Monthly Archives: October 2009

The Patent Prosecution Highway: PCT Ally or Enemy?

Overshadowed by recent patent examination backlog discussions, a series of bilateral agreements, known as the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), has quietly been making progress on work-sharing between patent offices. The PPH allows fast-tracking of an application in one country, based … Continue reading

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Controlling Outside Legal Costs

At the ACC’s Annual Meeting in Boston, the 2009 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey results were announced and managing outside legal costs is back in the #1 spot, over compliance concerns. See the full announcement. I think we can safely … Continue reading

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BRIC Countries – IP Concerns?

Our clients often ask us about the value of IP protection in countries like China or India (or Russia and Brazil, the other “BRIC” countries), due to a perception that IP laws are relatively weak there. While we don’t give … Continue reading

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Part III of III: Where to enter national phase?

Part III: Where to enter national phase?   “If you build it…” We’re sometimes surprised by how often applicants say they’re filing in a particular country simply because that’s where they intend to manufacture the product. If money is no … Continue reading

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Part II of III: Where to enter national phase?

Part II: Where to enter national phase?   Competition Where are the applicant’s competitors operating? Particularly in high-tech and fast-moving fields, markets are far from established, and you may not yet be competing directly with your competitors in some markets. … Continue reading

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Part I of III: Where to enter national phase?

You know the story: about 18 months ago you filed a PCT application designating over 130 countries and regions. Now national phase deadlines are fast approaching and you or your client needs to make a decision about which countries and … Continue reading

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