INVENTION NAME :

PROPRIETARY MATERIALS : Materials and information, including written and verbal descriptions, samples, drawings, photos, recordings, and videos, as identified by the attached description signed and dated by AGENT, and the following document numbers, if any:

PATENT AGENT: John V. Stewart, 1308 Henry Balch Dr., Orlando, FL 32810 acknowledges and agrees as follows:

1. AGENT certifies that he is currently legally registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent agent in good standing, and is thereby authorized to perform U.S. patent application services.
2. The above PROPRIETARY MATERIALS were first disclosed to the AGENT by the INVENTOR on the date(s) indicated by the AGENT on each respective sheet of the attached description.  AGENT agrees to accept these PROPRIETARY MATERIALS under the following conditions:
3. These PROPRIETARY MATERIALS, and the information they contain, shall be used by AGENT solely for purposes requested by the inventor, such as patenting and drawings.
4. AGENT agrees not to disclose these PROPRIETARY MATERIALS, or the information they contain to any parties except as authorized by the INVENTOR.
5. AGENT shall exercise a high degree of care to safeguard these PROPRIETARY MATERIALS, and the information they contain, from access by, or disclosure to, all unauthorized persons.
6. AGENT shall only copy these PROPRIETARY MATERIALS, as needed for the purposes above, and AGENT shall return all PROPRIETARY MATERIALS (including any copies made) to INVENTOR at any time upon request by INVENTOR.
7. The non-disclosure terms herein shall not apply to any information which AGENT can document becomes part of the general public knowledge through no fault of AGENT, or after publication by a patent office disclosing the PROPRIETARY MATERIALS.**
8. OWNERSHIP OF DEVELOPED FILES:  Any files, including computer files, developed by AGENT for the inventor and funded by the INVENTOR disclosing the PROPRIETARY MATERIALS, will be provided to the INVENTOR on request if available.  For example, if INVENTOR wants the CAD or word processor files of the patent application, AGENT will provide them, unless they have been deleted from AGENT's computer (intentionally or accidentally).  AGENT may charge a fee for providing these files if a significant amount of work or expense is needed, such a copying, mailing, reformatting, restoring, modifying, etc..
9. PATENT APPLICATION CONTENT:    The patent application shall comprise (circle type):  a) UTILITY - a specification, claims, abstract, drawings, Information Disclosure Statement (if needed), and necessary application forms;  b) PROVISIONAL - a specification, drawings, and necessary application forms; c) DESIGN - preamble, specification, claim, drawings, Information Disclosure Statement (if needed), and necessary application forms.  In all cases, a return postcard will be included to obtain filing confirmation and the application serial number.
10. INVENTOR MUST DISCLOSE to AGENT all prior inventions and technology known to INVENTOR that are the same or similar to the INVENTION.  Such prior art can prevent patenting of the INVENTION.
11. TIMELINESS: AGENT agrees to prepare a patent application within  8  weeks after receiving from INVENTOR all information and materials requested by AGENT, and the AGENT's preparation fee in full. AGENT will then provide a copy of the application to INVENTOR for approval, and forms for INVENTOR's signature. After receiving from INVENTOR the forms with original signatures, and the Patent Office filing fee, AGENT will mail the patent application to the U.S. Patent Office within 4 business days. If AGENT is out-of-town when the signed forms and fee arrive, the application will be mailed within 4 business days of his return. AGENT will advise INVENTOR about upcoming out-of-town trips, and request overnight return of the forms, or may provide another option if this may cause a problem. If the application preparation or filing is delayed by AGENT, the AGENT will refund $100 of the preparation fee for each week the patent filing is overdue, up to a maximum refund of the full preparation fee. An Information Disclosure Statement will be filed by AGENT with a utility or design patent application, or within 3 months after the filing date at no extra charge, if prior art is known by the AGENT or provided by the INVENTOR.
12. FEES:  The current fee schedule(s) is(are) attached, signed by AGENT.  Any agreed changes are marked and initialed by AGENT on the attached schedule, or are provided in an attached letter signed by agent.  AGENT normally charges fixed fees per project, quoted in advance and paid in advance of work.  Fixed fees are based on AGENT's estimated work hours.  AGENT logs his time spent on each project.  If a project is cancelled by INVENTOR or through no fault of AGENT, and there is a credit balance based on AGENT's current hourly fee times hours logged, this credit will be refunded on request.  If there is no credit balance, no refund will be made.
13. ADDITIONAL SERVICES:  may be requested for additional fees.  Examples are petitions, continuations, recording of assignments, appeals, modification of drawings for marketing or production, etc..
14. MODIFICATIONS of the product design or description, or additional versions or drawings of the invention provided by INVENTOR after AGENT has started patent preparation will result in additional fees and additional preparation time.
15. CANCELLATION:  If INVENTOR is unresponsive to AGENT's requests for information or documents, or provides incomplete and/or contradictory responses that make patenting impossible or impractical, AGENT will consider this a cancellation of the project by INVENTOR.
16. MAINTENANCE FEES:  are due periodically on most types of patents.  For US utility patents, they are due every 3.5 to 4 years after the patent issues.  It is the responsibility of the INVENTOR to remember the due dates, and to pay the maintenance fees directly to the appropriate patent office (US or foreign).  AGENT will provide details on this when the patent issues.  The INVENTOR may choose not to pay a maintenance fee, in which case the patent will expire.
17. COMPETENT EFFORT:  The AGENT will attempt to obtain a strong and valid patent by negotiating with the Patent Office using patent law and procedure in the INVENTOR's interest.  AGENT is highly successful at obtaining strong and valid patents, but does not guarantee that a strong patent, or any patent, will be allowed by the Patent Office in every case.
18. LIMITATIONS:  Patent agents cannot provide other legal services offered by attorneys, such as litigation, licensing, copyrights, and trademarks.  AGENT can competently handle appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, but will not attempt to handle an interference.
19. INVENTOR RESPONSIBILITY: It is the INVENTOR's responsibility to understand the AGENT's information brochure, this agreement, any written or verbal advice from AGENT, and the benefits and limitations of the type of search and patent application requested. The INVENTOR must notify the AGENT immediately of any change of address, contact information, or citizenship.
20. INVENTOR must inform AGENT of date the INVENTION above was first publicly disclosed, placed on sale, or used commercially. If prior to filing a patent application, most foreign patenting rights are lost. If more than 1 year before filing U.S. and/or Canadian patent applications, then U.S. and/or Canadian patenting rights are lost as well. __________________________________________________________________ (date, type of disclosure, country)
21. DRAWINGS: Formal drawings provided by AGENT are guaranteed to be acceptable to the U.S. Patent Office. Any corrections to these drawings required by the U.S. Patent Office will be at AGENT's expense. Drawings provided by INVENTOR or a draftsman hired by INVENTOR are not guaranteed by AGENT. Any work required by AGENT to complete and/or formalize such drawings will be at additional charge, which will be quoted by AGENT to INVENTOR. In some cases, the best way to formalize them may be for the AGENT to redraw them on his CAD system.
22. TIME LIMIT FOR ACCEPTANCE: In many cases, this agreement will be signed by one party below, and mailed to the other party for acceptance. It is understood that the second party must sign and date this agreement and return it within 4 weeks of the first signing to the first-signing party or this AGREEMENT is void. If the patent preparation fee is not provided to AGENT within 6 weeks of signing by AGENT, this AGREEMENT is void.
23. TIME LIMIT: Any AGENT services not funded by INVENTOR within 2 months of the AGENT's signing date below must be re-negotiated as to the fees. If the AGENT's preparation fee for a patent application is fully paid within 2 months of AGENT's signing below, the remaining fees for the AGENT's patent application work on this patent application are fixed by the attached schedule during the pendency of the patent application. The Patent Office fees are subject to change. If a continuation or new patent application is to be filed after the first one above, the fee schedule will be renegotiated based on the then-current rate sheet as published on the JVS Inventions web site.
24. PATENT PENDING: The INVENTOR understands that it is illegal to claim patent pending status prior to the date the patent application is properly filed.
25. A PROVISIONAL patent application provides patent pending status for 1 year, but never becomes a patent. If a utility or design patent application is to be filed by AGENT based on a provisional application, INVENTOR must request and fund such application within 10.5 months after the filing date of the provisional application. The fee for preparing a utility patent application based on a provisional patent application is published in AGENT's fee schedule. This fee assumes AGENT prepared the provisional application, and no changes or additions in the invention are required.
26. FOREIGN FILING, if desired, should be done within 1 year of the U.S. filing date or foreign rights may be lost. Foreign filing by AGENT must be requested and funded by INVENTOR within 10 months after the U.S. filing date.
27. ADDITIONAL VERSIONS of an invention can sometimes be included in the same patent application at additional expense, but the Patent Office can require division of different versions into separate applications if they consider the combined application too broad.
28. PATENT INSURANCE is available. AGENT does not provide it, and does not know if it is worth the expense.
29. APPLICATION OF AGREEMENT: This agreement only applies to the invention disclosed in the attachments.

INSTRUCTIONS :   Attach a written description and sketch of the invention to be covered by this agreement.  Attach AGENT's current fee schedule.  The AGENT will sign and date this form and each page of the attachments.

NOTES :   Registered patent agents and attorneys are obligated to hold their clients' information confidential. You should have your disclosure witnessed as described in Invention Protection Steps on the JVS Web Site below.   **The U.S. Patent Office keeps patent applications confidential for 18 months, then publishes them. Most other countries are similar

JVS Web Site - jvsinventions.com

(C) Copyright 1997-2005 John V. Stewart. All rights reserved.