Software claims are abstract; the drawings are not. A practical guide to the flowcharts, block diagrams and GUI figures that survive a USPTO drawing review.
Written Description Requirement: 7 Essential Rules for Patents
It is not enough to enable your invention — you must show you actually possessed it. Here is how the written description requirement decides what your claims can cover.
Validating a European Patent in the United Kingdom: A 2026 Guide
Unlike most EPC states, the UK asks for almost nothing to bring a granted European patent into force. Here is what validation in the United Kingdom really involves.
Automated Patent Drawings: 7 Critical Rules for 2026
Automated patent drawings can clear 37 CFR 1.84 or trigger an objection. Seven rules for auditing AI and CAD figure output before you file in 2026.
How to File a Patent in France: 6 Smart Steps
A route-by-route guide to filing a French patent — a national INPI filing, a validated European patent, or the PCT via the EPO — with the PACTE reforms, deadlines and courts that matter.
How to File a Patent in United Kingdom: 6 Smart Steps
A route-by-route guide to filing a UK patent — a national UKIPO filing, a European patent that takes effect here, or the PCT national phase — with the deadlines and courts that matter.
How to File a Patent in Germany: 6 Smart Steps
A route-by-route guide to filing a German patent — national DPMA filing, a validated European patent, or the PCT phase — with the deadlines and courts that matter.
How to File a Patent in United States: 7 Key Steps
A practical, route-by-route guide to filing a US patent — direct filing, Paris Convention priority, or PCT national phase — with real USPTO deadlines and costs.
Patent Priority Date: Why It Can Make or Break Your Rights
The patent priority date decides which prior art can be used against your invention. Here is how effective filing dates work and 6 rules to protect yours.
PCT Drawing Requirements: 7 Essential Rules for 2026
Rule 11 of the PCT Regulations governs every figure in an international application. Here is what it demands, what changed at the EPO, and how to clear the US national phase.
Petition to Make Special: 5 Fast Ways to Skip the Line at the USPTO
The average patent waits roughly a year and a half for a first office action. A petition to make special can cut that dramatically, and for some applicants it costs nothing.
Best Mode Requirement: 5 Rules Every Inventor Must Know
A practical guide to the best mode requirement under 35 U.S.C. 112(a): the two-prong test, how the AIA changed it, and how to stay compliant.
Section 337 ITC Investigation: 6 Facts to Know
For patent owners fighting imported knockoffs, the U.S. International Trade Commission is often faster and harder-hitting than a district court. An IP litigator explains how a Section 337 investigation works, the domestic industry requirement that gates it, and why an exclusion order enforced by Customs can be the most powerful remedy in patent law.
Patent Declaratory Judgment: 6 Facts on Suing First
A demand letter does not force you to wait for the patent owner to sue. A patent litigator explains how a declaratory judgment action works, the MedImmune actual-controversy standard that decides whether a court can hear it, and how accused companies use it to seize the forum and the initiative.
Patent Permanent Injunction: The 4 Critical eBay Factors
Winning a patent case does not guarantee an order stopping the infringer. A patent litigator walks through the Supreme Court’s eBay four-factor test for a patent permanent injunction, why non-practicing entities rarely satisfy it, and how both sides should plan around it.
Willful Patent Infringement: 5 Critical Facts After Halo
A finding of willful patent infringement lets a court multiply damages by up to three. A patent litigator explains the Supreme Court’s Halo standard, what judges actually weigh, and the concrete steps that keep an accused infringer out of the enhanced-damages zone.
Ornamental vs Functional: 6 Critical Design Patent Rules
The ornamental vs functional distinction quietly decides whether a design patent is valid and enforceable. A patent attorney breaks down the Federal Circuit’s functionality test, the leading cases, and six rules for keeping your design patent ornamental.
How to File a Design Patent Application: 7 Essential Steps
A patent attorney’s practical, step-by-step guide to filing a design patent application with the USPTO in 2026 — from drawings and the single claim to fees, timeline, and the mistakes that trigger rejections.
Continuation vs Divisional Application: 6 Essential Rules
A continuation and a divisional share the same parent disclosure but claim different things. Here is how to tell them apart and file the right one.
Design Patent Infringement: 5 Proven Ways to Win
Proving design patent infringement turns on one deceptively simple question — and on damages rules that can reach an infringer’s entire profit. Here is how it works.