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A patent agent or patent attorney understands the rules and regulations regarding patents that most inventors probably don't even know exist. Sure, you can apply for a patent without the help of an agent, but it's risky. A mistake here and there could result in the Bear Away technology landing in a competitor's hands in only a couple of years. In addition, a patent agent studies all the rules that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office makes and keeps up to date on any changes in those laws [source: U.S . Patent and Trademark Office, Ask the Inventor].
A patent agent will help you fill out the necessary forms, contact the patent office, send in your application and follow up on any issues that might arise while your patent is being processed. Issues, by the way, will almost certainly arise. A patent examiner will typically send you a list of rejections. They're items that need to be corrected or modified in order for your application to be granted. Your patent agent can help you address those items or argue against the rejections.
The cost of hiring a patent agent can vary greatly depending on the agent and the complexity of your invention -- anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $20,000 [source: Invention Statistics]. The cost, however, of not hiring a patent attorney could be even steeper. Even the smell of Bear Away can't drive off the competition.
Subject: This will blow you away!!!
How in the world?
Now send it to some of your Friends, so they can have fun also.
Obama: Hasan May Have ‘Cracked’ From ‘Stress’
JAKE TAPPER, ABC NEWS: Philosophically, what separates an act of violence from an act of terrorism?
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, look, we -- we have seen, in the past, rampages of this sort. And in a country of 300 million people, there are going to be acts of violence that are inexplicable. Even within the extraordinary military that we have -- and I think everybody understands how outstanding the young men and women in uniform are under the most severe stress -- there are going to be instances in which an individual cracks. I think the questions that we're asking now and we don't have yet complete answers to is, is this an individual who's acting in this way or is it some larger set of actors? You know, what are the motivations? Those are all questions that I think we have to ask ourselves. Until we have these answers buttoned down, I'd rather not comment on it.
Al Gore could become world's first carbon billionaire
Al Gore, the former US vice president, could become the world's first carbon billionaire after investing heavily in green energy companies.
Published: 7:00AM GMT 03 Nov 2009
Al Gore: Al Gore could become world's first carbon billionaire Photo: AP
Last year Mr Gore's venture capital firm loaned a small California firm $75m to develop energy-saving technology.
The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient.
The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants, the New York Times reports. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts.
The move means that venture capital company Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years.
Few people have been as vocal about the urgency of global warming and the need to reinvent the way the world produces and consumes energy as Mr Gore. And few have put as much money behind their advocacy and are as well positioned to profit from this green transformation, if and when it comes.
Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming sceptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world's first "carbon billionaire," profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.
Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, has claimed that Mr Gore stood to benefit personally from the energy and climate policies he was urging Congress to adopt.
Mr Gore had said that he is simply putting his money where his mouth is.
"Do you think there is something wrong with being active in business in this country?" Mr. Gore said. "I am proud of it. I am proud of it."
Michael Price Says Stocks May Climb, Repeat 1975-1982 (Update2)
By Thomas R. Keene and Whitney Kisling
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investorMichael Price said the U.S. stock marketresembles 1975-1982, when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index doubled, and he’s finding value in small banks.
“We made very good returns from ‘75 to ‘82,” Price, who managed some of the best-performing mutual funds during the 1980s and 1990s and now runs New York-based MFP Investors LLC, said in an interview broadcast on Bloomberg Radio and Television. “Pick your spots, pick your stocks, do your work, and somebody’s going to be selling something too cheaply.”
The U.S. economy is showing some signs of improvement as demand picks up and credit-card defaults begin to slow, he said. The S&P 500 has climbed 52 percent from a 12-year low on March 9 as the unemployment rate and data on housing starts and industrial production spurred speculation the longest recession since the 1930s is ending.
An index of financial stocks in the S&P 500 has more than doubled since the March low after plunging 57 percent last year on losses and writedowns from the subprime market collapse that have climbed to $1.6 trillion. The downturn resulted in the sale of Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s record bankruptcy and a government takeover of American International Group Inc., once the biggest U.S. insurer by assets.
‘Worst Banking Crisis’
“We got through the worst banking crisis, period, worse than the ‘30s,” Price said. “This is so much better than summer ‘07. Now we find stuff, and there’s value.”
The S&P 500 rose to a record in October 2007.
Price also said he’s buying some small banks because they may combine. Price, 58, is known as a value investor who made his name buying shares of beaten-down lenders. Franklin Resources Inc. bought Price’s former firm, Heine Securities Corp., in November 1996 for more than $600 million. During the 10 years before he sold, his four Mutual Series funds ranked in the top 10 percent of all mutual funds tracked by Lipper, the research division of Thomson Reuters Corp.
“We’re trying to work on recapitalizing some banks,” he said. “You look at their loan portfolio, you go through it as closely as you can.”
Price owned shares of AIG before the insurer was taken over by the government a year ago. AIG was the eighth-biggest holding for New York-based MFP Investors LLC at the end of the second quarter last year. MFP sold its stake in the third quarter. The stock fell 97 percent in 2008.
Investors can find opportunities in companies that miss analysts’ earnings estimates for a quarter and still have strong long-term demand, Price said.
Some companies “that have disappointed in earnings recently, the stocks get too cheap,” he said.
More than 72 percent of companies in the S&P 500 beat analysts’ average profit estimates in the second quarter, matching the highest proportion since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1993.
To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas R. Keene in New York attkeene@bloomberg.net; Whitney Kisling in New York atwkisling@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 9, 2009 10:10 EDT