Patent – Trademark – Copyright
Broward: (954) 924-0707
Miami-Dade: (305) 373-7600

Patent

Patent Law Attorney in Miami, FL

In regard to patents, this typically includes initial review of inventions, performing patent searches, preparing patent applications, filing and prosecuting patent applications in the United States as well as in foreign countries, including Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications and European Patent Office (EPO) applications, counseling in the areas of licensing and promoting patents as well as asserting and enforcing patent rights, as well as defending patent actions in litigation.

The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to enact laws relating to patents, in Article 1, section 8, which reads “Congress shall have power… to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Under this power Congress has from time to time enacted various laws relating to patents. The first patent law was enacted in 1790. The patent laws underwent a general revision which was enacted July 19, 1952, and which came into effect January 1, 1953. It is codified in Title 35, United States Code. Additionally, on November 29, 1999, Congress enacted the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA), which further revised the patent laws. See Public Law 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501 (1999).

Types of Patents

There are three types of patents

1. Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or any new and useful improvement thereof;

2. Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, nonobvious, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. A design patent has a term of 14 years from grant;

3. Plant Patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.

Who may apply for a patent?

Only the inventor may apply for a patent. If two or more persons make an invention jointly, they apply for a patent as joint inventors. Financial contribution does not qualify one as a joint inventor.

Provisional Application for a Patent

Since June 8, 1995, the USPTO has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional application for patent which was designed to provide a lower cost first patent filing in the United States. Claims and oath or declaration are NOT required for a provisional application. Provisional application provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a patent application and permits the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the invention. Provisional applications may not be filed for design inventions.

Non-Provisional Application for a Patent

A non-provisional application for a patent is made to the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and includes:

1. A written document which comprises a specification (description and claims), and an oath or declaration;

2. A drawing in those cases in which a drawing is necessary; and

3. Filing, search, and examination fees. All application papers must be in the English language or a translation into the English language will be required.

Located in the Metropolitan Miami Area, serving Miami, Miami Dade, Miami Beach, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Hollywood, Florida:

  • Uses a proven docket system to monitor and track a client’s intellectual property rights.
  • Counsels clients on the world wide web (Internet), protecting domain names, content on web sites, and counseling of proper legal notice and terms and conditions for web sites.
  • Litigates patent, trademark and copyright matters in State and Federal Courts as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and handles Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceedings (UDRP) before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In addition, the Firm provides litigation support to other firms in the areas of patent, trademark and copyright matters and provides mediation services for Intellectual Property (IP) disputes.

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