Michael J. Foycik Jr., Esq.

A US patent application normally must be filed within one year of the first public use, public disclosure, commercial use, or publication. However, care must be taken to preserve foreign (non-US) rights, because foreign (non-US) countries often require “absolute novelty” and provide no grace period.

Patents can be effective to protect broad inventive ideas. Each patent can protect an inventor’s rights only in the country of filing. By international treaties, filing of a U.S. patent application normally tolls the deadline for filing in foreign (non-US) countries for a period up to one year, after which a foreign patent must be filed or the rights may be lost.

U.S. Patents can be licensed or assigned. In those cases, royalties may be given, or lump sum payments may be made instead.

There is a “duty to disclose” information in any US patent application, meaning that any information pertinent to patentability must be disclosed to the US patent office. A specific form is required for this.

We have experience with many other types of patent matters. These include patent license negotiations, business dispute resolution, and handling retailer problems caused by competitor’s patent complaints.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss your business situation.