Category: Patent Filing
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How to Pay Maintenance Fees in Patent Center (Step-by-Step)
Paying patent maintenance fees shouldn’t feel scary or confusing. Yet for many founders, engineers, and inventors, it becomes one of those tasks you push off until it feels urgent. The USPTO doesn’t make things easier, and the Patent Center interface can feel like a maze when all you want to do is keep your patent…
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Small Entity vs Micro Entity: How to Qualify and Save
When you’re building something new, every dollar matters. And when you’re filing a patent, the fees can stack up fast. The good news is that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gives big discounts to inventors and startups that qualify as small entities or micro entities. These aren’t fancy terms. They’re simply ways to help…
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USPTO Fee Deadlines: 3.5, 7.5, 11.5 Years Explained
Most founders don’t think about USPTO fee deadlines until a scary email or a sudden “wait… did we miss something?” moment hits. And honestly, it makes sense. You’re building. You’re shipping. You’re fixing bugs at midnight. You’re trying not to run out of money. The last thing on your mind is a countdown clock tied…
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Patent Maintenance Fees: What They Are and When to Pay
Most founders don’t think about patent maintenance fees until it’s too late. You’re busy building, shipping, and keeping your startup alive. A fee that shows up years after your patent is filed feels like something you can worry about “later.” But maintenance fees aren’t a small detail. They decide whether your patent stays alive or…
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ROI Math: When a Design Patent Is Worth the Cost
Most founders ask the same question once they hear the price of a design patent: “Is this actually worth it?”Let’s make the math simple, clear, and real. A design patent is not about bragging rights. It’s about protecting the look and feel of something you worked hard to create—your device, your hardware, your interface, your…
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Portfolio Planning: Flagship, Variants, and Seasonal Refreshes
Building a product the right way is hard. Building a whole portfolio of products is even harder. You’re juggling new ideas, shipping deadlines, investor pressure, customer demands, and a roadmap that always seems to change at the worst time. In the middle of all that chaos, you’re also supposed to protect your ideas before someone…
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Design Patents for SaaS: Dashboards, Widgets, and Layouts
Most founders pour everything into building a product that feels clean, simple, smooth, and fast. You obsess over the dashboard, the little cards, the colors, the tiny motions, the way a user moves from one place to the next. You know these details matter. They’re what make your product feel alive. But what many SaaS…
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Common Drawing Rejections—and How to Fix Them Fast
Patent drawings should be the easiest part of a patent. They look simple. They feel simple. But they’re also one of the biggest reasons applications get delayed or rejected. A single missing line, a small shading mistake, or a number out of place can trigger an objection from the examiner and push your patent back…
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Carve-Out Strategy: Accessory, Bezel, or Bead—What to Claim
When you’re building hardware, wearables, devices, or anything with a physical form, you eventually hit a moment where you have to decide what part of your product to protect. Maybe it’s the outer shell. Maybe it’s a tiny bead that snaps into place. Maybe it’s the bezel around a screen, the clip on a strap,…
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Claiming GUI Flows: Series Figures that Pass Review
Claiming GUI flows in a patent can feel tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re a founder or engineer building something real, your interface is often a huge part of your secret sauce. The way screens move, the way steps connect, and the way your system reacts as users tap and click—these flows…
