Intellectual Property: Patent Law
This site contains an overview of Patent Law issues, including:
Patent Legislation
Patent Topics
Selected Cases
Selected Articles and Reports
Forms & Resources
Other Useful Links
Patent Act
The Patent Act is codified in the United States Code, Title 35. It covers the establishment of the Patent & Trademark Office, the patentability of inventions, grants of patents, protection, and international treaties.
Business Method Patents and Pre-Grant Publication - The Increasing Complexity of Patent Strategies
By A. Ross. Driven by investor demand for proprietary technologies and patent portfolios, both the financial community and the on-line world are filing patent applications to protect software-based technologies and business methods at an increasingly frenetic pace.
Cross-Border Litigation over European Patents
By IPR Helpdesk. "At the moment, there is no international jurisdiction for patent disputes whose competence goes beyond the territory of one state. The fact that no single jurisdiction exists leads to a number of disadvantages, among them the major one of conflicting decisions."
Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about Patent
By Chilling Effects Clearinghouse. An overview of patent law. It includes answers to questions, such as, "What is a patent?", "What may or may not be patented?", "What happens if an invention is made public before a patent application is filed?", "What are patent 'claims'?", and other useful information about patents.
Frequently Asked Questions about Patent from the USPTO
FAQ's from the US Patent & Trademark Office excerpted from General Information Concerning Patents print brochure.
General Information About Patents
By Oppedahl & Larson LLP. Peruse general information about patent law, and explore links to other intellectual property resources. Provided by law firm Oppedahl and Larson.
Overview of Patent Law
The Legal Information Institute presents a brief overview of patent law and provides links to materials for further research, including statutes and case law.
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Amazon.com vs.Barnesandnoble.com
This is a patent infringement suit brought by Amazon.com, Inc.against barnesandnoble.com, inc., and barnesandnoble.com llc. Amazon moved for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Barnes & Noble's use of a feature of its website called "Express Lane." The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington held that Amazon had presented a case showing a likelihood of infringement. The district court granted Amazon's motion, and now Barnes & Noble appeals.
Patent suit could sting eBay
By T. Wolverton, news.com. eBay, one of the biggest success stories on the Web, is being threatened with a patent infringement lawsuit that could force it to modify its winning auction format.
"State Street" Decision Causes "Boom" in Software Patent Filings
By J. Rees. In July 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the patentability of business method-related software in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group. This decision, according to the Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, has triggered a "boom" in patent application filings.
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Boston Patent Law Association
The Boston Patent Law Association (BPLA) is an association of intellectual property professionals, providing educational programs and a forum for the interchange of ideas and information concerning patent, trademark, and copyright laws. Through a volunteer Board of Governors and committees, it organizes and hosts educational seminars, social events and conventions, and comments on rules and legislation impacting the profession.
BountyQuest: The Marketplace for Patent Information
BountyQuest is the Internet destination where companies post large cash rewards for vital information. Finally, individuals around the globe can be rewarded for what they know. The rapidly growing, high-stakes patent world is the source of BountyQuest's first rewards, where access to fugitive information helps resolve today's raging patent controversies.
Delphion Patent Search and Intellectual Asset Management
Delphion was spun out of IBM with a long-term mission of enabling other companies to achieve success similar to IBM. Delphion are primarily the pioneers in intellectual asset management. What is Intellectual Asset Management (IAM)? Simply put, it's transforming intellectual property into strategic corporate assets. This website contains bibliographic access to patents from January 5, 1971 to the present.
Patent Law Links
This comprehensive directory includes pointers to law, lawyers and patent offices around the world. Find news and articles relevant to patent law.
US Patent & Trademark Office HYPERLINK "http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/indexebc.html"- Patent Electronic Business Center
The Patent Electronic Business Center is the e-commerce home for patenting with the USPTO. Here, you will find links to the systems that will enable you to do business with the USPTO electronically. You can submit a patent application online via the Electronic Filing System (EFS). You can also check the status of an application via the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR). To do a search on an existing issued patent or a patent application, browse through their Patent Full-Text and Full-Page Image Databases.
US Patent & Trademark Office HYPERLINK "http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm"- Provisional Application for Patent
A provisional application for patent is a U. S. national application for patent filed in the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). It allows filing without a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art) statement.
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Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, and University of Maine law school clinics. Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities. Chilling Effects encourages respect for intellectual property law, while frowning on its misuse to "chill" legitimate activity.
Patents.com
Oppedahl & Larson LLP is a law firm offering patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other intellectual property services. This Web server is intended to provide information about intellectual property and about the firm.
US Patent and Trademark Office
The PTO is a non-commercial federal entity and one of 14 bureaus in the Department of Commerce (DOC). Its primary services include processing patents and trademarks and disseminating patent and trademark information.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the use and protection of works of the human spirit. With headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO is one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations system of organizations. It administers 23 international treaties dealing with different aspects of intellectual property protection. The Organization counts 179 nations as member states.
Legal Information Institute: Patent Law
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