A patent is a grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the patent office or similar entity of the country in which the patent application is filed. The most common patent issued, a utility patent, covers any new and useful process, machine, manufactured article, or composition of matter, or any improvement thereof.
Patent protection is territorial: generally, the inventor’s patent rights are limited to the country which issued the patent. For example, the owner of a United States patent cannot sue for infringement of that patent in China. Infringement would have to be based on a Chinese patent. It is thus important to consider filing applications in countries other than the United States in order to broaden the scope of patent protection.
Our firm advises clients regarding patent licensing and has represented clients in both the prosecution and defense of patent litigation. However, our firm does not file patent applications. We refer clients to and work directly with qualified patent attorneys to assist clients with their patent applications are related work. There are critical deadlines at the early stages of the development of an invention which affect the ability to obtain a patent on that invention, which makes it important to consult with a patent attorney as soon as possible after the invention is conceived.