provided in Bitlaw Guidance should be distinguished from actual legal advice. Legal information is a description of the law and how it might apply to various hypothetical situations. Legal advice is advice given by a licensed attorney about how the law applies to your situation. Legal advice can be relied upon to make decisions. Legal information--even that found in Bitlaw Guidance--is not actual legal advice that should be relied upon. Since every fact situation is different, we encourage you to contact a qualified attorney before making any decision on how to handle your particular situation. Of course, the attorneys at Tysver Beck Evans would be happy to help you.
So if you can live with that bit of hedging, we think you will find the various topics of Bitlaw Guidance to be of sufficient interest and informative value to help guide you along a path to making better and informed decisions about your intellectual property.