Intellectual Property (IP) isn’t just for the engineers –
every business has IP. Have you identified and protected yours? This doesn’t
have to be an expensive, lengthy process. Traklight makes it easy to identify
and protect your IP today. Traklight
understands that every dollar counts when you are launching a start up.
ID your IP is an easy to use, cost effective program
designed by a team of legal professionals specializing in IP identification.
The result: A report unique to your business that outlines your potential
intellectual property and what you need to do to protect it.
The IP Vault is used to store, organize and verify your
IP. Simply upload to Traklight’s secure
site and we’ll time-stamp, store and protect your documents. A perfect tool, giving you easy access and
peace of mind that your ideas are safe and critical dates can be verified by
the click of a button.
But as inventors you may ask if the AIA makes inventorship
and some of the record keeping and dates obsolete? Traklight’s CPO Eric Menkhus
discusses below:
The US patent system is about to undergo one of the most
extensive changes in its history, moving away from “first to invent” system
that has been the backbone of the US patent system for as long as any of us can
remember.
The America Invent Act (AIA) will start being phased in
starting in March 2013, implementing many changes that will move the US patent
system closer to the systems of many foreign countries.
But will the change make inventorship obsolete in the US?
After all, most foreign jurisdictions operate on a "first to file"
system that rewards those that file a patent application first and not those
who invent first.
The short answer to whether inventorship will still matter
in the US is YES! Here are a couple important reasons why inventorship will
still matter:
1. The AIA will not move the US to a pure "first to
file" system. The AIA implements a system that rewards the first INVENTOR
to file. So, proving inventorship of the patentable subject matter will still
be an important step to obtaining and/or defending a patent.
2. Date of invention will still matter, although in a
different manner than under the old system. In the "first to
invent" system, the person that invented first received priority when to
applications were filed on the same invention, so proving an invention date was
critical. Under the new system, the date of invention can still be
important in situations in which one party is trying to prove that the other
merely copied their invention and are not inventors and cannot, therefore,
obtain a patent on the invention. Being able to show when an invention was made
and other important dates such as publication, etc. can greatly assist an
inventor in proving that someone else filed an application based on learning
about the inventor's idea.
So what does this mean? This means that keeping updated
notes and dates will still be important under the AIA. Don't throw away
those inventors' notebooks! Or, of course, you can migrate your inventors'
notebook and other records online using Traklight's IP Vault so you can have
third party verification of dates, times, etc.
Visit www.traklight.com
to learn more about identifying and protecting your IP. Before you disclose
your IP, before you raise capital, before you go to market. Go to Traklight today!
