Welcome!
Welcome to this month's newsletter!
First, our firm announces its relocation to 3724 N. 3rd Street Suite 200 -- -- a grand total of two city blocks west of our current location. From the southwest corner of 7th Street and Clarendon, we have moved to the southwest corner of 3rd Street and Clarendon. The actual move to the location will be completed (hopefully!) on October 25, 2010. We are now in a bit more secure location on the second floor of the building where the first floor is for covered parking. Our suite is reachable by an elevator near the southwest corner of the building, very near the non-covered handicapped and visitor parking (enter via 3rd Street at 3724). Although our firm will be in full operation by the afternoon of the moving day, we should be in good enough order for "company" within a day or two after that.
Second, to introduce yet another mode of operation of our firm, our law firm works as a team. Every employee is a team member. For example, when we perform patent-related services, our teams and sub-teams do the planning and problem solving collaboratively. This team-work injects added creativity and added energy to achieving the best solution for our clients.
Members of our sub-teams all understand that meetings require us to be experts at two incompatible languaging modes.
Skills in a problem-solving mode are required for creative solutions.
Skills in a team-building mode are required to sustain team energy and cooperation in implementing those solutions.
Each member of our staff is required to have both skills; and our firm provides ongoing training to achieve this.
Training in using our team-building mode includes maximizing bonding pleasure (for example, by focusing on similarities, smiling, and small talk).
Training in using our problem-solving mode includes maximizing using redundant feedback and specific terms (for example, neutral words, specific examples, and mathematics where possible). In addition, we train our staff that painful disagreement is often part of problem-solving. And we learn to become better at avoiding being "thin-skinned" or blaming.
Finally, to assist in our team approach, our law firm maintains a "blame-free" culture at all times.
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 Staff News
Registered patent attorney Michael D. Volk, Jr., a long-time staff member and partner in our firm, has announced that he will be leaving the firm November 1 to pursue other interests. Michael will remain, for now, "Of Counsel" to the firm and, although residing in San Antonio after leaving, will remain available by phone during a transition period. Michael's plans include furthering his education in medical areas. We all appreciate Michael's hard work, knowledge-sharing and guitar riffs, and we all wish him only the best.
While our firm is bidding farewell to Michael, we also have had the privilege of some additions to our team: Tom DelRosario, a very experienced registered patent attorney (11 years); Lori Ivan, a patent attorney with a background in biochemistry; and Dr. Sara Butterfield, a patent consultant who holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. In future issues we will detail the contributions these staff additions bring to our team - serving our clients better and better!
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Patent Tidbits
Great Inventions in History
(Click name or image to view the entire issued patent)
1. Game Apparatus (Slot Machine)
Inventor: EDMUND CHAKLES FEY
Patent number: 1601949
Filing date: Jan 11, 1926
Issue date: Oct 1926
2. Toilet-paper rollInventor: OLIVER HEWLETT HICKSPatent number: 400913Issue date: Apr 1889
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Intellectual Property News
Getting Your U.S. Trademark Filed Overseas: The Madrid Protocol
If you're interested in marketing your goods overseas, but you only have trademark protection in the United States, there is a system that will make it easier to get trademark protection in several dozen different foreign countries. The system is called the "Madrid Protocol".
The Madrid Protocol is a system that allows the owner of a registered U.S. Trademark to obtain "international registration" with a single international application. This international trademark application is filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Using this single international application, a trademark owner may extend coverage of their U.S. Trademark to any country participating in the Madrid Protocol merely by designating that country on the international application. A trademark owner may designate additional countries at any time.
In order to file an international application, a person must either own an existing trademark registered in the United States, or have an existing trademark application filed with the United States. The international application is an extension of the existing United States trademark in that the international application may relate only to the classes of goods and services covered by the existing United States trademark.
Although only one international application is required in order to get trademarks in several different countries, there is an additional fee for each country designated. These additional fees vary by country.
Also, each designated country has the right to refuse to protect an international registration in its territory. Refusal may be based on any grounds consistent with the Paris Convention, and any such refusal will generally be subject to review or appeal, depending upon the laws and practice of that country.
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Alphabet Soup
P - patent pending: is applied to a product or process as a notification that a patent application has been filed on the invention and that making, selling, or using the item may infringe on the inventor's rights if the patent is issued. A fine may be assessed if the phrase is applied to an item for which no patent application has been filed. R - restriction: if more than one distinctive invention is claimed in an application, an examiner may require the applicant to designate, or elect, a set of claims to which the invention will be limited or restricted. An election/restriction may be made prior to any office actions and before the final action/rejection. S - surcharge due: is a fee charged after a deadline or for insufficient funds - a "late fee". |
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Visit us at:
patentdoc.com
Our Offices:
Phoenix
After Oct. 25:
3724 N. 3rd St.
Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 85012
San Diego
501 W. Broadway St.
Suite 800
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: (888) 252-2200
Fax: (877) 786-6362
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