NEWS
Bob’s Revised Patent Books Available
Bob published his Patent Shock Series of books back in 2012-2013. But we just revised them with significant updates. There are new covers, updated material and information and this version is in a more popular 8.5″x 11″ format.
You can find the books on Amazon.
White Space Patenting is geared towards writing robust patent applications.
Green Fields Patenting is geared towards building a solid patent portfolio.
The US Patent Process Wall Display
This is our newly installed display of the US Patent Process.
Simplified Patent Process Flowchart
Since clients frequently want to know the process of getting a patent, we have made a simplified flowchart of the basic steps.
To be clear, this simple flowchart does NOT purport to cover every possible scenario; there are other possible complexities, and an application can have several “final” office actions. It should only serve as a general idea of the basic process for obtaining a US patent. PCT and other foreign patents are different.
New Offices
We are officially moved into our new offices. We are now located at 19900 MacArthur Blvd. Suite 810, Irvine CA 92612, a few miles south of the old office building.
Here are a few pictures of the new place.
Fish IP Law Is Moving!
Fish IP Law is moving to a new location this weekend. We should be completely moved in by Wed. Dec. 14. The new offices will be located at 19900 MacArthur Blvd. Suite 810, Irvine, CA 92612.
Update on the European Unitary Patent – Coming April 1, 2023
The new European Unitary Patent (UP) system is now coming into effect on April 1, 2023 for 17 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden), while other EU countries are expected to join at a later date.
In our previous article, we highlighted some benefits of the new UP system, among which there is the creation of the Unitary Patent Court (UPC), which will have jurisdiction over the infringement and validity of UP patents and over all signing member states. The UPC will also have jurisdiction over existing European Patents, but the holders of such patents will have the option to “opt out” of the UPC.
Should owners of existing European Patent opt in or opt out of the UPC?
We think that the UPC jurisdiction will be highly advantageous, considering that, first of all, it will be cheaper to litigate in and it will prevent forum shopping among member states. Also, a UPC decision, valid and enforceable in all signing member states, will prevent diverging decisions and lack of legal certainty. One foreseeable and important disadvantage, however, is that a patent deemed invalid by a UPC decision will also be automatically invalidated in all signing member states.
In any case, the UP system will undoubtedly be worth it for those seeking protection in numerous member states, as the cost of filing through the UP system is scheduled to be about the same as filing in five individual states.
Read more at Unitary Patent Guide – FAQ
Lucia Minnucci, LLM
Lucia Minnucci is a Law Clerk at Fish IP™. Lucia received her first degree in law from the University of Bologna, in Bologna, Italy. After obtaining her law degree, Lucia received an LLM degree from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, with a concentration in Intellectual Property and Technology Law.