Patents Select a Question: Should my small company consider its business methods as something to patent? What is the hottest issue now with respect to pharmaceutical patents? 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? My company wants to license patented technology to give us a cutting edge over our competition. Are we free to use the patented technology? I would like to license my technology, but I'm uncertain whether the licensee company will be successful. How do I protect my technology against the possible failure of my licensee's business? Do we need to file a patent application before talking to potential investors? Should emerging companies seek patent protection for business methods these days? Does obtaining a patent on your software or business method protect you against a claim of patent infringement by a competitor? Can I file a US patent application and maintain the secrecy of my invention? What is the difference between patent infringement and willful patent infringement? If I come up with a new way of doing business, may I obtain patent protection? Are there any disadvantages associated with filing US provisional patent applications? My company has developed a new way of doing business on the Internet. Should we patent our ideas? I've heard a lot about business method patents. What are those? 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? Can others in my company who are working on projects similar to mine, and who file patent applications before me, cause problems with my patent application? 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? What is the significance of marking my products with their patent numbers? Our company has developed a new product that has four novel but distinct features that we would like to patent. What is the most cost effective way?

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