Patent Reform: “America Invents Act” Almost Law
The Leahy-Smith “America Invents Act” H.R. 1249, was passed by the U.S. Senate on September 8, 2011 and because the House of Representatives passed identical legislation on June 23, the bill will go directly to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, commented on the final passage […]
Interview with “Invention Guru” Ronald Docie

Ronald L. Docie Sr is the president of Docie Development, LLC, an international company that provides services for inventors and corporations. His inventions are featured in Wal-Mart, Kmart and thousands of other distribution channels. As an agent for inventors, Docie has negotiated license deals with many companies including General Motors, and he’s a consultant to […]
My internship with an IP law firm, by Alyssa Helfer

My time interning at Kloss, Stenger & LoTempio this summer has been filled with new experiences. From filing trademark applications to familiarizing myself with google adwords, performing a patent search to writing blog posts, I have learned so much. I realized how valuable intellectual property can be, and how important it is to properly protect […]
Inventors Hall of Fame: Otis Ray McIntire

Today marks what would be the 93rd birthday of the inventor of Styrofoam, Otis Ray McIntire. Inventor: Otis Ray McIntire Born August 24, 1918 – Died February 2, 1996 Invention: Styrofoam Brand Foam: Patent #: 2,450,436 Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008. As with many great inventions, this one was developed […]
US Patent Number 8,000,000 Not 8 Millionth Patent

On August 16, 2011 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued patent number 8,000,000 to Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. but even though it was number 8,000,000 it wasn’t really the 8 millionth patent. The first United States patent was issued, signed by George Washington himself, in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins for his […]
USPTO Issues Patent Number 8,000,000
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued US patent number 8,000,000 on August 16, 2011. I’ve been considering writing a blog post for the last month or so about who will receive United States patent number 8,000,000 and as it turns out on Friday, August 19th my law office received a patent that […]
Trademark Application: More than Filling out a Form

My name is Alyssa Helfer, I’m a senior at Northwestern University and am hoping to go to law school after I graduate. Interning at the Kloss, Stenger and LoTempio law firm this summer has been filled with new experiences; most recently, this included attempting to prepare a trademark application to file on the USPTO website […]
PATENTS & INVENTIONS SERIES Part 2

In my last column on this blog I shared some of my conversation with my neighbor, Jim, about suitable subject matter for a patentable invention. (If you missed that column, you can find it in the archives of this blog.) I also mentioned that, since Jim is an independent inventor and interested in getting a […]
Inventors Hall of Fame: Harry Coover

Inventor Harry Coover Born March 6, 1917 – Died March 26, 2011 Invention: Superglue Patent Number 2,768,109; Patent Issued October 23, 1956 Inducted to National Inventors Hall of Fame™ in 2004 Some of the most useful products in our daily lives were developed completely by accident— and among these is Superglue. While working as a […]
Kodak Seeks to Profit from Patent Portfolio

Eastman Kodak Company announced that it is “exploring strategic alternatives related to its digital imaging patent portfolios, a move reflecting the current heightened market demand for intellectual property.” Does this mean they’re going to try to leverage their patent portfolio against other competitors in lawsuits? Can you say “patent troll”? Some people think that maybe […]