Patent Attorney
Helping inventors protect their inventions
The Law Office of Ashkan Najafi, P.A. helps its clients understand and streamline the process of preparing and filing a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In order to secure a patent, the USPTO requires an applicant to satisfy the new, useful and non-obvious requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112, et al. As a registered patent attorney, Mr. Najafi can help you satisfy such requirements by clearly distinguishing the advantages and benefits of your claimed subject matter compared to prior art references. Mr. Najafi has about a decade of experience drafting patent applications in various technology fields. During your free initial consultation, Mr. Najafi can explain whether patent protection is an appropriate option for protecting your intellectual property rights. Some examples of patentable subject matter include:
International patent protection is also available for inventors who wish to protect their inventions outside of the United States. For example, you may wish to protect your invention in Canada, South America, Europe and/or the Far East. Such protection may be achieved by filing a patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
For general information purposes only, Mr. Najafi has answered some frequently asked questions about patent law in the intellectual property resources section. He hopes you find this information useful. Contact him with any additional questions you may have about patent law.
- What is a patent?
- What can and cannot be patented?
- Which type of patent will protect my invention?
- How should I begin the patenting process?
- What are the advantages of a provisional patent application?
- What are the limitations of a provisional patent application?
- What is an office action and how does the attorney respond?
1. Mechanical Arts
In most cases, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requires inventors of mechanical devices to file mechanical illustrations specifying the precise placement of gears, levers, pulleys and other functional aspects of the device. Each of the moving parts must be clearly shown and labeled in a way that comports with the standards developed by the USPTO. The Law Office of Ashkan Najafi, P.A. is highly familiar with the technical aspects of filing patent applications for mechanical devices. The firm looks forward to assisting you with your case and helping you create adequate mechanical drawings illustrating the novel features of your invention.
2. Electronic Arts
Examples of electronic arts may include inventions that have circuit boards, wireless communication systems, network systems and website architecture that usually build on existing archetypes. Problems arise when laymen reviewing your patent application fail to see the improvements that distinguish your invention from existing models. I can help you create high-level schematic diagrams, flow charts, electronic block diagrams, etc. that illustrate the interrelationship between the major electronic components of your invention.
3. Business Method/Software Arts
A business model patent applies primarily to computer-related technological innovations as opposed to actual business processes. E-commerce sites such as Amazon.com and Priceline.com have been successful in patenting ideas such as one-click purchasing and reverse auctioning, respectively. In other cases, the federal appellate courts have concluded that the validity of a patent depends less on whether the method enabled efficiencies already in process than on whether the method to be patented met the listed requirements of the patent statute — namely, that the method or process was tied to a particular apparatus or that the innovation transformed an article into a different thing, aka the machine-or-transformation test. (See In re Bilski.)
Patenting your software for the purposes of selling or licensing it can be challenging. When examining computer-implemented inventions, a patent examiner will determine whether the specification discloses the computer and the algorithm (e.g., the necessary steps and/or flowcharts) that perform the claimed function in sufficient detail such that one of ordinary skill in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor invented the claimed subject matter. An algorithm is defined by the USPTO as a finite sequence of steps for solving a logical or mathematical problem or performing a task. The patent application should express the algorithm in any understandable terms including as a mathematical formula, in prose, in a flow chart or in any other manner that provides sufficient structure. As an experienced patent attorney, Mr. Najafi can advise you of your legal rights and options when faced with the decision to patent your proprietary software, copyright your proprietary software and/or maintain your proprietary software as a trade secret.
4. International Patent Protection
A structure of our global economy has left many inventors and corporations to rethink their international patent filing strategies. A U.S. patent can only protect against infringement within U.S. borders. Multi-national filings can help to secure your investment in your intellectual capital. The most direct method of international filing is to file in the individual countries and nations of interest. Other methods include filing a PCT patent application. In addition, a patent application can be reviewed within the patent prosecution highway, wherein claims considered allowable in one country (the United States for example) would undergo an accelerated review in other regions, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.
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