Category Archives: PLI Press

7 Techniques for Speeding Up Your Patent Filing Process

Jeffrey G. Sheldon’s How to Write a Patent Application (Third Edition) provides expert insight and guidance on the full patent application process. Here are Sheldon’s 7 tips to speeding up the patent filing process:

  1. File the inventor’s original disclosure document or draft scientific paper as a patent “application” by adding an abstract and a single claim. Although such an application would be nowhere near the quality of an application prepared using the procedures of this book, assuming that the disclosure by the inventor satisfies the basic requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112, at least a filing date will be obtained. Moreover, even if the application does not satisfy the U.S. disclosure requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112, it may be sufficient for many foreign countries. This basic application can then be converted into a quality application by filing a continuation-in-part application as promptly as possible. Clearly this approach gets an early filing date. However, one disadvantage is the increased cost of filing two applications. Another disadvantage is that the one-year priority date for filing in foreign countries begins to run on the date of filing of the first application, which means that the decision of whether to file a foreign application needs to be made earlier, and costs associated with filing foreign applications are incurred earlier.
  2. During the initial meeting with the inventor, draft at least the broadest claim, and preferably some of the dependent claims. As discussed below, preparation of the claims is the most critical and difficult part of an application. It is efficient and effective to prepare the claims when the inventor is readily available to provide instant feedback and while the patent practitioner’s mind is freshly acquainted with the merits and novelty of the invention.
  3. Forego a novelty search, or have the novelty search done in parallel with drafting the application. As discussed in chapter 5 of the book, novelty searches are often ordered before preparing a patent application. However, when time is of the essence, it may be necessary to forego the novelty search, or conduct it in parallel with preparation of the application. When the novelty search is conducted while the application is being prepared, once the search results are available, the application can be polished and the claims modified as required, based on the search results.
  4. Order the drawings as soon as possible. Preparation of the drawings can be the longest lead-time item due to the schedule of draftsmen. Get the drawings on order promptly.
  5. Do not wait for the drawings to prepare the application. Many practitioners wait until the drawings are available before beginning the application. An advantage of this procedure is that the reference numbers can be placed on the drawings as the specification is prepared. However, when it is important to file promptly, rough sketches of the invention can serve the same purpose for preparation of the application. Although some time is lost when the reference numbers are added to the draftsman’s drawings, that lost time can be sacrificed when filing early is important.
  6. Use the inventor’s drawings or drawings prepared by the patent practitioner for filing. The inventor may have some drawings of the invention, or the patent practitioner may be a sufficiently skilled draftsman to prepare rough sketches. If those sketches are sufficient for filing, they can be used for that purpose when it is important to file early. Formal drawings can be prepared later by a skilled draftsman.
  7. File the application without the formal papers, including the declaration. A week or more can be lost while the inventor reviews the application and signs the declaration and other papers. It is possible to file without the declaration and formal papers. A disadvantage is that the Patent Office charges a surcharge for filing the application piecemeal. Another possible disadvantage is that the inventor or inventors may have problems with the application and not like it. If the claims are not satisfactory, it may become necessary to file a preliminary amendment under 37 C.F.R. § 1.115, which adds to the expense of filing the application. If something is incomplete or inaccurate in the specification, then it may become necessary to file a continuation-in-part application. In the latter instance, the original filing date may be lost, and thus the fees incurred for filing the first application would have been for naught.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PATENT FILING PROCESS, READ:

How to Write a Patent Application (Third Edition) Jeffrey G. Sheldon (Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl, LLC)

Subscribe to Discover PLUS? Read it here ›

New Treatise! Net Leases and Sale-Leasebacks: A Guide to Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies

Net Leases and Sale-Leasebacks

Net Leases and Sale-Leasebacks: A Guide to Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies covers of every aspect of the ownership, financing, documentation, taxation and accounting for net leases and sale-leasebacks. The book focuses on those areas where the treatment of net leases and sale-leasebacks differs from the treatment of other forms of real estate investment.

This new title authored by specialist Ken Miller (Gorman & Miller) provides a detailed discussion of the important concepts underlying transactions in this area, as well as a clause-by-clause explanation of the mandatory and optional provisions of a net lease investment agreement.

Net Leases and Sale-Leasebacks: A Guide to Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies includes in-depth guidance on sophisticated and complex structuring issues involving real estate, regulatory, bankruptcy, tax and financial accounting concerns.

This essential new title is available on PLI Discover PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email or call (877-900-5291) us.

6 Temporary Detention Tips for Defense Attorneys

John L. Weinberg’s Federal Bail and Detention Handbook 2016 offers insightful advice on temporary detention. Below, find Judge Weinberg’s six temporary detention tips for Defense Attorneys:

  1. Prior to the initial appearance, gather as much information as possible as to whether the case is appropriate for entry of an order of temporary detention. Be prepared to argue these issues at the initial appearance. Determine also, if possible, whether the other court or INS intends to place a detainer or has already done so.
  2. If the U.S. Attorney moves for temporary detention at the initial appearance, be prepared to present any available challenge to its eligibility, under either half of Sec. 3142(d).
  3. Be prepared to propose and defend a specific duration of temporary detention. Whatever duration is set, ask the court to schedule a further hearing on release or detention for the day the temporary detention order expires.
  4. Decide whether you will move for pretrial detention, which extends beyond any period of temporary detention. If so, make this motion as well at the initial appearance. The court should set the hearing for the last day of the period of temporary detention.
  5. If at the initial appearance the court has ordered temporary detention, contact the other court or agency promptly thereafter. Attempt to persuade the other authority to decline to seek custody of defendant.
  6. If a detainer is lodged or if the other authority declines to proceed before the order of temporary detention expires, contact the court and attempt to reschedule the bail status hearing for an earlier date.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TEMPORARY DETENTION TIPS, INCLUDING ADVICE FOR U.S. ATTORNEYS, READ:

Federal Bail and Detention Handbook 2016 John L. Weinberg (U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Washington at Seattle)

Subcribe to Discover PLUS? Read it here — ›

3 Elements of an FDA Recall Strategy

James P. Ellison and Anne K. Walsh’s FDA Deskbook: A Compliance and Enforcement Guide provides an in-depth discussion on recalls.

A firm conducting a recall must develop a recall strategy taking into account the results of the Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE), ease in identifying the product, the degree to which the product’s deficiency is obvious to the consumer or user, the degree to which the product remains unused in the marketplace, and the continued availability of essential products. FDA will review and approve the recall strategy of a recalling firm. The elements of a recall strategy are:

  1. Depth of Recall The depth of recall pertains to the level in the distribution chain to which the recall will be extended. This will depend on the product’s degree of hazard and extent of its distribution. For example, the recall could extend all the way to the consumer or user level, it could stop at the retail level, or it may not need to go beyond the wholesale level.
  2. Public Warning A public warning is intended to alert the public that “a product being recalled presents a serious hazard to health.” It is only used in urgent situations for which other means of preventing use of the product appear inadequate. FDA will usually issue the warning in consultation with the recalling firm. If the firm issues its own warning, it should submit the warning to FDA for review and comment prior to distribution, along with a plan for distribution. The recall strategy should indicate whether a public warning is needed and how it will be issued, for example, via general or specialized news media.
  3. Effectiveness Checks Effectiveness checks are required to confirm that all consignees at the specified recall depth received the notification. Consignees may be contacted by whatever means deemed appropriate by the recalling firm, including by letter, telephone calls, or a combination. It is recommended that a firm conduct at least the initial effectiveness check in writing, and may then follow up via telephone if no response is received. When a phone call is made, the firm should document the call and that documentation should be retained in the recall record. The recall strategy will specify the methods to be used and the level of effectiveness checks that will be conducted. Depending on the product involved and the health hazard presented by the product, a firm may be required to contact 100% of consignees, or may not be required to conduct an effectiveness check at all.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FDA, READ:

FDA Deskbook: A Compliance and Enforcement Guide Edited by James P. Ellison and Anne K. Walsh (Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.)

Subcribe to Discover PLUS?  Read it here — ›

New Answer Book! Privacy Law Answer Book

Privacy Law Answer BookPLI’s new Privacy Law Answer Book answers key questions related to the evolving collection, use, and storage of consumers’ personal information.

The Q&A-formatted guide makes clear sense of the patchwork of federal, state and international laws and regulations, with expert guidance on privacy policies, COPPA, financial privacy, medical privacy, and more.

Edited by Jeremy Feigelson (Debevoise & Plimpton LLP), the Answer Book will help readers keep clients and companies one step ahead of the data privacy challenges of tomorrow.

This essential new title is available on PLI Discover PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email the PLI Library Help Desk or call 877-900-5291.

 

New Treatise! A Starter Guide to Doing Business in the United States

Doing Business in the United States

A Starter Guide to Doing Business in the United States is a new “must read” for non-U.S. businesses, foreign attorneys, law firm associates and new entrepreneurs. Edited by Woon-Wah Siu (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP) the Starter Guide covers the main legal and regulatory issues to be considered before entering the U.S. market, including:

  • Choice of a business entity—describing the requirements for a corporation, LLC, partnership, and sole proprietorship
  • Federal securities law—discusses the major statutes, provisions and regulations controlling the creation and exchange of business interests; the chapter includes what is required to qualify as a Foreign Private Issuer
  • Buying a company: the M&A process—highlighting each step of the process and the differences between buying a U.S. company and a non-U.S. company
  • Employment considerations—providing general guidance on the issues and statutes that arise when hiring employees in the U.S.
  • Equity incentives for U.S. employees—comparing the permissible types of equity incentives and the related, relevant tax and accounting treatment of such incentives
  • Immigration law—describing the requirements for the various types of employment-related visas and other business-related provisions
  • U.S. international trade law—exploring, in the book’s most extensive chapter, the many major statutes and international agreements that regulate importing into, exporting out of, or investing in the United States
  • Protecting intellectual property—describing the kinds of protections in the U.S. and how to derive maximum value from your IP through licensing, and how to assert or defend your IP in litigation
  • Environmental law—describing the requirements mandated by major federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as providing suggestions on successful compliance strategies
  • Taxation—describing the many kinds of taxes affecting trade and business, and focusing on the distinctions between how U.S. persons versus non-U.S. persons, as well as U.S. source versus non-U.S. source income, are treated
  • Litigation before courts and agencies, mediation and arbitration—providing a general discussion of the structure of the court systems in the United States as applied to civil cases, the terminology and procedure generally used in U.S. courts, enforcement of court judgments, and specialized tribunals, arbitration and mediation.

The Starter Guide also includes concepts in U.S. commercial real estate transactions, regulation of the energy sector, products liability law, and business insurance. This new guide also provides useful charts, tables, best practices and highlighted tips.

This essential new title is available on PLI Discover PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email the PLI Library Help Desk or call 877-900-5291.

PLI Discover PLUS Answer Books Video Tutorial

PLI Answer Books are written in an easy to read, q&a format. And they’re filled with checklists and practice pointers, making them useful resources for seasoned practitioners and newer attorneys alike. Watch this short video tutorial to learn how to access our more than 80 Answer Books on PLI Discover PLUS:

https://youtu.be/3h-Jz6z0UI4

Be sure to check out the rest of our videos on the PLI Librarian YouTube channel. We will continue to add instructional videos to this channel, so stay tuned for more! And if you have any suggestions on search tips videos you would like to see, please contact the PLI Library Help Desk .

What’s New on Discover PLUS for May

05-2016 What'

We add content to PLI Discover PLUS every month to ensure our subscribers have access to the most up-to-date and relevant secondary source legal documents. Renowned legal experts regularly updated our acclaimed Treatises, Course Handbooks, Answer Books, Transcripts and Forms to reflect recent changes and developments in the law.

Click here to see what we added in May.

New Treatise! FDA Deskbook: A Compliance and Enforcement Guide

FDA DeskbookFDA Deskbook: A Compliance and Enforcement Guide provides a comprehensive description of the complexities of compliance under The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDC Act) and practical suggestions on how FDA-regulated entities can avoid being the subject of an enforcement action by the federal government.  This new title fully explains the legal framework created by the FDC Act and subsequent statutes, regulations, guidance and policies governing the food and drug industry.

Written by attorneys at Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., the largest dedicated food and drug law firm in the U.S., the FDA Deskbook incorporates more than a century of cumulative experience from positions at FDA, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and regulated industry.  The result is this essential guidebook, which aims to assist industry stakeholders by providing a wide-ranging review of compliance and enforcement under the FDC Act and related laws.

The FDA Deskbook first details the ins-and-outs of FDA’s administrative actions (such as warning letters, import alerts, and recalls) and civil and criminal enforcement authorities.  The FDA Deskbook then walks the reader through individual chapters highlighting specific issues affecting the cross-section of FDA regulation:

  • drugs, including OTC, prescription, and compounded drugs, and controlled substances
  • medical devices, including in vitro diagnostic devices
  • food and dietary supplements
  • tobacco
  • animal products
  • cosmetics

Importantly, the FDA Deskbook contains chapters focused on today’s hot button issues, such as advertising and promotion, fraud and abuse, and good manufacturing practices.  The FDA Deskbook proposes best practice tips, including how to deal with FDA inspections, alternatives to conducting internal investigations, and potential defense strategies for use in enforcement proceedings.

The FDA Deskbook provides a thorough discussion of the current landscape necessary for FDA-regulated entities to achieve compliance and avoid enforcement action.

This essential new title is available on PLI Discover PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email the PLI Library Help Desk or call 877-900-5291.