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Mason focuses his practice on all aspects of design and utility patent prosecution, both domestically and internationally. He also assists clients with clearance and patentability analyses, as well as patent portfolio management and strategy.

When there are fewer design elements in a design claim or when the individual elements of the design seem commonplace in isolation, it can be easy to overlook the inventive effort that went into developing a design. Rather than looking to the overall visual impression that those design elements provide as a whole, one can make the fatal error of ignoring a majority or the entirety of the design, considering it to be no more than an “abstract idea.”Continue Reading Sometimes Less is More: Patentability of “Simple” Designs

A recent Federal Circuit decision, Junker v. Med. Components, Inc., No. 2021-1649 (Feb. 10, 2022), serves as a warning to prospective filers that making pre-filing offers for sale, or engaging in discussions for future sales, can be detrimental to one’s ability to obtain both design and utility patents.
Continue Reading Junker v. Medical Components, Inc.: Pre-filing Offers for Sale Trigger Patent “On-Sale Bar”