Selecting Your Mesothelioma Attorney or Law Firm

Written by MesotheliomaFirms.com


As with anything in life, when looking for legal assistance to claim compensation for asbestos injury you want to getrepparttar best legal advice available. This is particularly true with legal cases involving an injury such as mesothelioma, where millions of dollars in compensation could be at stake. Selectingrepparttar 105610 right mesothelioma lawyer could make a big difference torepparttar 105611 success of your lawsuit, and alsorepparttar 105612 amount of compensation you receive as settlement for your injury.

The first thing you need to look for in a mesothelioma lawyer is experience. The rise in mesothelioma cases coming to light has seen a boom inrepparttar 105613 number of specialist mesothelioma lawyers in operation, and these skilled professionals have built up established links to help with many aspects of your mesothelioma lawsuit. An experienced mesothelioma lawyer will haverepparttar 105614 necessary knowledge, experience, contacts and resources to put together a solid case and increase your chances of success.

Using an experienced mesothelioma lawyer will also enable you to checkrepparttar 105615 law firms' track record when it comes to success rate with mesothelioma cases. Before you make any commitment to a lawyer or law firm, you should check how many mesothelioma casesrepparttar 105616 firm or lawyer has dealt with inrepparttar 105617 past, and how many of these have been successful. A good, experienced mesothelioma lawyer will be happy to answer these questions for you. Some lawyers will even be able to give you an idea forrepparttar 105618 figures involved with their successful cases, although they won't be able to divulge information aboutrepparttar 105619 plaintiff for confidentiality reasons.

When looking forrepparttar 105620 right mesothelioma lawyer, you should also look intorepparttar 105621 firm's fee structure. Many mesothelioma lawyers now operate on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will only pay a fee for legal assistance if and when you are awarded compensation. This payment structure offers peace of mind, enabling you to pursue legal action withoutrepparttar 105622 worry of ending up with huge legal bills even if you do not get compensation for your illness.

"I Built a Better Mousetrap"-- Advice on Protecting Your Creation With a U.S. Patent

Written by Larry Denton


So, you built a better mousetrap. Now, how do your protect your "perfect" creation from being stolen by a Fortune 500 company? The answer lies inrepparttar United States Constitution which givesrepparttar 105609 U.S. Congress exclusive authority to grant patents for inventions. Patents on new inventions are not an automatic right. Instead, an inventor must apply and be granted a patent byrepparttar 105610 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), an agency ofrepparttar 105611 U.S. Department of Commerce. The process is long, laborious and very time-consuming. How do you startrepparttar 105612 tedious process?

A U.S. patent is basically a contract between an inventor andrepparttar 105613 government. The U.S. patent laws were written to provide an incentive to inventors to create and publicly disclose their inventions. In exchange for full disclosure of an invention,repparttar 105614 government grantsrepparttar 105615 inventorrepparttar 105616 right to exclude others from making, selling or importingrepparttar 105617 patented invention.

There are three types of patents, they are: 1) utility patents which protectrepparttar 105618 way an article is used and works; 2) design patents which protectsrepparttar 105619 way an article looks; and 3) plant patents issued for asexually reproducing plants. In order to be patentable, an invention must useful, novel (new), and non-obvious--meaning that when viewed as a whole,repparttar 105620 invention must not have been simply an obvious improvement inrepparttar 105621 invention's field when viewed by one of ordinary skill in that particular field.

The patent application process generally involves three steps. First,repparttar 105622 person (or corporation) seekingrepparttar 105623 patent must file an application withrepparttar 105624 Patent Office. In addition to including a detailed description of how to make and userepparttar 105625 invention,repparttar 105626 application must include patent claims--statements that definerepparttar 105627 scope ofrepparttar 105628 invention whichrepparttar 105629 inventor is attempting to protect. Oncerepparttar 105630 application has been filed, a patent examiner will be assigned to reviewrepparttar 105631 claims andrepparttar 105632 rest ofrepparttar 105633 application.

The second phase ofrepparttar 105634 process begins withrepparttar 105635 patent examiner performing a "novelty search"--checking prior patents, and allrepparttar 105636 available literature to determine whetherrepparttar 105637 invention is really novel and non-obvious. Duringrepparttar 105638 course ofrepparttar 105639 patent application process,repparttar 105640 patent examiner andrepparttar 105641 inventor (or his attorney) will communicate back and forth with one another to determine novelty and answer additional questions which may arise.

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