Industrial IP

Checking my email after work one day, I was greeted with some unfortunate news: the application I was prosecuting had received yet another Office action.   Frustrated, I couldn’t resist skimming the substance of the rejection.   After all, like any patent practitioner, I thought my arguments were pretty irrefutable.   The news only got worse… or so it appeared.   The Office action was something called an “ Ex Parte Quayle action.”   Having never received one of these actions, I started mentally preparing myself to pull out the MPEP and research some arcane rejection. To my surprise, I didn’t find myself knee-deep in case law the following day.   Ex Parte Quayle actions, while somewhat inconvenient, are far from insurmountable.   In short, an Ex Parte Quayle action or “Quayle action” is issued when an application has objections remaining as to formal matters, but is otherwise allowable.   Accordingly, the mailing of these actions closes prosecution on the merits of the appl

“In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck” ( Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), but there is such thing as a strong intellectual property strategy. The Star Wars franchise is a prime example of what a strong intellectual property strategy can do for a brand. They have developed a diverse portfolio over the years, leveraging their trademarks, patents, and copyrights for additional revenue in licensing. While the Star Wars franchise is recognized for their unique novel designs, catch-phrases, or iconic branding – the creativity and innovation to bring the story to life has created novel methods for production as well. The Star Wars saga is filled with futuristic technology whose written mechanical systems are inspired by mechanical engineering, physics, and space to name a few. It is one of those brands that pushes innovation in technology forward. The brands current owners, Disney Enterprises, has taken the concept of light sabers and brought them to