Has anyone ever filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office? I filed a preliminary patent application (gives me a year to file the real thing but uses the preliminary file date) recently electronically, and it seemed to go through but I haven't received any kind of email notication. I filed a trademark application last week and received a notification a few days later... If you've filed a patent electronically or otherwise, how long did it take to receive notification?
patents
- Thread starter twentynine
- Start date
I've filed many patents with the USPTO, my advice to you is get a good lawyer.
Getting a lawyer will enhance your chances of it going through.
American patents allow you to keep making improvements while in other countries this is not the case.
You should also start getting 'objections' from the patent office, if you dont get these then there's usually something wrong.
Getting a lawyer will enhance your chances of it going through.
American patents allow you to keep making improvements while in other countries this is not the case.
You should also start getting 'objections' from the patent office, if you dont get these then there's usually something wrong.
Strongbeau said:
I understand all that. That's not quite what I was asking about -- I was wondering just how long it takes them to acknowledge that I submitted my application. I'm not sure they got it, so I am looking to know how long I should wait to check up on it, since I haven't receive any kind of verification number.
Regards.
Sorry but I would avoid Bereskin & ParrStrongbeau said:
Try http://www.millerthomson.com/
They do good work
Esco! said:
+1 on avoiding Bereskin & Parr
I hired one of their lawyers a number of years back. The number of dollars I paid for her incompetence and the months of time I wasted for a trivial task still pisses me off.
I never got an apology, even though she knew she messed up.
B & P used to be one of the best, then their daddy died and their grandsons and other less desirables took over their name.Deviant said:
Things have gone downhill ever since!
Shame though, their name used to be held in high standing.
Many a company will pay many dollars for their "reputation".
Too bad its now worthless!!
A good patent lawyer is worth his weight in gold. You also have to pay heavy duty dollars. If anybody is serious and has the money I know of a firm in the USA that I used and they are top notch.Esco! said:B & P used to be one of the best, then their daddy died and their grandsons and other less desirables took over their name.
Things have gone downhill ever since!
Shame though, their name used to be held in high standing.
Many a company will pay many dollars for their "reputation".
Too bad its now worthless!!
You only learn about these people through word and mouth, not through the yellow pages.
Found this international survey that had Smart & Biggar and Gowlings as the best in Canada.
http://www.chambersandpartners.com/global/resultseditorial.aspx?cid=19&pid=34&solbar=1
Here are the summaries:
Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh
The Firm: The largest IP boutique in Canada has "a long history of involvement with litigation and prosecution and has established a strong foothold in the industry." Commentators say the firm's real mark of distinction is the "sophisticated and deep technical capabilities" of its lawyers, a vast majority of whom have an engineering or scientific background. In addition, clients were "impressed with a number of the younger lawyers in the team," making this a firm to "keep in mind for future years." The firm is extremely active in pharmaceutical sector patent litigation in Canada and has niche expertise in electronics and IT-related cases as well. The practice also covers trade marks, copyright and media, industrial designs, litigation, licensing, corporate support and strategic counselling. With around 100 professionals, offices across Canada and an association with Canada's largest patent agency Fetherstonhaugh, the firm is well equipped to deal with its clients' domestic needs.
Gowlings
The Firm: This "pre-eminent" national giant caters for every imaginable IP issue and enjoys a reputation for excellence in the field. Interviewees billed the team of around 150 professionals as "a terrific nucleus of lawyers." No matter what, whether it is in the area of patent prosecution, IP litigation, copyright or trade marks, the firm "has a recognised expert who can get results and there is no sign of its position slipping," say rivals. The firm's headquarters are in Ottawa, but it also has offices in Montréal, Kanata, Toronto, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as a representative office in Moscow. It therefore covers all business and technology centres in Canada and can handle local issues effectively. Commentators repeatedly highlighted the firm's superb clientele and excellent service. Its pharmaceutical patent practice in particular was picked out as exemplary, but the outfit is also strong in the automotive, consumer products and hi-tech sectors.
http://www.chambersandpartners.com/global/resultseditorial.aspx?cid=19&pid=34&solbar=1
Here are the summaries:
Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh
The Firm: The largest IP boutique in Canada has "a long history of involvement with litigation and prosecution and has established a strong foothold in the industry." Commentators say the firm's real mark of distinction is the "sophisticated and deep technical capabilities" of its lawyers, a vast majority of whom have an engineering or scientific background. In addition, clients were "impressed with a number of the younger lawyers in the team," making this a firm to "keep in mind for future years." The firm is extremely active in pharmaceutical sector patent litigation in Canada and has niche expertise in electronics and IT-related cases as well. The practice also covers trade marks, copyright and media, industrial designs, litigation, licensing, corporate support and strategic counselling. With around 100 professionals, offices across Canada and an association with Canada's largest patent agency Fetherstonhaugh, the firm is well equipped to deal with its clients' domestic needs.
Gowlings
The Firm: This "pre-eminent" national giant caters for every imaginable IP issue and enjoys a reputation for excellence in the field. Interviewees billed the team of around 150 professionals as "a terrific nucleus of lawyers." No matter what, whether it is in the area of patent prosecution, IP litigation, copyright or trade marks, the firm "has a recognised expert who can get results and there is no sign of its position slipping," say rivals. The firm's headquarters are in Ottawa, but it also has offices in Montréal, Kanata, Toronto, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as a representative office in Moscow. It therefore covers all business and technology centres in Canada and can handle local issues effectively. Commentators repeatedly highlighted the firm's superb clientele and excellent service. Its pharmaceutical patent practice in particular was picked out as exemplary, but the outfit is also strong in the automotive, consumer products and hi-tech sectors.
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If you filed electronically, you should get an immediate answerback /acknowledgement from the US PO, right on your screen. If not, the application didn't go through.
If you want to file provisionals, don't use USA. It's expensive, plus inflexible. Use the British PO -- you can file a GB provisional for nothing!
And there's no such qualification as "patent lawyer" in Canada. The qualification you need here, to practise, is "patent agent". It's open to anyone who can pass the exam, not just lawyers.
If you filed electronically, you should get an immediate answerback /acknowledgement from the US PO, right on your screen. If not, the application didn't go through.
If you want to file provisionals, don't use USA. It's expensive, plus inflexible. Use the British PO -- you can file a GB provisional for nothing!
And there's no such qualification as "patent lawyer" in Canada. The qualification you need here, to practise, is "patent agent". It's open to anyone who can pass the exam, not just lawyers.
I know of a couple large firms (whose business relies on good intellectual property protections) which have used the services of Smart & Biggar to good effect.
I'm not aware of us average yokels being able to file US patents; my understanding is that you need a registered patent attorney (agent) to do the filing. They'll also have the account with the USPTO to pay the corresponding fees.
And there are enough rules (and recent rule changes) in the USPTO both as to form and to practice (i.e. the format if the application and the way things are worded) that it's worthwhile to get capable help. Even then, claims might be rejected and require rewording (while still following all the rules for that sort of thing), which requires experienced and capable help.
I'm not aware of us average yokels being able to file US patents; my understanding is that you need a registered patent attorney (agent) to do the filing. They'll also have the account with the USPTO to pay the corresponding fees.
And there are enough rules (and recent rule changes) in the USPTO both as to form and to practice (i.e. the format if the application and the way things are worded) that it's worthwhile to get capable help. Even then, claims might be rejected and require rewording (while still following all the rules for that sort of thing), which requires experienced and capable help.
Another international survey of the best patent firms.
The results seem consistent with the other one (Smart & Biggar and Gowlings being #1 for patent work).
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache...ual+property&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=safari
The results seem consistent with the other one (Smart & Biggar and Gowlings being #1 for patent work).
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache...ual+property&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=safari
It all depends on who you get. Writing patents is a one-person affair. It's hardly ever worthwhile for two or more writers to collaborate on a patent specification. The reason is, before number two can start to make a worthwhile contribution to the task, he has to spend hours getting up to speed on the invention -- who is going to pay for that?
Plus, if you go the large prestigious firm, you don't necessarily get the brightest and most experienced patent writer. You might get the least-experienced trainee. The trainee is of course "supervised" - but compare it with a trainee dentist, where the trainee practices (in your mouth) under very close supervision. The trainee patent writer is left more or less on their own. They really only learn because they are smart people (which they are), not because they are closely supervised by the experienced ones.
It is meaningless to measure the performance of the patent firm, as a whole firm. You can only judge the performance of the individual who is actually writing your patent. The supervisor does do a little more than check the trainees work for spelling mistakes -- but not much more.
The difference between a good patent and a bad patent is that the good patent protects all the variants of your invention that you are entitled to protect, and the bad patent misses some out. And that is a matter more of engineering than of law. Make sure your writer can focus on your true adversary, namely your competitor's chief engineer, not their legal department.
Seek someone to write your patent who knows nearly as much about your invention as you do, and is capable of quickly understanding the new thing you have thought of, and of tranlsating that new thing into words. That is the quality you want, not which firm they belong to, nor how successfully they handle big-budget litigation. (The people who handle the litigation don't write the patents, anyway.)
When seeking someone to write your patent, don't be swayed by the prestigious offices -- that just affects the dollars you pay. Seek someone who makes you feel comfortable that they understand your invention, technically.
Of course, I am talking about an invention from which you hope to make money. If you just want to be able to tell your grandchildren you patented an invention, anyone will do.
Plus, if you go the large prestigious firm, you don't necessarily get the brightest and most experienced patent writer. You might get the least-experienced trainee. The trainee is of course "supervised" - but compare it with a trainee dentist, where the trainee practices (in your mouth) under very close supervision. The trainee patent writer is left more or less on their own. They really only learn because they are smart people (which they are), not because they are closely supervised by the experienced ones.
It is meaningless to measure the performance of the patent firm, as a whole firm. You can only judge the performance of the individual who is actually writing your patent. The supervisor does do a little more than check the trainees work for spelling mistakes -- but not much more.
The difference between a good patent and a bad patent is that the good patent protects all the variants of your invention that you are entitled to protect, and the bad patent misses some out. And that is a matter more of engineering than of law. Make sure your writer can focus on your true adversary, namely your competitor's chief engineer, not their legal department.
Seek someone to write your patent who knows nearly as much about your invention as you do, and is capable of quickly understanding the new thing you have thought of, and of tranlsating that new thing into words. That is the quality you want, not which firm they belong to, nor how successfully they handle big-budget litigation. (The people who handle the litigation don't write the patents, anyway.)
When seeking someone to write your patent, don't be swayed by the prestigious offices -- that just affects the dollars you pay. Seek someone who makes you feel comfortable that they understand your invention, technically.
Of course, I am talking about an invention from which you hope to make money. If you just want to be able to tell your grandchildren you patented an invention, anyone will do.
Buttercup, know any firm with expat British patent types?
Weren't they supposed to be the best, way back when?
Or, are they now too old?
Have they lost their smarts, and have they failed to remain current with the latest developments in law and technology?
Weren't they supposed to be the best, way back when?
Or, are they now too old?
Have they lost their smarts, and have they failed to remain current with the latest developments in law and technology?
Also make sure that whoever is writing your patent application uses clear and concise language. If you let the patent agent get too fancy on how they claim your invention, the patent examiners while make you life miserable making objections.
If you want your patent to go through fairly quickly, make sure it is clearly written without too much gobblegook, also make sure you provide all the information you have on the invention. By being vague and not direct, you leave yourself open to having a whole slew of objections being thrown at you by the patent examiners.
Also, don't complain too much about the patent examiners giving you grief. One of their main goals is to get patent applications allowed as actual patents but only if they are in a format that will survive a court case.
A good intellectual property lawyer will destroy a poorly written patent in court so that's why the examiners try their best to get people to write distinct and concisely written patents.
If you want your patent to go through fairly quickly, make sure it is clearly written without too much gobblegook, also make sure you provide all the information you have on the invention. By being vague and not direct, you leave yourself open to having a whole slew of objections being thrown at you by the patent examiners.
Also, don't complain too much about the patent examiners giving you grief. One of their main goals is to get patent applications allowed as actual patents but only if they are in a format that will survive a court case.
A good intellectual property lawyer will destroy a poorly written patent in court so that's why the examiners try their best to get people to write distinct and concisely written patents.
