The intellectual property portfolio of a startup is, in many cases, the organization’s most valuable intangible asset. It is the essence of the business’s competence and competitiveness in the market.

A patent grant affords certain legal protections which can increase the value of an invention. Generally, a patent provides a twenty-year monopoly period, during which the inventor, or another party who has rights to the patent ..

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a collaborative deferred-fee provisional patent application pilot program for inventions that combat COVID-19, an outbreak that generated a global crisis in urgent need of creative solutions.

Although thousands of appeals are filed at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board annually, patent applicants utilize oral hearings in relatively few of them. As a result, many patent professionals do not have experience, or do not have significant experience, in oral hearings.

Last month we discussed some ideas for preventing 101 rejections. A few additional tips may be helpful in this regard. Also provided herein are some additional general tips to help obtain allowable claims that will provide patents that add value to a client’s portfolio.