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Buying a Bar Date from Your Prototype Vendor
Your client has an invention. He tells you he came up with the invention 18 months ago and that he hasn't offered the invention for sale and hasn't publicly disclosed it. He's meeting with you today because he has evaluated his prototype and finally decided to direct financial resources toward obtaining a patent. He asks you to prepare a patent application. Everything seems fine, right? Maybe not. A bar date might have been purchased along with the prototype.
Inventors who are unable to manufacture their own products often turn to a manufacturer to fabricate the invention. In many cases, the inventor purchases one or more prototypes of his invention from the manufacturer. Engaging in such a transaction, however, can trigger a bar date under '102(b). The inventor-purchaser is precluded from obtaining a patent if he fails to file an application for patent within 1 year of the engagement (or within a year of the underlying offer to buy the prototype). See Special Devices, Inc. v. OEQ, Inc., 270 F.3d 1353, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2001). The on-sale clock begins to run the moment a manufacturer offers to sell or sells to the inventor the product embodying his invention. If his invention is ready for patenting, how does an inventor who outsources the manufacturing of his invention avoid the on-sale bar?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.