A&G IP is the Intellectual Property practice of Archer & Greiner, P.C., one New Jersey’s largest law firms. The firm serves businesses and individuals throughout the region and in an increasing number of other states and jurisdictions. With a network of regional offices, the firm has more than 140 lawyers practicing in all major legal disciplines.

A provisional patent application is designed to provide a low cost initial patent filing in the United States. Provisional patent applications have become a popular way for applicants to secure early patent application filing dates for their inventions in the U.S. They have become widely used in rapidly evolving spheres of technology such as the Internet, telecommunications, software and biotechnology, although they are routinely used for all types of inventions. Currently, the U.S. government filing fee for a provisional application is $100.00 for individuals, non-profit organizations, universities and for-profit corporations of less than 500 employees, including affiliates (“small entities”) and $200.00 for for-profit corporations of 500 or more employees, including affiliates (“large entities”). Read the rest of this entry »

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was enacted to protect copyright owners from various forms of infringement in the digital age. It is perhaps most famous for its electronic copyright protection provisions. Those provisions make it unlawful to circumvent technological measures, e.g., encryption, that a copyright owner may use to prevent unauthorized access to music, software, movies and other works of authorship that are stored in an electronic medium.
A lesser known but very significant feature of the DMCA is its ability to be used to thwart online copyright infringement. In the absence of protective measures, information stored in electronic media may be easily reproduced. This exposes Internet Web sites as easy prey to potential infringers. Fortunately, the DMCA has a mechanism specifically designed to address this problem. Read the rest of this entry »

On April 30, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision in a case that appears to raise the bar for establishing patentability of inventions in the U.S. The case, KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., suggests that it is now more difficult to obtain patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and to enforce patents in federal courts. Read the rest of this entry »