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Some suggestions for maximizing the benefits of the provisional application

Article Abstract:

Integration of provisional applications into the US patent system under laws implementing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will provide patent applicants with opportunities to broaden patent protection. Provisional applications may allow applicants to establish an earlier filing date for priority claims and will reduce prior art, but accepted patents will still run from the later regular application filing date. The provisional application can be used to file before reduction to practice, to file broader claims and embodiments that may not yet be operative and to file single applications that may result in many patent claims.

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The best mode inquiry: resolution of legal issues by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Article Abstract:

A three-part inquiry process could be used by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit when deciding on best mode compliance of patents. The compliance is for the best mode of disclosure of the use or construction of a patentable invention. The three steps include identification of subjective perceptions, completeness based upon known information and adequacy for objective perceptions. Case law and a hypothetical example are discussed.

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Means plus and step plus function claims: do we only know them when we see them?

Article Abstract:

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, with its decisions in several 1996 and 1997 means-plus-function cases, is changing this area of patent law. Structure is less likely to be recited in means-plus-function claims and step-plus-function claims are uncertain. How much litigation will proceed from these changes will depend on how 35 U.S.C. 112, para. 6 is interpreted by the courts and the language used in patents.

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