US Patent Law for European Patent Professionals, 2nd Edition

This is the first book that has been designed to make communication between European and US patent law professionals more comprehensible.

It explains exactly what is required at every stage of a patent proceeding in the United States, helping European patent professionals understand and act upon the facts. It ensures that both parties have a common understanding of basic US legal terms, and that you – whether a US or EU practitioner – will understand the available courses of action for the most common procedural scenarios.

United States patent law, like the European Patent Convention (EPC), is based on a hierarchical code of statutes, regulations and administrative guidelines. However, there are numerous important distinctions, which you’ll need to know if you are looking to successfully protect and leverage intellectual property in the United States.

This highly practical and detailed work is divided into five main parts, covering the basics of US patent law, prosecution of US applications, US patent and post grant proceedings, procedural elements, and advanced topics.

How will this help you?

• Using a directly comparative presentation, the coverage includes details of US patent law and procedure including:

• drafting applications and filing them at the US Patent Office;

• provisions of the America Invents Act of 2011;

• possible responses to a Final Office Action;

• US definitions of novelty and inventiveness;

• types of patents recognized in the United States;

• structure of the US Patent Office and the US court system;

• variations in the definitions of basic patentability criteria;

• types of US post-grant proceedings and third-party submissions;

• appeal proceedings at the US Patent and Trademark Office;

• inventor’s oath;

• foreign filing license;

• cost and time periods for various procedural acts;

• the work of US patent attorneys, agents and examiners;

• uses of the US Manual of Patent Examination Procedure (MPEP); and

• the US provisional application procedure.

The work describes every step in the process, and compares the way it operates under both the EPC and US patent law.

Who should read this book?

This is the only source of instantly accessible information on US law for European patent lawyers, in-house counsel, or EPC or national patent office officials. If you are an intellectual property law academic or student, you’ll also benefit from the book’s comparative approach.