Patent Law and Other Intellectual Property Issues
What Is a Patent?
Why Patents Instead of Trade Secrets?
Why Patents Instead of Copyrights?
The Right to Exclude
Blocking Patent Hypothetical
Blocking Patent Example
Enforceability, Publication, and Expiration
Misconceptions about what Patents Cover
Studio Arrangement US 8,676,045
Patentability Requirements
Does the “Poor Man’s Patent” Still Exist?
Provisional Patent Applications
Non-Provisional Patent Applications
Filing Deadlines
Patent Costs
Patentability Searches
Filing & Examination of Patent Applications
Foreign Patent Protection
Assignments
Inventorship

Enforceability, Publication, and Expiration
Patents are enforceable only after being granted (2+ years after filing)
Damages may be payable on infringement calculated starting from the time of application publication
Publication is at 18 months or can be requested earlier
Publication is mandatory for foreign filing, voluntary otherwise
Thus, for a purely domestic filing, the patent application may be kept secret until a patent is granted
A patent expires 20 years from date of filing and may be extended in days or years due to delays at the patent office
A patent can expire for failure to pay maintenance fees, although revival is possible