Patenting for Inventors

Generally patents last 20 years from the date of filing, but in some situations they can be extended past this date.  Check out this episode to learn about the situations where your patent term can b…

In this episode I talk about how to conduct a patent examiner interview. I go over how to schedule one, what to do during an interview and what to do after an interview, as well as some patent interv…

Sometimes your patent or patent application goes abandoned because you didn't respond to a rejection in time or you didn't pay the right amount fees to the patent office. What should you do? Learn th…

If your patent examiner keeps rejecting your application, what should you do? One option is to appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).  Learn what an appeal is, and how to do one.

In this bonus episode of "Patenting for Inventors," I interview Genein Letford, author, educator, and founder of Alumni360, an entrepreneurship mentoring program for college bound students.

There are several options for responding to a Final Office Action. One option is to file a Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Request so that your application is reviewed by additional patent examiners.  Le…

There are several options for responding to a final rejection. In this episode learn how to do one of those options, called a Request for Continued Examination.

If the claims in your patent application have been rejected twice, you usually will receive a final office action.  Don't worry yet! "Final" does not mean final.  There are at least eight options you…

You are only allowed one patent per invention, but sometimes you might get a rejection called a "Double Patenting Rejection." What are these and how do you handle them?

Continuation-in-Part applications are useful for when you have some additional features you want to get patent protection for, but you didn't include them in your original patent application. 

This episode goes over the specific type of continuing application called a continuation application. Use continuation applications to broaden your patent protection from your original application, k…

Learn what divisional patent applications are and when you should file one.  Divisional patent applications are useful when the patent examiner has previously required you to split up your originally…

If you are considering filing patent applications related to an application that you already filed, then you might be interested in a continuing patent application. There are different types and you …

Learn how to respond to an election of species requirement from the patent office.  An examiner will not examine your invention if you are claiming too many variations of the same thing.  In this epi…

Learn what a patent application restriction requirement is.  A patent application is only allowed to have one invention, so what are you to do if the examiner says that your patent application actual…

Learn how to amend the patent application specification and the requirements of what to do if you have to do a substitute specification and how to mark up your application with strikethroughs, underl…

In this episode I go through how to amend patent drawings.

In this episode I go through the mechanics of how to mark up any claims that you have amended.  Know how to properly use underlining, strikethroughs, and double brackets to tell the examiner what exa…

When you amend claims, you can't just send a new set of claims to the patent examiner and ask for a reconsideration, you have to identify and mark up your claims in a specific way. In this episode I …

In this episode I go through how to respond to obviousness rejections by using secondary considerations.  Secondary considerations for non-obviousness include reasons for patentability, including: co…