Utility patents protect inventions that are a novel, nonobvious, and useful, such as: process innovations, machine innovations, manufacturing innovations, compositions of matter, or incremental improvements from foundational innovations. The three patentability requirements: New and Novel: For a United States patent the invention must never have been made public in any way, anywhere in the world, a year before the date on which an application for a patent is filed. In other countries, you have no one year grace period and require absolute novelty. Original and Nonobvious: An invention involves an inventive step if, when compared with what is already known, it would not be obvious to someone with a good knowledge and experience of the subject, for example, if you just make cosmetic changes that is obvious. Useful: This means that the invention must take the practical form of an apparatus or device, it has to do something.

"At present, it is known that intangible resources, or intellectual capital, are the drivers of economic growth. IPStreet.com's tools can help you understand if your idea is patentable, how to patent an idea, how to conduct a patent search to it's full potential and understand the analytics behind the patent search. We can help with understanding patent duration, patent value and connecting you with an experienced patent lawyer. One of its components is the human resources. Human resources are the main source of knowledge of firms, and it is considered a critical resource, maybe the most important one (Johanson, 2005; Marr and Roos, 2005). For this reason, its management and its development are crucial to increase the value of the firm. The objective of this paper is to analyse the influence that the training expenses have over the total value of the intangibles. From the business management, the expenditure on training are an investment." (Lidia García-Zambrano et al). Let IPstreet.com help you with your HR Director needs.

Let IPstreet.com help you keep your patent portfolio organized. Organize your patents into groups, related to your product offerings. Identify each patent into a few tiers, where top-tiered patents are of higher commercial importance. This internal ranking can help identify which patents to maintain both domestically and internationally. Additionally, such a simple ranking will allow for establishing strategic enforcement guidelines. Resources are limited, so knowledge to identify which patents are most important can result in better utilization of resources. Using our patent search tools, you can better understand the value of a patent and analytics behind it.

"Reputation management is an important factor in attracting partners and external funding. From interviews with CEOs and CTOs of nine large industrial and publicly funded firms, we have a clear indication that a corporate R&D lab's well-managed reputation has a direct impact on the firm's brand value. In other words, corporate research labs should not be measured only by their technological outcome, but also by the impact they have on a firm's brand value," according to Gassman et al., 2009, Research Technology Management, "R&D Reputation and Corporate Brand Value." The tools IP Street offers will help you identify (1) patents that significantly influence your brand (2) why the patents are significant (3) Internally communicate what, why, and how a patent influences brand to get executive-level buy-in and (4) Communicate to your customers what, why, and how to further develop the brand's impact.

A design patent covers the unique, ornamental, or visible shape or surface ornamentation of an article or object, even if only on a computer screen. Thus if a lamp, a building, a computer case, or a desk has a truly unique shape, its design can be design patented. Even computer screen icons and an arrangement of printing on a piece of paper can be patented. A design must be for an article that is different from an object in its natural state; thus a figure of a man would not be suitable for a design patent but if the man is in an unnatural position, this can be patented. The uniqueness of the shape must be purely ornamental or aesthetic and part of an article. If the design is functional, then only a utility patent is proper, even if it is also aesthetic. A good example is a jet plane with a constricted waist (narrow body) for reducing turbulence at supersonic speeds: Although the novel shape is attractive, its functionality makes it suitable for a utility patent only. A useful way to distinguish between a design and a utility invention is to ask, "Will removing or smoothing out the novel features substantially impair the function of the device?" If so, as in the jet plane with the narrowed body, this proves that the novel features have a significant functional purpose, so a utility patent in indicated. According to David Pressman's book "Patent it Yourself" two useful questions to ask to define design innovations are: (1) Is the novel feature(s) there for structural or functional reasons, or only for the purpose of ornamentation? (2) Does the novel feature make it look better or work better? (The utilitarian function always prevails.) If the state of the arts is such that the general nature of the feature and its function is old, but the feature has a novel shape that is an aesthetic improvement, then only a design patent will be proper. The design patent application must consist primarily of drawings, along with formal paperwork and a filing fee. Design patents last 14 years from the date of issuance.