Mr. Brett Trout

Brett J. Trout, P.C. is an AV-rated Midwest law firm, offering its clients the global perspective on Intellectual Property and Information Technology issues. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Brett J. Trout has serviced clients across Iowa and throughout the country for over a decade.Brett's latest book, CyberLaw: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business, is available now on Amazon.com. Mr. Trout offers a free 30 minute new-client consultation.

Grinnell College

University of Iowa

Founder

Gunderson, Sharp, Trout & Rhein

2000 - 2001

Senior Patent Attorney

Brown, Winick, Graves, Gross, Baskerville & Schoenebaum, P.L.C.

1998 - 2000

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Shearer, Templer & Pingel

1995 - 1998

Patent Attorney

Davis, Wine, Brown, Koehn & Shors P.C.,

1992 - 1995

The Ethical Lawyer and the Tao of Technology

Creighton Law Review

July 1, 2015

Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal For Online Business

World Audience Publishers

July 1, 2007

The E-Business Legal Arsenal: Practitioner Agreements and Checklists

American Bar Association

July 1, 2004

A Patient Seeks a Portion of the Biotechnological Patent Profits in : Moore v. Regent's of the University of California

The Journal of Corporation Law

September 1, 1992

Intellectual Property Law, Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers 2013 Annual Meeting, Des Moines, IA

February 19, 2013

The Ethical Lawyer and the Tao of Technology, Creighton Law Review 2015 Symposium - Ethics and Electronics: Navigating Legal Ethics and New Technology, Omaha, NE

March 15, 2015

Keeping Your Blog Out of Court, BlogWorld Expo, Las Vegas, NV

May 5, 2007

The Upcoming Onslaught of Online Regulation, 140 Character Conference, Los Angeles, CA

July 10, 2009

Patent Attorney

United States Patent and Trademark Office

AV-Rated

Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review ratings

2001

Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers

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2015 - Current

Blackstone Inn of Court

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1994 - Current

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1992 - Current

Iowa State Bar Association - Technology Committee

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2003 - 2006

Iowa Intellectual Property Law Association

President

2001 - 2002

Iowa

Since 1992

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Q. Regarding US 20160206031 A1, does this mean all magnetic eyelashes would be an infringement?

February 9, 2018

A: Assuming this patent application issued as a patent with only its existing claim, not all magnetic eyelashes would be an infringement. However, to avoid infringement of a hypothetically issued patent, you would have to examine all of the claims in the patent to make sure you were NOT doing at least one element of every claim. For instance, assume a patent issued with claim 1 reading as follows:

A false eyelash comprised of:

a substrate strip having a first surface and a second surface, said substrate strip having a generally elongated shape and a longitudinal axis, said first surface and said second surface located on opposing sides of said substrate strip;

a plurality of hairs affixed to, and extending from, said substrate strip, said hairs oriented substantially perpendicularly with respect to said longitudinal axis; and

one or more flat metallic elements affixed to said substrate strip.

To avoid infringement, your product would have to NOT have one of those items to avoid infringement. Even if your product eliminates one of the elements, if the element your product does have performs substantially the same function, in substantially the same way, to yield substantially the same result your product may still infringe. You would then repeat the process for every other claim in the hypothetically issued patent.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, determination of what or what does not infringe a patent claim can be an extremely complicated process, involving the analysis of the proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office and mountains of other patents and documents. DO NOT move forward on the assumption you do not infringe a patent without a formal written legal opinion from a patent attorney well-versed in drafting patent infringement opinions. ... Read More

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