Written By: Lawrence A. Maxham As recently reported by the US Secretary of Commerce, industries that make significant use of intellectual property (IP) account for over 41% of the US gross domestic product and employ one-third of the total US workforce. The founders of the US, well over 200 years ago, could have had no…
The short answer is No. Engineers are employed to add value to a company by creating new things and improving existing products to enhance their value and to enhance the company’s perceived value in the marketplace. The purpose of establishing Intellectual Property (IP) protection for those new and improved products is to validate what the…
People who have filed to register a trademark in the USPTO have likely received scam notices of the type addressed by these recent blogs from the USPTO. Additionally, we warn every trademark client about these scams. We even go as far as to use The Maxham Firm as the trademark owner’s contact address so that…
Written By: Lawrence A. Maxham There is a longstanding story, likely apocryphal, that in the late 1800’s, the Commissioner of Patents said he was going to resign because everything worth inventing had been invented (the sewing machine, the cotton gin, telegraphy, and on and on). And yet, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)…
Written by: Lawrence A. Maxham August 2020 Here is yet another reason to file your trademarks early, in every country in which you are now or likely will within the next ten years, be doing business. The following is a cautionary tale of timing in filing a trademark. Many countries have a “first-to-file” law…
Check out this article from IP Watchdog to better understand the importance of innovation and the patenting system in the US. Do you have questions on the importance of patents? Contact us today! “Patented Innovations Create the Future” by John White Ad brought to you by © The Maxham Firm 2018 11682 El Camino Real, Suite…
An experienced patent attorney can guide you through the necessary analysis process to determine whether or not to file either or both design and utility patent applications.
Provisional Patent Applications: A History Since being established in 1994 as an amendment to the Patent Act of 1952, which sought to create timing advantages, like that of the Paris convention of 1883 for foreign filing (you can read our previous blog on foreign filing here), provisional holds this date for foreign filing as well,…
Why Hiring a Small Firm for International Business is Valuable Written by: Lawrence A. Maxham of The Maxham Firm (May 2017) In a world where commerce in products and services is not limited by national borders, a knowledge, or at least a nodding acquaintance, of how and why Intellectual Property (IP) rights beyond the US…
Written By: Lawrence A. Maxham A patent applies to a new structure, apparatus, or process that can produce an improved and useful result. Here we are focusing on trademarks. What Qualifies as a Trademark? A trademark is a mark used in trade. A mark can be words, symbols, designs (logos), or a combination that, when…
