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Monday, September 11, 2006

Patent Lawsuit Financing

Patent Lawsuit Financing



Patents are related to new innovative and useful inventions made by researchers and inventors. Patents are exclusive legal rights given to inventors by the court for a fixed duration of time, allowing them to disclose the inventions to the general public, with certain regulations and details about the device or invention made.



Patents help inventors to safeguard their creations and make it illegal for anybody else to make copies of the original inventions either as a whole or in parts. Every invention and development made should be patented. There are patent attorneys who help the inventors to gain ownership rights to their products.



The United States patent and trademark office files patents to various products. There are patent examiners who look into the filling out of patent applications and ensure that it is done properly. Patent examiners ensure that every patent represents a real invention.



The patent lawsuit financing companies deal with cases where the company with original patents complains that their products or inventions have been copied or imitated. They would first evaluate the patent law, copyright or intellectual property case and decide on the upfront cash advances. The advance based on patent law can be used to pay debts or invest to expand the existing business.



The patent lawsuit financing companies will pay if the patent law approves of funding and the lawsuit financing companies have to be paid only after the plaintiff wins the case or decides to negotiate a settlement. The patent is given to tangibles like material inventions and intangibles like software.



When a company or firm applies for its patents it has to mention its basic design, function and model. If another company takes this basic model or design and makes an improved version of it, the original company has the freedom to deny patents to the latter. Hence the skill lies with the lawsuit company to clearly identify if the patents given to it are satisfied or not. The patent lawsuit financers have lawyers and attorneys who conduct a formal evaluation to decide the advances to be made to the plaintiff.




Lawsuit Financing provides detailed information on Commercial Lawsuit Financing, Lawsuit Cash Advances, Lawsuit Financing, Lawsuit Financing Companies and more. Lawsuit Financing is affiliated with Litigation Financing Companies.

Free Patent Searches

Free Patent Searches




One of the primary things to do when a commercially viable idea hits the brain is to search for a patent for the concept. A patent allows for the conversion of the concept into a business and prohibits others from infringing on the idea. Commonly, patent searches through patent search offices entail some footwork as well as money.



However, with the onslaught of the Internet, there are several free patent searches available. Free patent searches are powered by search engines, and contain databases that include all patents applied for over the past few years (within the patentable period, which generally implies 20 years in the US). Past inventions are carefully documented, with pictures and features wherever needed. As soon as a keyword is typed in the search bar, a search is triggered that displays similar concept patents that may have been given. It is important to type a relevant keyword, as this will affect the results of the search. It is advisable to try searching using different keywords.



Typically, free patent search websites contain all documented information on US patents (available from the USPTO) and European patents (Esp@cenet). However, there are many websites that contain patent information from other countries. Before punching in the keyword, the searcher has to click on the appropriate country tab.



The reason for the surfeit of free patent search sites is the huge workload that national patent offices face each year. National patent offices also provide their own free websites to search patents, in order to decrease their quantum of work. Most ideas that purport to be original get nipped in the bud when a similar concept is found.



The current trend is to first search for a patent on a free search engine. If no patent is found, a patent attorney is approached for the legal work. The attorney will also search for the patent on the free search engine before accepting the case.



www.freepatentsonline.com is a popular free patent search site that has a database of over 300000 US and UK patents. The site is constantly getting updated, as more and more patents are being awarded.




Patent Search provides detailed information on Patent Search, US Patent Searches, Free Patent Searches, European Patent Searches and more. Patent Search is affiliated with Online Trademark Searches.


European Patent Searches

European Patent Searches



The main body giving patents within Europe is the European patent office or the EPO. This office is responsible for searching and providing patents to almost all countries in the European Union, barring only a few countries. At present, it has about 30 million patents on record.



The website of the EPO is www.espacenet.com. It provides online patent searches to the general public. This service is provided free of cost. The site contains an online patent application form. Filling in details such as personal information, nature of the concept and a suitable keyword enables the search engine to scout if a patent is already in progress. The website maintains a database of all the patents that have been given within Europe. It is called the Globlepat.



The EPO has branches in all prominent nations and are called as national patent offices. The most prominent is the UK patent office and the French patent office. All patent offices share a common connection via the EPO. In fact, the website www.espacenet.com may direct patent hunters to various national patent offices for further clarification.



Apart from online patent sites, there are several patent offices that manually search for patents. You need to apply to these offices, and they will conduct a comprehensive search on the patent. The advantage of an offline patent search is that it is more individualized, and it streamlines the particular concept. There are several patent attorneys throughout Europe who will undertake the task of searching patents and resubmitting them with modifications, if necessary.



searching for a patent within the Europe is different than in other countries. A European patent search links the search to other European countries enabling a more detailed search.




Patent Search provides detailed information on Patent Search, US Patent Searches, Free Patent Searches, European Patent Searches and more. Patent Search is affiliated with Online Trademark Searches.


US Patent Searches

US Patent Searches




The organization responsible for awarding patents within the United States is the United States patent and Trademark Office or the uspto. The uspto has given 2.6 million patents within the country since 1975. patents in the US are broadly divided into three categories -- utility, design and plant. The highest number of patents belongs to the utility category.



patents in the US are time-bound; i.e. they are valid up to a certain period of time. This means that a person obtaining the patent can make full and sole use of the idea for commercial gains. In the US, the patent viability is 20 years from the application or 17 years from the patent granting, whichever is longer. However, prior to applying for a patent, it is extremely necessary to conduct a search for the patent to make sure that it has not been granted earlier.



The uspto strives to make its patents highly accessible to all people. Its website is open to the general public. It contains a list of given patents. uspto also publishes a weekly official gazette that contains information on patents given within the week. There is a CD-ROM titled “Cassis,” (Classification and search Support Information System) It is a set of three Cds containing bibliographic information on patents.



The uspto site contains a free search engine, where patents are classified according to their categories. A preliminary search reveals whether a patent has already been given to the concept or not. This also reduces the workload of the uspto, as they do not have to weed out unnecessary applications.



patent attorneys in the US undertake the task of patent registration once they ascertain that the concept is indeed novel. It is the job of the patent attorney to guide the client on how to bring about modifications in order to get a patent. patent searches done by attorneys can be basic or comprehensive. A basic search involves searching within the database of the uspto. A comprehensive searches pending applications as well. patent attorneys charge up to $500 for a basic patent search, and up to $1000 for a comprehensive search. There can also be comprehensive patent searches that include foreign countries. International patent searches are quite expensive and may cost up to $20,000.




patentsearch provides detailed information on patent search, US patent searches, Free patent searches, European patent searches and more. patent search is affiliated with Online Trademark searches.


Maximizing Your Experience with Patent Attorneys

Maximizing Your Experience with Patent Attorneys



Are you afraid of what it will cost you to obtain a patent? If you are an independent inventor, you might be. Large corporations may be able to shell out thousands of dollars without flinching, but when the money comes from a single income it’s a different story.



So how much would it cost an individual or a small business to get a patent? Let’s start with the fees from the US patent Office. To file a basic patent application the fee is $500. When the patent is granted, there is a $700 issue fee along with a $300 publication fee. There may also be surcharges if the patent application is over 100 pages or has more than 20 claims. There is typically some communication between the patent office and the inventor (or the inventor’s attorney) during the review process of the application, and if the inventor’s responses are late, there could be even more surcharges.



Now that we’ve established that the patent Office’s fees alone can be quite expensive, let’s talk about attorney fees. It would not be unreasonable to have a patent attorney charge from $150 to $400 an hour for their services. Some companies may pay $12,000 to $14,000 in attorney fees to get a patent application to the patent office. However, there are some attorneys who charge lower fees – $2,000 to $4,000 total – for their work making the process much more affordable.



At this point you may wonder if it is all worth it. Ask yourself this question: Will owning a patent on this idea generate more revenue than what it will cost to obtain the patent? If not, it may be more economical for you to just walk away from the whole thing. But for those of you who believe getting the patent is an investment and will be worth it in the long run, there are some things you can do to minimize your costs.



Unless you are patent savvy, you will still want a professional to prepare the patent application. A possible way to minimize costs is to use a patent agent rather than a patent attorney. patent agents are non-attorneys who are qualified to prepare patent applications and typically have lower rates. Regardless of whether you choose an attorney or an agent to prepare your application, their costs will be worth it.



It is important to remember that not all patents are created equally. The worth of a patent is determined by the way in which it is written, especially in the “claims” area of the patent. All too often, individuals file patents without the assistance of a patent attorney or agent and end up with a patent with unnecessary limitations. Competitors have no trouble getting around such weak patents, and the individual may lose millions of dollars worth of revenue.



Just because you hire an attorney doesn’t mean that you don’t have control over the costs. Well prepared inventors who communicate quickly and effectively with their attorneys will have the biggest savings. Do not approach an attorney until you have done everything else you can do. Before making any major investment you need to do your research. Websites like uspto.gov, inventorbasics.com, and others might be a good place to start. Prepare figures, write a detailed description of the invention, and do a patent search (uspto.gov). If you begin a visit with an attorney, and he/she begins asking you questions you don’t have answers for, rescheduling another visit may be necessary.



Below is a checklist of the information you’ll want to take to a visit with your attorney:



• Title of the invention



• Brief written description of the invention



• Detailed written description of the invention



• Descriptive drawings of the invention



• Date that the invention was conceived



• Names of the inventors and their contribution



• Prototype, pictures and/or video of the prototype



• Description of background technology



• Any questions you may have for the attorney



Answers to the following questions will also be helpful for the attorney:



• How was the idea conceived?



• Where was the idea conceived?



• Do the rights to the invention belong to another party besides the inventors?



• Does another party have a license on the invention?



• Has any part of the invention been published (on a website, in a magazine, newsletter, advertisement, etc.)?



• Has any part of the invention been sold or been offered for sale? If so, where?



• Who knows about the invention?



If all goes well, your attorney should be able to take this information and prepare a patent application quickly and cost effectively without compromising the quality of a future granted patent. Good luck!




Tyson Wilde is an experienced patent agent and inventor. He is also the author of http://www.inventorbasics.com


Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits



medical malpractice litigations are more often than not termed trivial by the health care sector. The health care community is of the belief that such lawsuits are nothing but an undesirable means of obtaining large amounts of money in a very short period of time. However, the reality is that malpractice lawsuits are indispensable for sufferers of medical negligence.



These types of lawsuits are crucial in the sense that they go a long way in helping the victims of medical negligence seek redress for their grievances, and also makes their claim for payment for damages stronger.



malpractice lawsuits are the preferred option to help patients receive the amount that they are entitled to as victims of medical negligence. medical malpractice lawsuits also have provisions that can be referred to for holding medical professionals liable for their services that have inflicted harm on the concerned individual.



medical malpractice lawsuits are significant because they provide the necessary support for keeping a watch on the healthcare system by concerned quarters. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is a definite principle related to the cut-off date during which medical malpractice cases can be filed.


medical malpractice lawsuits are fundamentally aimed at putting in place a probable degree of attention for the place and kind of service where the supposed negligence occurred. Once the standard of attention is fixed, individuals initiating court proceedings regarding medical malpractice lawsuits must then furnish evidence that the norm was violated.



It should also be highlighted that the violation of established norms triggered an injury or caused irreparable damage to the sufferer, or led to his death. Once these points are proved an effective case has been established, wherein it can be claimed that the victim of medical malpractice can receive compensation in accordance with damages suffered by him.




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Surgical Accident Lawyers & Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Surgical Accident Lawyers & Medical Malpractice Attorneys


Whenever a patient has to undergo a surgical procedure they naturally hope everything will go as planned. Nobody ever wants to think that their surgery will go wrong due to negligence or incompetence, but sometimes accidents do happen.



Surgeons are only human, and sometimes mistakes are made during surgery. It’s unfortunate, but true. One type of surgical mistake that can be made is when an item or instrument, such as a sponge or a scalpel, is left inside the patient. Another type of surgical accident occurs when an incision is made to the wrong body part. Sometimes doctors and their staffs make cuts into the wrong areas of the body and as a result, patients may suffer long term, life-threatening complications as a result of this type of accident.



Another type of surgical accident occurs when the operation takes place on the wrong side or the wrong side of the body. Sometimes the surgeons (or staff) gets confused and cuts into the wrong side of the body. For instance, if the surgery was supposed to be on the left arm, they occasionally make a mistake and operate on the right arm instead. Obviously this can also cause life-threatening complications, including severe infections and unneeded pain and suffering.



In addition to these types of accidents, other surgical mistakes can occur when improper anesthesia is given, or when surgery takes place that is not required. Anesthesia mistakes occur when a patient is given too much, or too little anesthesia is given to the patient.



If you or a loved one has been a victim of a surgical accident, you may be entitled to seek financial compensation for your pain and suffering. Please don’t hesitate, and contact an experienced surgical accident lawyer today.




To learn more about hiring a surgical accident lawyer or filing a surgical accident lawsuit please visit our website at http://www.resource4surgicalaccidents.com This article may be freely reprinted as long as this resource box is included and all links stay intact as hyperlinks.