Gerald Prettyman, Esq., LL.M.’s Post

U.S. Patent 11,092,956: Stopping drivers of stolen, runaway, and illegally used vehicles from killing and maiming thousands of people every year. Patent Attorney Gerald R. Prettyman. See https://lnkd.in/gdwXgmF7

A Trademark should uniquely identify your product or service to the public. To do so, be sure NOT to use words that your competitors use, especially not descriptive terms such as "market" for a market. You can though use such a term by blending the term with an unrelated word, BUT you won't get registration if another company registers the word in a related product or service. You need more than a search for the word. Fortunately, Trademark and Patent Attorney Gerald R. Prettyman helped the CorkBoss team overcome those hurdles, and secured Trademark Registration for the CORKBOSS patented device. See https://lnkd.in/gmScCAn

Corkscrews have been around about as long as corks and bottles, as have sore wrists of people having to insert corkscrews into bottles. While electronic devices are available, they are large and heavy and so not conducive to table-side restaurant service, and particularly so as they are seemingly inherently defective. (I have 2 and both quickly failed.) Fortunately, Sommelier Barbara Maroney developed a small and easy to use device and sought the assistance of Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. The patented CorkBoss™ CorkScrew alleviates the injurious action of repetitive wrist turns required to drive the screw into a cork. Set the corkscrew into the cork, then raise the cleverly attached lever, and with a few turns of your arm, the corkscrew is deep into the cork and ready to remove. The CorkBoss™ CorkScrew will soon be available across the nation and worldwide. Retailers: please contact Franmara. Got A Bright Idea? Visit GotABrightIdea.com

Corkscrews have been around about as long as corks and bottles, as have sore wrists of people having to insert corkscrews into bottles. While electronic devices are available, they are large and heavy and so not conducive to table-side restaurant service, and particularly so as they are seemingly inherently defective. (I have 2 and both quickly failed.) Fortunately, Sommelier Barbara Maroney developed a small and easy to use device and sought the assistance of Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. The patented CorkBoss™ CorkScrew alleviates the injurious action of repetitive wrist turns required to drive the screw into a cork. Set the corkscrew into the cork, then raise the cleverly attached lever, and with a few turns of your arm, the corkscrew is deep into the cork and ready to remove. The CorkBoss™ CorkScrew will soon be available across the nation and worldwide. Retailers: please contact Franmara. Got A Bright Idea? Visit GotABrightIdea.com

Got A Bright Idea? Want to protect and develop the idea? Read On. Part I. Cautionary Statements 1. Ideas are not protectable. You may be able to protect the registered use of a tangible idea, but not ideas. Never send an unsolicited idea to a company. Patents protect eligible inventions. Trademarks protect brands. Copyright protects a select set of creative ideas. Many companies have successfully used unsolicited information and even changed ideas from other people. SpongeBob Squarepants started from an idea of a Sponge named Bob. 2. Selling ideas is rarely profitable. Avoid these mistakes. A. Invention promoters: Less than 1% of people earn back the money they spent. Glossy brochures look good, but some promoters do little more than send out letters. B. Licensing deals: The accounting of "costs and fees" almost always "exceeds" revenue. C. Corporate Partnerships: The process tends to work like: A. Desired partner uses due diligence to learn protectability, marketability, and profitability. B. Desired partner cancels the contract. C. Desired partner builds its own version. D. Ousted partner fights in court and has to settle for a cheap deal. The lousy thing is how often this occurs. Examples: Auto industry, Home Depot, and WalMart even used it on Nike.

If the parts of an invention can be made separately, they can be sold separately. Manufacturers can make one part only and not infringe a patent. Prevent patent infringement by patenting each part. USD900404 is one of three parts of US9708154 Off-Road Rolling Film Vision System. Call 925-600-7342 for a patent, trademark, or copyright.

Protecting Creative Function: Film Spool U.S. Design Patent D8364233 Copyright protects creative design, but not when the design has a function. Design Patents protect design elements and at a lower cost than a utility patent, and thus work well to augment utility patents. This is Film Spool U.S. Design Patent D836423, which augments Utility Patent US9708154 for an Off-Road Rolling Film Vision System, along with Design Patents USD836564, USD900404, and USD901779 for the other components. Film Spool US Design Patent D836423 has eight drawings showing the front and back (Fig. 1 and 2), four sides, plus one perspective (Fig. 7, here) and a section view (Fig. 8). Note that design patent drawings ARE NOT engineering drawings, and CAD drawings are not acceptable. A design patent must show every feature of the design and every feature must have sufficient views to indicate relative position and depth, and follow highly specific rules. Design patent drafters are specially trained drafters, as are design patent examiners. Many design patent examiners earned an M.F.A.! Got a Bright Idea? Visit GotABrightIdea.com or call 925-600-7342.

Humans have been wearing footwear for more than 5500 years old, yet patents are still important for shoe designers. Elephant Shoes created new designs and wanted patent protection. To be worn, shoes must abide by human foot contours and use, which are both a law of nature, and long-known, so related features are not protectable by a utility patent. Elephant Shoes contacted Gerald R. Prettyman, who worked with a graphic artist to capture the design elements of the shoes, and assure the drawings met the stringent graphic and artistic requirements for a design patent. Unlike a utility patent, a design patent must show every feature of the design and every feature must have sufficient views to indicate relative position, depth, and as the inventions must be useful - the drawings must indicate use of every feature. But like a utility patent, we want to make sure to provide protection against knockoffs by omitting unimportant elements from the protected features. The drawings must, therefore, distinguish between important design elements that capture the eye (and sales), while design not allowing unimportant design elements that would allow knockoffs. Shown is U.S. Design Patent D743152. If you’ve Got A Bright Idea, visit GotABrightIdea.com or call 925-600-7342

Toothpaste has been in use for perhaps 7000 years. For most of history, people used available components for abrasiveness, with soap for cleaning, and often in powder sold in jars or tins. Herbs and other flavorings were sometimes added to overcome the taste and smell and to treat bad breath. By the 1850's industrial manufacturing of tooth cleaners provided standardized formulation and tube packaging. Most jars, tins, and tubes, however, are comparatively small and are a major cost to the price, as well as a cumulative component of landfills. Having to remove and replace caps also make tubes inconvenient. Fortunately, ULTRASMILE® realized that tubes are not needed in many uses and designed a reusable pump system, and then contacted Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. After reviewing the design and features for patentable options, Gerald R. Prettyman prepared and filed a design patent application. While utility applications protect the function of an invention, design patent applications protect the appearance. Design patent applications also require less work and are therefore less expensive. With US Patent D887844, ULTRASMILE® can help people around the world to SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.