US Patent and Trademark Office Webinar - Invention-Con 2021: Capitalizing on your intellectual property

Author ReubenGBrewer Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

One of the few good things to have resulted from this pandemic is the live streaming of events that would previously have been limited to the venue where they took place. One of those events is the United States Patent and Trademark Office's webinar Invention-Con 2021: Capitalizing on your intellectual property which will take place between 18-20 Aug 2021.  It is billed as an event for inventors, makers and entrepreneurs. There is nothing quite like it in this country or as far as I can see anywhere else in the world.

According to the event web page presentations and workshops will cover:

• "Putting your creativity to work
• How IP applies in various fields, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, fashion, music, and literature
• Types of IP protection: patents, trademarks, and copyrights
• Marketing, manufacturing, and building a competitive advantage around your ideas
• Fun, free educational resources for kids and teens
• Innovation and the fight against COVID-19
• And much more"

There are also special events for children and young people, They will include a session with Gitanjali Rao who was named "Kid of the Year" by Time Magazine and several other promising young inventors. Registration Is through Eventbrite. There does not appear to be a charge and it seems to be open to everyone everywhere in the world.

Although American intellectual property law does differ from our own in a number of important respects the basic principles are the same. The USA is this country's biggest trading partner and its importance is likely to increase if HM Government ever concludes a bilateral trade treaty with it. Businesses that wish to trade or invest in the USA will need to be aware of US intellectual property law and should protect their own intellectual assets by taking out utility, design and plant patents (equivalent to patents, registered designs and plant breeders; rights in the UK) and trade marks in the USA,   

Businesses wishing to apply for patents and trade marks in the USA can ask their British patent or trade mark attorneys to appoint an American agent or they can approach an American one directly.   For those wishing to instruct an American attorney, I can recommend Antoinette M Tease who runs a specialist IP practice in Montana.   I have worked with her on a number of occasions over many years and I have received only good reports of her from my clients.

The USPTO offers a large number of other events some of which would be useful to UK businesses.  Restaurateurs might be interested in Don’t burn your brand: intellectual property for restaurants which takes place this Monday 19 July, Trademark Basics Boot Camp, Module 7: Keeping your registration alive on the following Tuesday, and so on. The USPTO's events page is here.

Anyone wishing to discuss this topic can call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

No Invention Left Behind - Making Money from an Invention

Author SimonTrew
Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 
Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

If you are an independent inventor - that is to say, an inventor not employed in a capacity in which you are likely to create an invention - there are two ways by which you can profit from your  invention. One is by manufacturing and marketing the invention yourself as Percy Shaw did with cats' eyes (see Well at least a Yorkshireman invented Cats' Eyes 20 July 2014 IP Yorkshire). The other  is by licensinBIPCCase for Inventor Academies 27 Jan 2018.

As many of the inventors I see in my IP clinics or at local inventors' clubs are of a certain age  it should be noted that a lot of help is available for older people who wish to open businesses. The European Commission recognizes that senior citizens are increasingly interested in becoming entrepreneurs and is exploring how to benefit from the knowledge and skills of seniors, and how to ensure that they are able to go into business for themselves (see the Senior entrepreneurs page on its website). The Commission has published a Senior Entrepreneurship Good Practices Manual which presents 24 good practice examples from around the EU including the UK.  One of the more interesting initiatives mentioned in the manual is the Latvian Inventors Association's mentoring scheme.

Licensing or assigning an invention is often seen as an easier option than going into business but that is not always or perhaps even usually the case.  Someone with an established business has to be persuaded to set up a new production line and distribution channel for a product that he or she did not invent. Such a person will require a lot of persuasion especially if the inventor has no knowledge, experience or status in the industry. The established business owner will require the inventor to show the owner how the business will benefit from the invention which means that the inventor will often have to do much the same business planning and market research for a licensee as he or she would do for him or herself.

This is the third of a series of articles entitled "No Invention Left Behind". The others are The Case for an Inventor Academies and the WIPO's Inventor Assistance Programme. The next will be on the IP law that every inventor should know.  Should anybody wish to discuss this article or invention generally, he or she should call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.