Vic Lin

Bare Minimum Fee for Entering US National Stage The bare minimum official fee due upon filing a U.S. national phase patent application is the basic national fee. As of the…

Is there a trademark renewal grace period? If you miss a trademark registration maintenance deadline, there is good news. You have a 6-month trademark registration…

How to Make US Customs Your Ally Did you know that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can serve as your trademark police? An owner…

Before initially contacting a business believed to have infringed a patent, the patent owner should have a strategy for following through if the accused infringer does not respond favorably.…

What are the different types of patent searches? A patent search can mean different things. So when you’re talking to a patent attorney about a…

When a U.S. national stage patent application or direct filing claims priority to a foreign application, a certified copy of the foreign priority document is required.…

Principal Register vs. Supplemental Register By default, most trademark applications seek registration on the Principal Register. When an examining attorney determines that a mark is…

Does your mark in use match your applied-for or registered mark? Trademark use and registration are two different issues. In an ideal world, your trademark…

Can a provisional patent application be filed in a non-English language? Provisional patent applications with non-English specifications can be filed with the USPTO. In order…

Are provisional patent applications published? No, a provisional patent application is not published by the USPTO. However, they made be made publicly accessible under certain…

Use or file trademark first? You do not have to apply for a trademark prior to using it. In most cases, trademark rights in the…

What First Action Interview is not Let’s first clarify what the First Action Interview (FAI) program does not do. The FAI program does not apply…