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.
Design Patent Obviousness: 5 Essential Post-LKQ Rules
The Federal Circuit’s LKQ v. GM decision rewrote design patent obviousness. Here is how the new test works and what it means for your portfolio.
Inventor Oath or Declaration: 7 Essential Filing Rules
What the inventor oath or declaration must say, when it is due, how substitute statements work when an inventor won’t sign, and the errors that stall a patent.
Virtual Patent Marking: 7 Smart Rules to Protect Damages
How virtual patent marking works, why it can be worth years of back damages, the webpage requirements that hold up in court, and the false-marking traps to avoid.
Ex Parte Appeal to the PTAB: 7 Steps to Win Allowance
When an examiner will not budge, an ex parte appeal puts your rejected claims before a panel of PTAB judges. Here are the deadlines, fees, and briefing moves that decide the outcome.
Patent Notice of Allowance: 7 Essential Next Steps
Got a patent notice of allowance? Here are the 7 steps that take you from allowance to a granted patent, including the deadlines and decisions most guides skip.
Patent Examiner Interview: 7 Smart Ways to Win Allowance
A practical guide to the patent examiner interview: when to request one, how to file the AIR form, what to bring, and the mistakes that waste your 30 minutes.
Patent Assignment Recordation: 7 Essential USPTO Rules
Recording a patent assignment is a cheap, ministerial step most owners treat as an afterthought. Miss the three-month window and a later buyer can take priority over you. Here is how recordation works and why it protects your title.
Petition to Revive a Patent Application: 6 Essential Rules
A missed reply does not always kill a patent application. Here is how a petition to revive under 37 CFR 1.137 works, what the USPTO requires, and how to avoid ever needing one.
AI Patent Eligibility: 5 Essential Rules for 2026
Reciting a neural network won’t save a claim. Here is how the USPTO decides AI patent eligibility under Section 101 in 2026 — and how to draft claims that survive.
Unity of Invention: 5 Essential Rules for PCT and EPO
Unity of invention decides whether one application can cover several inventions. Learn the single-inventive-concept test and how the PCT, EPO, and USPTO differ.
Provisional Patent Application Drawings: 6 Smart Rules
Do provisional patent application drawings have to be formal? A practical guide to informal sketches, the 35 U.S.C. 113 rule, and the new-matter trap.
European Patent Drafting: 7 Rules to Win at the EPO
A US-style application filed at the EPO without reworking rarely survives examination. Here are the seven rules that separate a European patent that grants from one that stalls.
Shop Rights: 6 Essential Rules on Employee Inventions
A practical guide to shop rights: the employer’s implied, royalty-free license to an employee invention, how it arises, and why it is a poor substitute for an assignment.