A Board Certified Patent Attorney
Increase in Patents at Florida Universities
The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that a survey conducted by the Technology Transfer Office at Florida State University shows an increase in patents that were issued to universities in Florida, up from 7 percent between 2003 and 2004. These universities include Florida Atlantic University, Florida A & M University, Florida International University, University of Central Florida, Universi... Read More
Software Patent Granted For “Single Use Credit Card Number” to EDI Secure By USPTO
Software patents are back in news with EDI Secure LLP patenting the "Single Use Credit Card Number" through the U.S. Patent Office (US PTO) according to an article published in send2press.com . Contributing to, Mr. Jeffrey Ice, inventor of U.S. Patent #6598031 and partner of EDI Secure LLLP granted the American e-commerce community a level of security, virtually doing away with... Read More
Patenting Products – Calmar Inc. Rescues Its Trigger Sprayers From Counterfeiting
Household product patents are an important component of my practice as a Florida patent attorney. Interestingly enough, Calmar, Inc., was involved in litigation with Magic Creations and Loomco companies regarding the use of alleged use of counterfeit products. Both products are claimed to contravene Calmar’s trademarked TS800(TM) trigger sprayers as reported in the... Read More
Toyota Sued by Florida Manufacturer For Infringement of Electric Drive Patent
A small manufacturer of electric drive motor technology based in Tarpon Springs, Florida, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation in Tampa, Florida in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida according to a press release by Solomon Technologies, Inc. The company contends that the gas-electric hybrid Prius and Highlander vehicles are infring... Read More
Patent Attorney Confidentiality
In my post entitled “Risks of Disclosing Your Invention Prior to a Patent Filing”, I discuss a number of risks associated with the pre-filing disclosure of an invention. I did not address, however, pre-filing discussions with a patent attorney and would like to discuss that now. This is often an area of concern among inventors. It is natural for inventors to be concerned ... Read More
Confidentiality / Non-disclosure Agreements
A Non-Disclosure Agreement (sometimes called a confidentiality agreement) is used by an inventor to reveal an unpatented idea to a party. The inventor has the other party sign a document that says they will not disclose any of the information to anyone else, and will not compete with the inventor. I strongly discourage revealing your invention until you have filed a patent application even if you ... Read More
Risks of Disclosing Your Invention Prior to a Patent Filing
The possibility of having your new idea stolen before you have applied for a patent is something that has haunted every new inventor. It is important to keep the details of your new idea secret until you have at least applied for a patent. In addition to the possibility of your idea being stolen, there are other potential pitfalls of disclosing your invention before a patent application is applied... Read More
Utility vs. Design Patent Protection
Let us start by looking at the at the different types of patents that are available – These are utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. Plant patents are very rare. As the name suggests, a plant patent is used to protect newly developed plants. My practice focuses on utility and design patents and these will be discussed below: Utility Patents – The vast majority of new inv... Read More
Maintaining an Inventor’s Notebook
Maintaining an inventor’s notebook or log costs close to nothing and provides immediate evidence documenting the date of an invention before a patent attorney can be retained to file a patent application. Ideally, an inventor’s log should be a bound notebook. There are professional Inventor’s Logs commercially available with green grid-lined paper for drawings. You do not need to... Read More
Miscellaneous IP Topics
All blog postings to this category are related to Miscellaneous IP topics as they appear in the law. These may include, but are not limited to, Copyright Law, Franchise Law, Trade Secrets, and Unfair Competition.
Trademarks
All blog postings to this category are related to Trademarks as they appear in the law. A trademark is defined as a distinctive design, picture, emblem, logo or wording (or combination) affixed to goods for sale to identify the manufacturer as the source of the product. Trademarks may be registered with the U.S. Patent Office to prove use and ownership.
Top 10 Reasons to Choose Me as Your Patent Attorney
Reason No. 1: Because I Teach Patent Law to Other Lawyers and Law Students For the past nine (9) years, I have been an Adjunct Professor at Nova Southeastern University Law School teaching patent, trademark, and copyright law to graduating law students. In addition to being an Adjunct Professor at Nova Law School, I lecture and teach patent and trademark law to other attorneys and members of the S... Read MoreFlorida Atlantic University Awarded Patent on Software
A patent has been awarded to Florida Atlantic University Professor Stuart Galup for a new software-based system for assisting local government departments in overseeing guardianship cases according to an article in the Boca Raton News. According to the article, this was the first patent associated with Florida Atlantic University to originate with the College of Business. The fact that the article... Read More
Patent Increases Marketplace Opportunities in Online Gaming
Panthesis, Inc. confirms obtaining a patent to permit game publishers to provide gaming facilities to tens of thousands of participants and spectators in the virtual arena. This leading firm in peer-to-peer networking is bringing Online Event Arenas into the multiplayer online game market. According to an article at send2press.com , this all-new technology is based on the various patents of the fi... Read More