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Patent Awakenings (Demo)
[Situational Analysis Excerpt]

Patent Law Fundamentals | Trade Secret Module | Patent Awakenings Situational Analysis
 
 
1.  Introduction - this Situational Analysis will address concerns of a person who has recently realized his or her need for understanding the patent laws.  The emphasis of the outline below will be on obtaining patent protection for your inventions, and avoiding inadvertent infringement of another's patent.
 
 This situational analysis is directed to the following audience.  Persons whose company may have been in existence for decades, and who have just come to the realization that they need to make strategic decisions with greater knowledge of the patent laws.  And, persons whose companies are newly formed, and who realize that intellectual property will play an important role in fully realizing the value of their company.
 
Comment - To gain a more full understanding of this situational analysis, a basic knowledge of patent law is necessary.  If you do not already have a basic understanding of patent law, see Patent Law Fundamentals.
 
 2.  Obtaining Patent Protection - the following discussion will emphasize those aspects of obtaining patents that are most likely to be of concern to the target audience.
 
Warning! - A determination of whether particular subject matter is patentable is highly dependent on the facts of your particular situation.  The determination should be made only after a thorough consultation with your patent attorney.
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 B)  What is patentable - to be patentable, an invention must be useful, novel, and non-obvious.  While these three items are requirements of patentability, the following discussion will emphasize those aspects of these items that are most likely to be of concern to the target audience.  For a more complete discussion see Patent Law Fundamentals.
 
 By virtue of the fact that you have come to a "recent" realization of a need to understand the patent laws, the patentability of any of your inventions depends on your current situation.  Your current situation is the result of the combination of "prior activity" and "the passage of time" since the activity.  Note that your own prior activity, and the prior activity of others may affect the patentability of your invention.
 
Warning! - The following discussion is directed toward obtaining United States Patent protection.  Obtaining patent protection in other countries has different, and frequently more stringent, requirements.
 
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 I)  Prior Activity Effecting Patentability - the following types of activity identify types of activity relevant to determining patentability.
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     (a)  the invention was "described in a printed publication" in this or a foreign country - if the invention to be patented was described in a printed publication more than one year prior to filing of a patent application, the right to receive a patent is lost (see warning).  The printed publication may be a publication that was caused to be published by you, or by a third party.
     
     The phrase "printed publication" refers to whether the matter has been widely distributed, rather than whether the matter was published using a printing press.
     
    Comment - Restricting access to printed matter (i.e., granting only limited access to descriptions of an invention to be patented) and requiring non-disclosure agreements for those who must see the descriptions are frequently used to prevent knowledge from becoming a "printed publication", and therefore becoming prior art.
 
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 B)  The Defensive Benefits of Patent Protection - while many people are aware of the offensive benefits of obtaining patent protection, fewer are aware of the defensive benefits.  Defensive benefits of obtaining patent protection are those benefits that are exercised to curtail another's offensive use of their patent protection.
 
 When faced with a lawsuit by a plaintiff who alleges that your company infringes another's patent, it can be invaluable to have patents of your own to assert against the plaintiff. . . .
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Patent Law Fundamentals | Trade Secret Module | Patent Awakenings Situational Analysis

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