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Should you apply for a plant patent? While plant patents can be immensely valuable, they are not well-understood. Many inventors who are eligible for plant patents fail to file, and many people who believe they are eligible for plant patents do not meet the requirements for registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this article, Alabama patent attorney Hunter Adams provides an overview of what entrepreneurs and companies need to know about plant patents.

The process of obtaining a patent can be expensive and time-consuming. Estimates vary, but the cost to obtain a patent on even a relatively simple invention can run about $8,000 and takes an average of about two years. Those are significant amounts of time and money, especially for small businesses, but the benefits of patent protection can quickly pay off. Patents are property rights at heart and, just like with real estate, there are many ways for patent owners to monetize their patents. An Alabama patent attorney can help you devise a strategy that works best for your company. 

Two of the premier athletic and lifestyle brands on the planet — “athleisure” wear retailer Lululemon and exercise equipment maker Peloton — are locking horns over product designs, and that fight has now spilled over into court. In early November, Lululemon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Peloton stating that it would sue Peloton unless Peloton stopped selling “copy-cat” Lululemon products. On November 29, Lululemon made good on its promise, suing Peloton for patent infringement and arguing that the designs for some of its leggings and sports bras infringed six of Lululemon’s design patents. Brush up on the case with the help of an Alabama intellectual property lawyer below. 

Patent infringement, broadly speaking, occurs where a party makes, sells, uses, offers to sell, or imports into the United States a product that is covered by a patent. Such actions can cause significant economic loss to the holder of the patent at issue because it deprives him or her of the opportunity to license the patent and to receive the profits from selling the product at issue. The purpose of a patent infringement lawsuit for the plaintiff, therefore, is to recover those losses in court through a damages award. There are several types of damages available in patent infringement actions, but the most common are reasonable royalties and lost profits, as an Alabama patent litigation attorney explains. 

Let’s say that you’ve developed what you think is a great new product. You’ve been keeping an eye on industry trends and positioning yourself for success for your next big launch. Your R&D department has spent countless hours and resources developing, testing, and refining the product, and has finally produced an ideal embodiment. And, even better, you have a pending patent application on it or even an issued patent. You’re ready to hit the market, right? Not so fast. Before launching a product, you still need to ensure that you have the freedom to operate, which an Alabama patent search attorney can help you to determine.