Patent & Trademark Law LOYOLA PRESENTATION Copyright © 2014, Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP and Neal & McDevitt, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Patent & Trademark LawLOYOLA PRESENTATION

Patent & Trademark Law

What is a patent? Why important, value to you and your client

How to obtain a patent

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Patents

What is a patent?

What is patentable? - Structures, processes, programs, designs

Benefits of Patents- Support Competitive Position- Support commercial position with suppliers- Control licensing and joint ventures- Trade-off in infringement situations

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Requirements to be Patentable

New

Useful

Non-obvious

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Requirements to be Patentable

Useful—it works, it has some legal purpose First to file New—not shown by prior art

- Patents- Printed publications- Products offered for sale, sold or publicly used

• Experimental use- Prior invention- Grace period (U.S. but not foreign)- Duty of Disclosure

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Patent Process

Preparation of application

Formal documents signed by inventors

Missing Parts, what is going on here?

Lots of events and interactions to docket, track, and process, many with deadlines to be observed

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Patent Pending

U.S. Patent Office Prosecution (normally 2-3 years) (patent good from issue to 20 years from application)- Official Action from Patent Office after about a year- Patent Office allows or rejects, with possibility to appeal, refile

or abandon the application- If case not allowed, response is filed- Once case allowed, patent issue in a few months

Continuation-In-Part (improvements) Divisional Application (more than one invention, need daughter

application) Foreign Patents, file within one year first application

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Process Map

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Model Patent Timeline

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A Bit Of Trivia About Patents

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Trademark

What is a trademark?

Prosecution—all actions associated with obtaining and maintaining a trademark registration

Enforcement—all actions associated with policing the market for infringing third party use

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Trademark Litigation

3 types of litigation- Federal lawsuits—typically for trademark

infringement, dilution, unfair competition- Oppositions—trial before the Trademark Trial and

Appeal Board (TTAB) seeking to prevent registration of a pending application

- Cancellations—trial before the TTAB seeking to cancel an existing registration

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Typical Tasks of a Trademark Paralegal

Conducting preliminary/knockout searches for clearing marks and/or advertisements

Conducting research based on results of preliminary or comprehensive search

Preparing and filing new applications and renewal applications

Maintaining evidence/use files

International portfolio management

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Typical Tasks of a Trademark Paralegal Continued

Reviewing watch reports and providing recommendations for next steps

Assignments

Drafting all correspondence to clients and drafting briefs for litigation

Explaining complex issues in layman’s terms

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Technical Skills

USPTO and TTAB site are generally user friendly

High use of specialized software for clearance, watching, etc.

Docketing software

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Current Trends in IP

Tone and wording of cease and desist letters

IP Rights in Social Media

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Globalization of IP and International Protection

Madrid Trademark Filing System via WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

90+ members

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How to Break into the IP Field

Entry level positions—administrative assistant/secretary

Networking opportunities—IPLAC (Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago) and INTA (International Trademark Association)

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The Ideal Paralegal Is…

Attention to Detail – Detail Oriented

Organized

Reliable

Consistent

Flexible

Trustworthy