Maine Cernota & Curran

12/24/2018

We would like to wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday!

12/24/2018

A fun little read...

Many creative and innovative toys and games have come through the consumer marketplace. Many becoming so iconic they have become household names and synonymous with a moment in time for America’s youth. Some of the most popular of these toys that continue to show up year after year under Christmas...

12/17/2018

Let us be your chauffeur on this long drive...

The term patent pending is a well recognized term of art that many inventors rightfully covet. Once filed a provisional patent application, for example, will allow an inventor to lawfully use the term patent pending in association with their invention.

12/13/2018

Without intellectual property protections it makes it impossible for an innovator to compete, raise money, and succeed in business. That was a story told by Joe Kiani, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Masimo, who receive the IPO Education Foundation's first IP Champion Award.

11/26/2018

When you are moving from idea to invention to patent, regardless of how or why you find yourself stuck in the idea phase, the first order of business to get the ball rolling. You need momentum. Here are 7 concrete steps you can take to help you get from your idea, to an invention worth patenting.

11/19/2018

Can ideas be patented? There is no effective way to protect an idea with either a copyright or a patent. This is not to suggest that ideas are not valuable, but they are not valuable in the same way or sense that pop culture has led many to believe. Every invention starts with an idea, which means.....

11/13/2018

Why not cut out all the confusion and let us help you?

The appeal of the PCT is that it enables patent applicants to file a single patent application and have that single, uniform international patent application be treated as an initial application for patent in any Member Country. However, an international patent application will not mature into an in...

11/07/2018

Since FY 2012, the PTO has received a total of only 1,584 third-party submissions of prior art for consideration by patent examiners. The high water mark occurred in 2016, with a total of 329 third-party prior art submissions. This declined to 266 submissions in FY 2017 and in FY 2018, the PTO recei...

11/05/2018

We are here to help you with your foreign trademarks!

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is working on developing a rule that would require foreign trademark applicants and registrants to be represented by a U.S. licensed attorney when filing trademark documents with the USPTO.

10/29/2018

This is a classic case of you get what you pay for.

Call us to set up your free, no-obligation consultation today!

A Google search for Trademark Registration will return a plethora of results including: '$69 Online Trademark Filing', '$49 File a Trademark Online', and 'Trademark Filing – Save $1000 vs TM Attorney'. Mass market online filing services do not give clients the time and attention they require durin...

10/25/2018

An often overlooked area of intellectual property for start-ups is copyright law. Copyrights protect original works of authorship. Copyrights give the holder exclusive rights to modify, distribute, perform, display, and copy a work. Copyright holders should keep in mind that to best protect and util...

10/24/2018

A successful advertising campaign promotes goodwill and brand identity. All too often, imitators attempt to hijack a brand and, with it, all the blood, sweat, tears, and money invested in it. While there are some similarities, the unfortunate reality is trademark enforcement is more nuanced than a g...