Monthly Archives

July 2020

USPTO releases updated study on US Women Inventor-Patentees

Recently the USPTO released “Progress and Potential: 2020 Update on U.S. Women Inventor-Patentees”. By looking at the number and share of new women inventor-patentees and degree to which those women remain active by patenting again within the next five years, these trends provide further insights into the participation of women in the U.S. intellectual property process.

The report findings show that more women are entering and staying active in the patent system. Bringing new women into the patent system is one of the most important channels for expanding women’s participation as inventor-patentees. However, while there has been a slow increase in the number of patents with at least one woman inventor this increase is still substantially lower than other benchmarks of women in innovation including levels of education and employment as scientists and engineers.

McCoy Russell has also followed these trends and has presented on “Funding in Connection with Women Inventorship” offering a multi-tiered approach as a solution to increase patent filings, funding, and participation from women inventors. This approach incorporates company support, women actions, and investor awareness to enhance women participation at all levels, including brainstorming, invention submission, etc. McKinsey & Company’s study of 1000 companies in 12 countries found that organizations in the top 25% when it comes to gender diversity among executive leadership teams were more like to outperform on profitability and value creation (2018). As the largest women-owned intellectual property firm in the US, McCoy Russell aims to protect innovation through patents and hopes to see more female inventors named on them.

McCoy Russell Receives Another Complete Appeal Reversal

McCoy Russell has received yet another complete appeal reversal in the area of fluid handling systems. Our team, led to success by John Russell, dexterously navigated this case through three examiner re-openings and responses to appeal briefs. Our arguments showed that the evidence presented by the examiners failed to support the rejection of those claims and the PTAB reversed all rejections on Appeal 2018-005828.

This case is another example of McCoy Russell’s effectiveness with our holistic patent prosecution strategies.

McCoy Russell Contributes To AJGA’s Ace Grant Program

McCoy Russell LLP continues its community outreach by supporting the AJGA Dana Incorporated Junior Open. The 2020 proceeds will benefit the AJGA’s ACE Grant Program in addition to Special Olympics. The Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant provides financial assistance to young men and women who aspire to earn a sports scholarship.

We wish all the best to those who are participating in this upcoming tournament.

1st Step Solar, In American Made Solar Prize

Congratulations to 1st Step Solar on their project the “Allbrand Solar Monitor” and being semi-finalists in the American Made Solar Prize competition. Designed to revitalize solar manufacturing in the US, teams selected from a diverse applicant pool are participating in the American-Made Solar Prize competition.

The semi-finals were held as a virtual demo day for competitors to do an interview and Q&A session about their solution to a problem they wanted to solve. 1st Step Solar’s goal is to bring down the cost of microinverters by creating a universal monitoring system for microinverters that moves a closed software ecosystem to an open one – changing microinverters into a commodity just like solar panels.

Their novel solution aims to provide a universal remote to those who install solar panels a universal monitor for residential PV systems that communicates with any microinverter, giving installers flexibility during installation or over the lifetime of the PV system. We wish 1st Step Solar and the team working on the “Allbrand Solar Monitor” monitor the best.

John Russell Selected for Super Lawyers 2020

For Immediate Release —

PORTLAND, OR, July 7, 2020/

John Russell has been selected for Super Lawyers 2020 in Oregon. Selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2013, his selection for Super Lawyers 2020 shows not only his passion for intellectual property law, but the community’s recognition of McCoy Russell LLP’s highly effective and advanced portfolio development approach.

Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top lawyers in Oregon via a patented multiphase selection process involving peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. Attorneys are invited to nominate the top lawyers they have personally observed in action, whether as opposing counsel, co-counsel, or through other firsthand observation in the courtroom.

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McCoy Russell LLP is a nationally ranked boutique, woman-owned, intellectual property law firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon and focused on the prosecution and development of patent and trademark portfolios. www.mccrus.com