Costa Mesa, CA, United States, California
Costa Mesa, CA, United States, California
IP Law protects inventions, brands, and creative works through patents, trademarks, and copyrights. It covers applications, searches, prosecution, portfolio management, and litigation involving IP disputes and patent lawsuits.
The following information is directed to inventors, engineers and scientists working in small business contexts, as well as individuals who create gadgets or devices as a side hustle. The most honest and satisfactory answer to how to apply for these types of intellectual property (IP) is to work with an experienced IP lawyer. This approach can save time, money and headaches, while greatly maximizing your opportunities for success.
While there is much information online about these application processes, what looks simple can actually be complex. For the ordinary person who does not have years of experience and has not witnessed outcomes of litigation in all these areas, there are many opportunities to make mistakes. Some applicants commit errors that make them lose the chance for a favorable outcome.
Attorney Roland Tong has helped countless clients protect their intellectual property through and beyond the application process. His skills and knowledge allow him to cut through the many forms and procedures efficiently and in a customized way, suitable to each applicant, type of intellectual property and intended purpose.
When you apply for a patent, you (or someone whom you hire) may first need to conduct a patent search to make sure that a similar patent does not already exist. Next, your invention needs to be accurately and thoroughly described in a patent application that is submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent application needs to include claims that broadly protect your invention and that make it difficult for others to unlawfully copy it. If you succeed at obtaining a patent, it can become a profitable business asset if you put it to good use.
When you apply for a trademark, you will (1) select a trademark; (2) prepare and submit an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), complete with a drawing of the trademark; (3) wait for a notification and then work with a USPTO examining attorney before you receive approval. If you succeed, you will have the right to bring a trademark infringement action in federal court if necessary.
A good place to start with any patenting idea is to confirm whether something is patentable. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), utility patents can be obtained for new, nonobvious and useful inventions that fall within the following categories:
Other types of patents available are design patents and plant patents covering certain plant varieties.
Things that cannot be patented include the following:
Tests of patentability include determinations of the following characterizations of true inventions:
Once you have answered these questions sufficiently to verify that your invention is patentable, seek step-by-step guidance from a knowledgeable IP attorney through the application process. Attorney Roland Tong has successfully gotten many clients on the path to profitability with solid patents of their innovative products and processes. He can do the same for your patentable invention.
When you have expended time, effort and money into branding or creating a product or creative work, it’s important that you protect it from being copied or used by another entity. Attorney Roland Tong, partner at the law firm of Manning, & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP, assists clients throughout Orange County, California. The firm assists clients who render services and sell goods nationwide to secure trademarks through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
A trademark is a distinctive word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of all four, that distinguishes the products or services of an individual or business organization from the products and services of other entities. A federal trademark is good for 10 years in which time it can be renewed if the trademark user can prove the mark is continuously being used to promote goods and/or services.
Before you adopt a mark, affix a mark on your product labels, or engage in promoting a brand name, it is important that an experienced trademark attorney has cleared the mark. Many inexperienced professionals may only rely on the USTPO database when clearing the mark. Although the USPTO maintains a database of registered trademarks, it’s important to have an attorney conduct a thorough search beyond the USPTO database and interpret the results. This shows that the trademark user performed due diligence and would keep the trademark user from being required to pay damages and attorney’s fees if an infringement case should arise.
Clearance searches are comprehensive searches and involve searching additional databases to ensure that another individual or business does not claim common law rights to the mark.
Attorney Roland Tong has substantial experience before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). When you have invested a substantial amount of resources in promoting a mark and a subsequent user of the same or similar mark attempts to use or register that mark, Roland Tong can help your company oppose the registration attempt and stop the subsequent user from continuing its use.
It is not common for subsequent users to try to cancel your existing registration and force you to change your product or business name by initiating a cancellation proceeding before the TTAB. Attorney Roland Tong can help you preserve your product or business name and defend you in cancellation proceedings.
A patent is a government-granted ability to exclude others from making, selling or offering for sale a patented invention. Any process, machine, composition of matter or manufactured item can be patented so long as it is new and useful. A utility patent application protects rights to the functionality and features of what is patented, as well as the way a product is made. A design application protects rights to the appearance and ornamental features of the product.
For help with patents, intellectual property litigation and all other intellectual property matters, complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 to schedule an initial consultation with an Irvine area lawyer.
Attorney Roland Tong is a true patent practitioner. Unlike other intellectual property attorneys who are not admitted to practice before the USPTO, he can represent individuals and businesses before a patent examiner and can assist with all aspects of patent law. As examples of his past work in this are, he has done the following:
If you have an idea or item that you would like to patent, Attorney Roland Tong can guide you through patent prosecution, beginning with a patent search. Once you are sure that your product is unique, he can handle the application process from start to finish and ensure that the application complies with patent statutes and regulations. Upon filing the application, you will be provided with an automatic patent pending status. This is especially important for startup companies that want to pitch their product or service to investors who look for this status to ensure that barriers to entry are in place and the product is safe from being stolen or copied by others.
If you are in a technology company or an innovative business employing engineers and scientists to invent on a daily basis, Roland Tong, Patent Attorney for Manning, & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP can help your company secure ownership of each invention. Attorney Roland Tong has taught various research and development personnel how to properly document the conception of their ideas, and how to obtain priority claim over their inventions.
In many cases, companies fail to capitalize on their inventions and the inventions just remain in the notebooks of their engineers or scientists. Even worse, competitors obtain patent rights on the same invention or one that is similar preventing companies from exercising the invention, even if their employees may have invented it first. Mr. Tong can ensure that the inventions are “harvested” in a timely manner and that the associated exclusive rights are obtained, which can be powerful in the marketplace.
Attorney Roland Tong provides full-service IP counsel to companies in matters related to trade secret protection, public disclosure prevention before the filing of patents and more, as described below.
Employee theft of proprietary technology is rampant and is a big concern, especially when employees bring over the technology to competing companies. Companies have relied on Roland Tong to ensure that the intellectual property rights are owned by the company as opposed to the employee inventor and are assigned to the company. Attorney Roland Tong has also helped companies secure their trade secrets.
Many companies have relied on Roland Tong to make sure they preserve their intellectual property rights both in the United States and abroad over products they display during trade shows. Certain countries are absolute novelty countries, which means that if a public disclosure happens before a patent application is filed, the patent rights over the invention are lost. Attorney Roland Tong has helped many companies file provisional applications, utility applications or Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, all of which are geared toward preserving intellectual property rights in the United States and overseas.
Attorney Roland Tong answers questions about patents and assists entrepreneurs and businesses in Orange County, California, and nationwide. Complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889.
Attorney Roland Tong offers various patent searching services, depending on your purpose. They include novelty search, accelerated examination search, freedom-to-operate search, and patent search for validity studies. The firm’s standard turn-around time is typically 10 working days, but they have a 5-day or 24-hour expedited search service if needed. Complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 to schedule a consultation.
Roland Tong, Patent Attorney for Manning, & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP, offers novelty searching to allow you find relevant prior art and determine whether your invention can be patented. The firm’s attorneys use the Examiner’s Application Search Tool (EAST) at the Alexandria Public Search Room.
This is the same system that Patent Examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) use when examining your patent application. EAST allows them to perform class and subclass searching with full integrity. They typically combine class and subclass searching with Keyword and Boolean search strategies to obtain quality results. They also use the Patent Image Retrieval tool.
The firm’s lawyers typically access the USPTO, EPO, JPO, and Derwent Patent World Index (DWPI) and the US Published Patent Application databases in doing their novelty searches. They may search the Examiner’s foreign art collection when available. They provide you with a patent attorney-written patentability opinion as well as copies of all the relevant references we found.
If you want to submit your application through the accelerated examination program, the firm’s lawyers can provide you with accelerated examination searches.
The firm’s attorneys also offer freedom-to-operate searches if you want to assess the risk of your product infringing an active patent. They can complement their search with a freedom-to-operate opinion, which may help you disprove allegations of willful infringement in the future.
If you are threatened or accused of infringement, the firm’s lawyers can search for patents that can invalidate the patent(s) being asserted. They may use additional databases besides the USPTO, EPO, JPO, and Derwent Patent World Index (DWPI) and US Published Patent Application databases. For instance, they may use internet postings, publications of government research facilities, such as the Library of Congress, NIH, and FDA, and publications from various foreign patent offices.
Attorney Roland Tong handles patent, trademark, and other intellectual property needs for clients in Orange County and throughout Southern California. For further information about the firm’s patent search services, please complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 today.
Today, companies large and small are valued less by the buildings and equipment they own and more by the ideas they create. Companies need sound strategies to procure and protect their intellectual property and increase their value. While many law firms are able to register patents, we formulate long-term protection plans based on the needs of our clients and plans for the future.
Complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 to schedule a consultation.
Attorney Roland Tong has substantial litigation experience and are thus able to ensure that every patent application they draft reflects the lessons learned in litigation. Nothing sharpens an attorney’s ability to be critical of patent prosecution work better than seeing whether patents prove to be enforceable in court. An attorney who has witnessed during trial the consequences of a sloppy patent disclosure, an unnecessary limitation in a claim, or a careless concession, will forever after be vigilant against making such a mistake in his or her own patent prosecution work Roland Tong advises clients in the following areas:
Attorney Roland Tong handles patent, trademark, and other intellectual property needs for clients in Irvine, Los Angeles and throughout Southern California. For further information about intellectual property law, please complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 today.
Like other valuable assets, patents need to be managed carefully in order to prevent problems and keep business moving in the right direction. Keeping track of a large number of patents can be a daunting task, though, particularly when the lifeblood of a company is in its intellectual property.
If the health of your company depends on the protection of multiple patents, proper legal counsel is not an option, it is a necessity. If you are seeking legal expertise with regard to this challenge, Attorney Roland Tong can assist you. Complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 to schedule a consultation.
Orange County patent portfolio management lawyer Roland Tong is equipped with the human capabilities and technological resources needed to safeguard valuable patent assets, he helps California businesses protect their patent portfolios by:
As an attorney who concentrates on intellectual property matters, he has extensive experience with patents related to computer technologies (such as hardware and software), gaming devices, mechanical devices, medical devices, nutritional supplements, pet products, printer cartridges and other niche areas.
If you are seeking a Southern California lawyer with patent expertise and a reputation for excellent client service, complete an online contact form, call 949-693-1537 or text 949-331-2889 to schedule an appointment.
Cogent Medicine Inc. v. Skyscape.com, Inc. et al. – Northern District of California
Kitsch LLC v. Alexia Crawford, Inc.– Central District of California
Thermolife Int’l, LLC v. Better Body Sports LLC et al. – Central District of California
Rage Hard Choppers, Inc. dba Big Bear Choppers v. Daytec and Phillip R. Day – Central District of California
Sasco v. Weber Electric Manufacturing Company– Central District of California
Otter Products, LLC v. mophie, LLC– District of Colorado
FBA Holding, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. – Central District of California
Lexmark Int’l., Inc. v. Ink Jet Technologies Printers et al. – Southern District of Ohio
If you are seeking a Southern California lawyer with intellectual property expertise, Attorney Roland Tong can answer your questions. Complete an online contact form to schedule an appointment.
We provide expert legal support in patents, trademarks, and IP disputes—guiding you from application to litigation with clarity and confidence. Let us help secure your innovations and protect what matters most.
Roland Tong is a partner at the law firm of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP. He represents businesses throughout Southern California in a wide range of matters including Intellectual Property and Business Litigation.
© All Rights Reserved.