RichardBeem's blog

The headline blares: "U.S. Loses High-Tech Jobs as R&D Shifts Toward Asia," WSJ at B1 (Jan. 18, 2012). You know the story: Multinationals spend billions to expand overseas research. More than half of the world's engineering degrees are granted in Asia, as against only 4% granted in the U.S. More than half of U.S. PhDs in engineering are granted to foreigners—mostly to East Asians and Indians. High tech manufacturing jobs have been moved from the U.S. to other countries.
But here’s an important point not mentioned in the above-cited article: Patents and intellectual property...

In a prominent article in this morning's New York Times business section, Floyd Norris, in “Making More Things in the U.S.A." (Jan. 6, 2012, p. B1), correctly reminds us that the United States "remains" a "manufacturing power." The questions are, how did we get there, and how do we reclaim that lead? The answer to both questions can be found in the U.S. Constitution, implementing the Founders' recognition that the patent system...

Rich Beem welcomed Chinese patent lawyer Liu Sen and friends from Han Horizon Law Firm of Beijing to Beem Patent Law Firm, Chicago, on November 14, 2011. China leads the world in filing of patent applications and, contrary to popular belief, patent infringement in China can be stopped through the legal system. Protect your international intellectual property rights!

On Friday morning, Sept. 16, 2011, a historic day, President Obama signed the Leahy Smith America Invents Act into law at an Arlington VA high school.
The nation’s response was a collective yawn.
But wait a minute! This is the biggest change in U.S. patent law in 175 years. The last big reform was when Andrew Jackson was President, in 1836. Jackson put...
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Beem in 5 words and phrases:
1. Client-Lawyer
2. Intellectual Property: Patents
3. Invention-Creativity
4. Mutual Profit
5. Community-Global

Congratulations to Phil Carragher, inventor and recipient of newly issued U.S. Patent 7,983,986, titled “System for Card Activity-Based Mortgage Crediting.” Mr. Carragher filed his patent application on June 26, 2000. When he started, he was eligible for the full 20 year term of a U.S. patent. But the Patent Office took its time in examining his application. The Office rejected his claims and rejected them again. More than ten years passed, slowly eroding the potential term of any patent that ultimately might be granted. Finally, acting on a recommendation, Mr. Carragher retained the services of Beem Patent Law Firm...

We are now in a time of intense interest, activity and change in the patent system. I have been following these changes, indeed, I am an active participant through my work as a patent attorney and as President of the U.S. Group of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI-US) and Chair of the Committee on International Patent Treaties and Laws in the Section of Intellectual Property Law of the American Bar Association (ABA). I write this article upon returning to my Chicago offices immediately after the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, where I met with and heard from...

Currently in the news are several companies that are buying and selling patent portfolios. The proposition sounds attractive at face value. One company has underutilized patent assets. Another company, like Google, is a growing business, a lightning rod for patent infringement litigation, and owns only a small patent portfolio from which to select negotiating chips. But the reality is that the best, most valuable patents are those that cover commercial products, and those patents are being used by...

There has been much interest—and misunderstanding—concerning the patent reform bills wending their way through Congress. On June 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, H.R. 1249, by a 304-117 vote. The vote follows the U.S. Senate's March 95-5 vote for S. 23, but the bills must be reconciled before becoming law. Both bills would change the U.S. patent system from a first-to-invent (FTI) system into a first-inventor-to-file (FITF) system. Misapprehension centers around that change.