Ocean Law prepares and prosecutes United States and foreign patent applications for electrical, mechanical and internet inventions. Our experience includes preparing and prosecuting patent applications for automotive systems, electrical equipment, power electronics, turbomachinery, power and generating equipment, medical devices, e-commerce and advanced energy saving products. We file U.S. patent applications and international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT").  And where foreign applications must be filed by a practitioner in the foreign country, we utilize carefully selected local counsel for this purpose.

Prior to preparing a patent application, we work with the inventor to document the invention in an invention disclosure.  If needed, we perform a prior art search to assess the patentability of the invention. Where an inventor's benefit from or rights to the invention may be compromised by a disclosure, we prepare documents or make filings to preserve those benefits and rights. For example, confidentiality agreements are good business practice prior to discussions with a potential investor and use of the provisional patent application process can preserve rights that would have otherwise been lost.

Patent Services

• Prior art searches

• Patentability opinions

• U.S. patent applications
  1. Utility patents
  2. Provisional patents
  3. Design patents

• PCT international patent applications

• Patent licensing

• Patent infringement opinions

• Patent validity opinions

• Intellectual property audits

• Intellectual property due diligence
  1. M&A
  2. Public Offering
     

Patent Fundamentals

A person who holds a valid U.S. patent has the legal right to prevent anyone else in the U.S. from practicing the claimed invention. This right to exclude is the essence of the patent grant.

Patents can be obtained on articles of manufacture, compositions of matter, machines, processes and improvements to any of these. Almost anything made by the hand of man is subject to patent protection if it meets the tests of the U.S. Patent Code (35 U.S.C. 1-376).

An invention is generally patentable if it is 1) Useful, 2) New and 3) Not Obvious. Useful means simply that the invention has some utility. New means that on searching, the patent office found no evidence of an earlier, identical invention. Not obvious means that the present invention would not have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the present invention was made.

Patent rights are granted to inventors by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The issuance of a patent is the result of a successful patent application and prosecution process. An inventor's patent application describes the invention in a manner that would allow a skilled person to reproduce the invention without undue experimentation.

When a patent application arrives at the patent office, an initial review for compliance with formalities is made. If the application meets these requirements, it is reviewed by a patent examiner who compares the patent claims to the prior art (earlier inventions) turned up in a prior art search. If in light of the prior art, the invention is new and not obvious, the patent examiner will issue a notice of allowance and a requirement that issue fees be paid. Following the payment of the issue fees, the patent is issued and is enforceable from that day until its expiration, generally on the 20th anniversary of its filing date.