US Economy needs strong Patent and Copyright Laws for recovery.

A recent research study conducted by The Manufacturing Institute, of the National Association of Manufacturers, suggests that Patents and Copyrights are integral to a robust economic recovery in the United States. The research study found that 85% pf US per capita growth is the direct result of technological progress. According to Jerry Jasinowski, President of The Manufacturing Institute, “Technological innovation would be crippled without the intellectual property protections that assure inventors and investors that their work will not be stolen.”

For instance, the pharmaceutical industry requires massive outlays of capital since most drugs fail in clinical trials and research/development. Without time-limited monopolies, shareholders and investors would not be able to financially justify massive investment into promising new drugs.

For more information on how Patents can help your business, please visit the Los Angeles Patent Attorney or the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Attorney.

FREE VIDEO TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO PATENT SEARCHES

Here's an excellent video tutorial on how to do your own patent searches for free.

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For more in depth instructions, please visit the Los Angeles Patent Attorney website.

Ever since law school I have been asked about the "Poor Man's Patent". And ever since then the answer is the same now as it was then: there's no such thing. According to the "Poor Man's Patent", the inventor simply writes down his invention on paper and sends it to himself in the mail. Supposedly, this sealed envelope with the postmarked date will signify the date of invention and will somehow accord monopoly rights in the invention. The idea of a "Poor Man's Patent" is an enduring myth with the staying power of urban legends such as Elvis sightings and UFOs. These urban legends may sound "truthy" but are specious.

The only way to protect the novelty of an invention such as novel devices, business methods, and unique designs through patent law is to file a patent application. Now, it is true that establishing a date of reduction to practice is important in some cases, a "Poor Man's Patent" is probably not the way to go. A better method of establishing a date of invention is a lab notebook. In this lab notebook, the inventor would record his experiments, date and sign it in every entry. However, you should note that a lab notebook would NOT give you patent rights either. It would simply establish a date of conception or reduction to practice for the invention which may be important in subsequent patent prosecution or patent litigation.

Now, if someone is looking for the cheapest way to protect intellectual property, Copyright law might be applicable in limited cases. One example may be source code or object code in software. Since software code is protectable under both patent law and copyright law, a Copyright registration might accord some intellectual property protection. However, you should note that the $45 registration fee would not protect against reverse-engineering and other various fair uses which may not completely protect your invention. Note that Copyright law will not protect inventions such as devices, novel methods, etc. Copyright law only protects the expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves.

My name is Andrew Y. Schroeder, Esq., a US Patent Attorney based in Los Angeles, licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the State Bar of California. Los Angeles Patent Attorney Los Angeles Business Attorney

The main difference between assigning a patent and licensing a patent is important. Assigning IP Rights is basically selling the complete ownership interest in that patent, trademark, or copyright. And the licensing of the Intellectual Property is like "renting" that IP.

Assignment of IP Rights can be made in whole or in part. In other words, you may assign away 50%, 1%, or 99% of your interest in that IP. Assignments may be integrated into a contract, or may be drafted separately. And the assignment of Intellectual Property can be fairly straight forward.

By way of contrast, the licensing of Intellectual Property is essentially "renting" those Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights. In the most strict legal sense, a license for IP is basically a promise not to sue the licensee for infringement of those Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights which belong to you. These licenses are typically time-constrained. They may be made for a fixed number of months, years, decades, or contingent upon a specific event.

Assignments, like deeds, are not time sensitive. Once you assign those IP rights, your rights in those Intellectual Property are gone forever. In other words, you cannot assign those rights in your Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights for a period of months, years, or decades.

For this reason, an assignment of IP will be more valuable than a simple license. As such, any assignment you make should be duly recorded with the USPTO, Library of Congress, or your Secretary of State.

Los Angeles Patent Attorney Los Angeles Business Attorney My name is Andrew Y. Schroeder, Esq., US Patent Attorney based in Los Angeles. Licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and the State Bar of California.

Newsflash, you can now conduct your own patent searches online for free. There are two primary online sources that you should use: Google Patents and the USPTO patent database. Both are great resources and if you follow the video tutorial and the instructions, you should be able to conduct a proper patent search just like the pros. And you will also be able to save yourself, or your company hundreds to thousands of dollars. And time: on average several weeks to several months.

To view this free video tutorial along with instructions, please visit the Los Angeles Patent Attorney website.