An Internet search using the term "provisional patent application" will bury you in ads by companies offering inventors a low-cost entry ticket to the U.S. patent system.  I'm concerned, but not surprised.  The U.S. provisional patent application filing system was not implemented to provide inventors with cheap access to the... Read More

Before returning to private practice, I practiced patent law in-house at two companies: first at a battery company, and then at an oil company.  I’ve sat through my share of invention disclosure committee meetings. This article is intended to help corporate and university researchers prepare “quality” chemical invention disclosures. In... Read More

Introduction To be successful, companies must identify and manage risks in their operations. Operational risks associated with Intellectual Property (IP) mostly fall into one of two risk categories: (1) loss of the company's IP assets, and (2) liabilities incurred by the company as a result of infringement of 3rd party... Read More

Drafting chemical patent applications is an art. Unfortunately, many things, even little things, can be fatal.  Below is short list of things that can be easily dealt with during the drafting process to avoid issues later.  This list is intended to inform researchers who are preparing invention disclosures, and assisting patent attorneys... Read More