May 6th, 2009

Last fall, a local small business printer received a letter accusing him of infringing another company’s patent, demanding that he stop the infringement, and pay damages and attorney fees. He took that letter to his corporate attorney. The corporate attorney told the printer he had no idea what needed to be done to solve the accusation, or what it would cost. Fortunately, the corporate attorney referred the printer to us. After investigating the matter, we were able to advise the printer that he was not infringing the patent, and advised him how to better position himself so he would be less vulnerable to such accusations.

May 6th, 2009

We recently had a client who reached agreement with a seller to purchase an product line from another company. The seller agreed that the buyer would receive all intellectual property that went with the product line. The seller also said there was no intellectual property. The buyer asked us to determine whether there was any intellectual property.

January 4th, 2009

Short answer “NO”. As with any legal document, have your attorney look over each and every Confidentiality Agreement before you let anyone sign it. If a Confidentiality Agreement is presented as a surprise when you enter someone’s facility for a planned meeting, end the meeting immediately. Better to postpone or cancel the meeting than to enter into an agreement which will cause long-term problems later. Planning for any meeting must include an exchange of ideas regarding how confidential information will be treated. You do yourself a favor by asking in advance whether any documents need to be signed before you start the meeting. If there is any chance you will be disclosing any confidential information, it is wise to be proactive by sending the other participants the agreement you want them to sign, well in advance of the meeting date. This is, of course, an agreement you have had prepared by your attorney.

January 4th, 2009

Your Rights

In the USA, a patent grants the patent owner the right to exclude all others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention.  The legal club you possess is the right to bring the offending party into Federal Court to answer to the charge of infringement.

September 15th, 2008

Patents are assets like anything else in which a company invests its capital. Properly assessed, valued, and applied, patent assets can drive sales and profitability in ways that other business assets cannot.