Timely Revival of Abandoned Applications

Often times, we come across with inventors who have lapsed or abandoned patent applications due to non compliance with the deadlines and time limits.  Especially when you deal with USPTO, the petition fee for the revival of abandoned patent applications can be as high as $850 (for small and micro entity) to $1700 ( Large Entity) as per current fee schedule. Not to forget, the delay that an inventor faces when the abandoned application is being processed for revival.

 

In a nutshell, if you are a start up or a solo inventor, the revival fee may be a little expensive to keep things going when you’re already on a tight budget.  As an IP advisor, I may suggest “Prevention is better than cure”. All the potential inventors who wish to file Patent or Trademark applications shall not miss the respective Patent & Trademark Office correspondence. The correspondence itself bear  deadlines for respective cases. If you as an inventor or start up find it too much to handle, you may employ legal professionals, attorneys and advisors for docketing purpose. In case you have prospective IP queries, kindly touch base with me at contact@patfrigate.com

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Devising a potent Patent Strategy

A well formulated Patent portfolio is the soul of any business venture, typically when you are dealing with high throughput technologies.  While it is obvious that the big players are diligently working to enhance their patent portfolio but on the other hand start ups have geared up to have an active eye on their building patent portfolio. Nobody wants to lose the game and the very fact has led to drafting of broader and enhanced patent claims with a scope for future claims expansion during patent prosecutions.

 Patent landscaping is one crucial factor that has contributed in strengthening the existing patent portfolio. Landscaping gives a clear indication of the technology area to focus upon, analyzing the geography of markets of interest, identifying the competitors and their area of practice and formulating core business and R&D strategies.

 Businesses have to carry out a robust IP due diligence search before foraying into the red ocean. While, entering a red ocean has its own merits and demerits, but stringent competition obviously will lead to a race in acquiring the most diverse patent portfolio. The more diverse your IP portfolio is, the stronger is your business reputation.  On the other hand, if your technology is foraying into the blue ocean, you certainly have an advantage of undisputed marketplace but this does not neglect the fact that such a situation could possibly lead to an ample number of episodes of “Designing around”. In both circumstances, you need a practical and effective patent strategy to survive.

In a nutshell, a potent patent strategy will be motley of various factors discussed above but the very fact of implementing it is a challenge. Many businesses worldwide have overcome this challenge and created a robust IP portfolio for their ventures. Devising a potent patent strategy will definitely win you many accolades in the near future. Thus, give your business a boost and adopt a pragmatic IP strategy and reap the future benefits. 

( Image by Claudia Meyer)