Patents and Intellectual Property

As engineering practitioners with numerous patents of our own and others in process, we recognize the critical importance of protecting intellectual property. We are here to help you and your clients by providing relevant information and analysis of your products, designs, patents and trade secrets..

We can assist you with the following and more:

Claims review

Claims define and limit the intellectual property protection provided by a patent. Proper reading and interpretation requires detailed knowledge of patents, the patent process, and well-established competence in the technical subject matter.

Infringement

Infringement occurs if a product falls within the scope of a valid patent’s claims. Such a determination requires comprehensive understanding of a claim’s construction and a thorough technical understanding of a products features and design.

Prior art

The existence of prior art can obviate the patentability of a new product or invention. At the early stages of a patent application, thorough knowledge of the technical details of existing prior art provides the foundation for the development of a solid and robust patent application. After issuance, new prior art may emerge. Technical analysis of the features of this art as it relates to claims construction is critical to determining infringement.

Forensic evaluation

Forensic engineering seeks to identify a products cause or causes of failure. The goal may be to 1) improve or change the design of a product to eliminate the problem, 2) provide foundational information in an intellectual property or patent dispute, or 3) assist a court in determining the facts relative to an accident or dispute.

Reverse engineering

Reverse engineering seeks to determine the basic operational principles of a product or design with the goal of developing new competing versions of a product or determining its flaws and weaknesses. Proper reverse engineering approaches always start with application of engineering first principles such that objective and accurate results are obtained. At Steinke Beyer, our experience in product design and development, coupled with our solid engineering background, will provide thorough and objective conclusions to such efforts.