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The United States Patent and Trademark Office

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is a wonderful resource for independent inventors. With information ranging from patents & trademarks to scam prevention, the USPTO is there to help you. (more…)

Question: My company owns the rights to a product that has a US patent and trademark.
I am currently receiving some interest from overseas buyers, but the product is not internationally
protected. The inventor did not register the patent internationally and the patent is a few years old. I am
considering filing a trademark application under the Madrid protocol but wondered if there is anyway to protect the product from being copied overseas. Are there such things as international trade agreements or non-disclosures that would prevent foreign parties from copying the formula and packaging?

Answer: Hello Rob, This is Steve replying.
Only if we could see into the future…. We would know whether to
invest in patenting inventions overseas or not. What I recommend to my clients is that they file for an International Patent Application via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) after filing for their patent applications in the United States. (more…)

Question: I am an independent individual inventor holding IPR in the form of PCT application cleared for national phase entry with affirmative patentability report from WIPO. I am planning to auction my IPR for 123 countries on net directly by a dedicated my own website. All required details will be put on the site. However, I would like to find out any specific legal requirement I may have to comply regarding investor protection etc.

Answer: Sounds like you have received authorization to file at the national level in the PCT countries. PCT applications are published after 18 months. If you are only disclosing what is already published, you are not jeopardizing your rights. As each countries’ laws vary, you would have to consult an attorney in the particular country involved once you have a pending sale. If you have a local patent attorney, he/she can assist with this as well.

Question: “If I invent a sandwich is it patentable ?? or only trademark i can register ? Is egg mcmuffin at mcdonald a patent?”

Answer: In theory, a sandwich is patentable. The reality is that most ingredients used in these sandwiches are known. To use various known foods to form a new combination is most likely going to be deemed obvious: not patentable. Submit your idea though to the Law Office of Steven B. Leavitt at YouInventIt.com for a no cost evaluation.