The world of law is incredibly confusing and this is especially so for anyone that is on the outside looking in. It is important to note that this is the situation for many Americans who are not trained, lawyers. Furthermore, it is importnat to note that this is why people who want to become lawyers will spend a minimum of four years working towards getting a college degree!
The world of the patent process involves hiring a patent attorney and patent lawyers to help protect the rights of a brand name from theft and rip-offs. The very first patent law in the United States was put into place in the year of 1790. So this is just how long this type of legal situation has been around. Here are all of the facts that surround patents.
In the year of 2016, the USPTO issues 303,051 across the United States. Now, take a moment to understand that the USPTO is the United States Post and Trademark Office. This is an office that works hard to help give people the patents that they need to protect their intellectual property. This brings us to the next point of discussion, which is defining an intellectual property, but first, let’s make a pit stop.
Design patents can potentially expire within the span of 14 years. Also, packaging that is uniquely designed can potentially be eligible for a design patent. as previously mentioned, this type of patent will only last 14 years whereas a utility patent can potentially last for nearly 20 years.
According to information from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, there are three kinds of patents. This includes the previously mentioned utility patents, design patents, and also plant patents. The utility patent is often the most commonly utilized patent as opposed to other kinds of patents. As a matter of fact. the USPTO has revealed that nearly 90% of all patent documents have been utility patents.
There are currently four different ways for people to work hard to protect their intellectual properties. These methods include patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Right now, the Patent OFfice in the United States manages to receive six times as many applications as it did in the year 1980. In 2016, digital communication and computer technology claimed the first and second place in the list of technologies with the most international patent applications.
Lex Machina released the legal analytics that they gather and this revealed that there were over 4,537 infringement suits filed in 2016. For someone to receive a patent they have to get their invention to meet three different pieces of criteria. This includes novelty, usefulness, and the item must not be obvious.
In Conclusion
Every single year there are people who apply for a patent a trademark because they want to protect their intellectual property. An intellectual property is an independent idea or thought or invention that comes from one person or a group of people. This can include actual inventions and it can also include ideas like stories, books, and even scripts for movies.
