Copyright Registration Step-by-Step Guide
Copyright registration is one of the most important steps a creator, business, or IP owner can take to protect their original works. While copyright protection technically...
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IP Insights & Resources
Expert perspectives on intellectual property strategy, patent law, trademark protection, and IP portfolio management from the PerspireIP team.
Small Entity and Micro Entity Status for Patent Fees
The USPTO small entity discount percentage 2026 applicants receive is 60 percent, and micro entities receive 80 percent. Both numbers have been in place since the...
Read MoreProsecution History Estoppel: 7 Critical Rules
Every statement made and every amendment filed during patent prosecution can have lasting consequences for the scope of your patent rights. The doctrine of prosecution history...
Read MoreHow to Conduct a Freedom-to-Operate Analysis
Before launching a new product or entering a new market, smart companies ask a critical legal question: are we free to operate? A freedom-to-operate analysis (FTO...
Read MoreJoint Inventorship: Rights and Responsibilities
Joint inventorship is decided claim by claim, proved by clear and convincing evidence, and capable of destroying an infringement suit years after the patent issues. This...
Read MorePatent Marking Requirements and False Marking Risks
Learning how to mark patents correctly is one of the highest-return administrative jobs in a patent programme. It costs almost nothing to do, and skipping it...
Read MoreForeign Filing Licenses and Export Controls for Patents
Before filing a patent application in a foreign country, inventors and companies with U.S.-based inventions must consider foreign filing license requirements and export control laws. Failing...
Read MoreHow to Convert a Provisional to Non-Provisional Patent
If you have filed a provisional patent application, you are sitting on a ticking clock. The 12-month window between your provisional filing and your non-provisional deadline...
Read MorePatent Maintenance Fees: Keeping Your Patent Alive
Patent maintenance fees are the most common way a valuable U.S. patent dies. Not litigation, not invalidation – a missed date. This guide covers the statutory...
Read MoreHow to File a Request for Continued Examination (RCE)
A Request for Continued Examination (RCE) is one of the most commonly used tools in U.S. patent prosecution after a final office action. When the USPTO...
Read MorePatent Term Adjustment and Extension
Patent term adjustment is the closest thing U.S. patent law has to compensation for lost time, and it is routinely miscalculated – sometimes by the Office,...
Read MorePatent Interference and Derivation Proceedings
When two inventors claim the same invention, the patent system must determine who has the right to the patent. Historically, this was resolved through interference proceedings...
Read MoreHow to Respond to a Final Office Action
Receiving a final office action from the USPTO is a critical juncture in patent prosecution. Unlike a non-final office action that opens a dialogue with the...
Read MorePlant Patents: Protecting Agricultural Innovations
The plant patent is the oldest and narrowest of the American plant rights, and it is also the one least suited to modern breeding. Most work...
Read MoreSoftware Patents: What Can and Cannot Be Patented
Software patents are among the most complex and contested areas of patent law. Following the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International,...
Read MorePatent Claims Drafting: Independent vs Dependent Claims
Independent and dependent claims are easy to define and hard to use well. The work that actually decides whether a patent is worth anything is broadest...
Read MoreHow to File a PCT International Patent Application: 30-Month Guide
For inventors and businesses seeking patent protection in multiple countries, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides a streamlined pathway to international patent protection. Filing a PCT...
Read MoreContinuation Patents: When and How to File
This guide covers the mechanics: what a continuation is, the deadlines that keep a family alive, and the double-patenting law that decides whether the extra patents...
Read MoreDesign Patents vs Utility Patents: Which Do You Need?
When inventors seek patent protection, they often face an important threshold question: should I file a design patent or a utility patent? Understanding the difference between...
Read MorePatent Office Actions: Common Issues and Responses
The examiner’s letter has not changed much in fifty years, but what it says has. Anyone tracking office action trends across the last decade has watched...
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