If the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has denied your patent application, it does not mean your invention has no value. Often, a denial occurs when an inventor tries to file a patent without consulting an experienced attorney who could perform the necessary due diligence before filing.
If your patent application has been turned down, the legal team at Sparks Law may be able to help. Our lawyers are skilled at appealing patent denials in Georgia. We will examine your application and recommend a strategy to make sure the USPTO examiner is fully apprised of necessary details regarding your invention.
Utility patents protect how a product functions or how a process facilitates a result. Design patents protect a product’s ornamentation, appearance, or structure, although the product must be original and useable to consumers. Plant patents are granted for species that have never been identified or are hybrids of a known species. Software patents protect computer processes and icons, apps, emojis, or any design that appears on a screen.
Before an inventor begins a patent application in Georgia, an attorney should review all pertinent information and direct the process to avoid a denial.
Different patents require different information. For instance, design patent applications rely heavily on drawings of every facet of the design, from all angles of the useful product. If the drawings for a design patent are lacking, the application will be denied.
Other reasons patent applications are denied include the following:
However, these reasons do not necessarily preclude an inventor from receiving a patent from the USPTO. A Georgia patent attorney can review a denied application and recommend whether an appeal or continuity application should be filed.
If an inventor believes the USPTO examiner did not fully consider a crucial part of an invention, an appeal could remedy the oversight. A patent attorney can execute the appeals form provided by the USPTO. This entails a detailed legal brief explaining the perceived errors, discussing why the invention is patentable, and requesting reconsideration. The brief and a fee are submitted to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) for consideration, which may include an oral hearing if the Board requests it.
Alternatively, an inventor can file a continuity application. This is similar to filing a new application, except its focus is to offer more evidence and further develop the sections in the initial application that caused the examiner to reject the original patent application. Inventors should consult a local patent attorney to handle proceedings after the USPTO rejects an application.
Although the USPTO is the government agency that examines, grants, and rejects all patents, it is the BPAI that handles all appeals. Its examiners provide a new set of eyes to determine whether an invention qualifies for a patent. If the BPAI rejects the patent application on appeal, the Federal Court of Appeals can be petitioned for the final decision to uphold or reverse the BPAI’s patent denial.
You invented a useful and unique product and applied for a patent, which was denied. There are many reasons the USPTO denies a patent, and it does not mean your invention is not worthy of one.
If you recently filed a patent application and the USPTO rejected it, let the skilled legal team at Sparks Law review the details, including the invention, application, and what reasons the USPTO gives for rejection. We are ready to help with appealing a patent denial in Georgia, so give us a call today to get started.
