(54)U.S. utility and design patent prosecution
We prepare, file, and prosecute U.S. utility and design applications from the first draft through allowance and issue, for foreign firms and for U.S. inventors and companies.
What we handle
- Utility applications
- Drafting from your disclosure or priority application, claims built around what the invention actually does, and filing with complete formalities.
- Design applications
- Ornamental claims, drawing coordination, and the design-specific rejections that follow.
- Continuations and divisionals
- Building a family around a core invention so the portfolio covers more than the first set of claims.
- Restriction requirements
- Elections made with the whole family in view, so nothing is given up by accident.
- Information disclosure statements
- Prior art cited from your search and related foreign cases, filed on time.
- Allowance and issue
- Issue fees, corrections, and the issued patent reported back to you.
What to send us
Everything we need to open the matter in one email. Hold back confidential technical detail until we confirm the conflict check and engagement.
Build the email- The priority application or invention disclosure, with drawings
- Inventor names and residences, and the applicant or assignee
- The priority date and any deadline you are working to
- Known prior art, including art cited in related foreign cases
- Facts bearing on entity status, if you expect to claim small or micro entity fees
How the matter runs
The same five steps on every matter, reported to you at each one.
Review and conflict check
We confirm there is no conflict and agree the engagement before receiving confidential material.
Drafting and claim review
Claims and specification reviewed with you before anything is filed.
Filing
Filed at the USPTO, with the filing receipt reported to you.
Prosecution
Each action reported with its due date and our recommendation, then answered on your instruction.
Allowance and issue
Issue fee paid on your instruction and the patent reported when it issues.
Questions firms ask
Do you handle design patents as well as utility patents?
Yes. We prepare and prosecute both, including design applications claiming priority from a foreign design filing.
Can you file from a foreign priority application?
Yes. Under the Paris Convention, a U.S. application generally must be filed within 12 months of the earliest priority date for utility patents, and within 6 months for designs. Send the priority application as early as you can.
What technical fields do you work in?
Mechanical and electromechanical devices, manufacturing, consumer products, medical devices, software, and telecommunications.
Who signs the filings?
Filings are signed by a registered patent attorney, USPTO Registration No. 58,251.
Ready to send the matter?
Email the number, the deadline, and the parties. We reply with the conflict check and the engagement terms.
Email ck@ckiplaw.com