Frank L. Bernstein Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak & Seas, PLLC Menlo Park, CA Telephone:  650 / 463-4600 E-mail:  [email protected] Web site:  sughrue.com Select a Question: I hear that under the newly passed patent law, there's a first inventor defense available to a charge of patent infringement. If I don't have that defense available to me, can I buy a company that does, and then assert the defense myself? I understand that under the newly-passed patent law, the Patent and Trademark Office is going to publish all US patent applications that are filed abroad. I don't want my competitors to see the claims I want to get in the US. What can I do? When I filed my patent application, I had no intention of filing it outside the US, so I asked the Patent and Trademark Office not to publish my application. However, the invention is very successful, and I have changed my miind. What should I do? I hear that under the newly-passed patent law, the Patent and Trademark Office is going to publish all US patent applications. But I don't want my competitors to see all the proprietary information I put in my patent applications until the patents issue. What can I do?

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