Law Office of Gerald R. Prettyman

Law Office of Gerald R. Prettyman page for GRPLAW® The Law Office of Gerald R Prettyman prepares and files U.S.

and foreign patent applications, trademarks and copyright registrations and assists individuals and businesses from solo start-ups to corporations in protecting and monetizing their ideas and ventures. The Law Office of Gerald R Prettyman, GRPLAW®, provides Protection for All Your Ideas Under the Sun®

U.S. Patent 11,092,956: Stopping Stolen, Runaway, and Illegally Used Vehicles Drivers of stolen, runaway and il...
04/13/2022

U.S. Patent 11,092,956: Stopping Stolen, Runaway, and Illegally Used Vehicles
Drivers of stolen, runaway and illegally used vehicles kill and maim thousands of people every year. Fortunately, U.S. Patent 11,092,956 and its family can prevent these deaths. Invented by Célestin Nsimba-Dikwama and patented by Patent Attorney Gerald R. Prettyman, onboard systems can be adapted or installed with a remote control system to slow or stop a stolen, runaway, or illegally used vehicle.
As shown in the flowchart, a remote computer center (System Management Center), such as DMV, stores information about a vehicle, driver, or both, and can communicate with the vehicle to exchange information and commands. You may already have a car with an onboard assist system, such as OnStar, Ford SYNC, or Telsa Connectivity.
On a report or records report of a stolen, runaway, or illegally used vehicle, communications with the vehicle to ascertain its status, or optionally, of the driver and disables the non-compliant vehicle. U.S. 11,092,956 does so by disabling the throttle control of the motorized vehicle. Its sister applications do so by “cutting fuel flow to the ignition system”, “cutting ignition signals to the ignition system”, or “applying brakes.” Optionally, local police might use such a system to slow or stop a stolen, runaway, or illegally used vehicle, and hopefully, prevent the tragedies of vehicles plowing into people.
Got A Bright Idea? Visit www.GotABrightIdea.com or call 925-600-7342.

A Trademark should uniquely identify your product or service to the public. To do so, be sure NOT to use words that your...
07/31/2021

A Trademark should uniquely identify your product or service to the public. To do so, be sure NOT to use words that your competitors use, especially not descriptive terms such as "market" for a market. You can though use such a term by blending the term with an unrelated word, BUT you won't get registration if another company registers the term in a related product or service. You need more than a search for the word.
Fortunately, Trademark and Patent Attorney Gerald R. Prettyman helped the CorkBoss team overcome those hurdles, and secured Trademark Registration for the CORKBOSS patented device. See
https://www.facebook.com/GRPLAW/photos/a.285410258232222/3430495347057015/

Now a Patent Attorney, Gerald Prettyman served in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and Medical Laboratory Technician...
07/03/2021

Now a Patent Attorney, Gerald Prettyman served in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and Medical Laboratory Technician. He saw first-hand the discomfort and pain some patients experience as medical staff try to draw blood from vessels below the skin or to secure a tissue sample for a biopsy. Gerald Prettyman was therefore happy to work with Interson Corp. in securing US Patent 10928494 for an Ultrasound Plural Display Apparatus with Light Indicator for Positional Access. This innovative and patented ultrasound device uses a single array of ultrasound emitters, which positioned in a T-Shape, improves visualization processing over double array systems. This better aids medical staff to see a needle’s approach to a blood vessel or tissue, and to then position the needle into the blood vessel or tissue. The technique thereby avoids the pain of multiple punctures or needle re-positioning. Got a Bright Idea? Visit GotaBrightIdea.com

Corkscrews have been around about as long as corks and bottles, as have sore wrists of people having to insert corkscrew...
03/05/2021

Corkscrews have been around about as long as corks and bottles, as have sore wrists of people having to insert corkscrews into bottles. While electronic devices are available, they are large and heavy and so not conducive to table-side restaurant service, and particularly so as they are seemingly inherently defective. (I have 2 and both quickly failed.)
Fortunately, Sommelier Barbara Maroney developed a small and easy to use device and sought the assistance of Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. The patented CorkBoss™ CorkScrew alleviates the injurious action of repetitive wrist turns required to drive the screw into a cork. Set the corkscrew into the cork, then raise the cleverly attached lever, and with a few turns of your arm, the corkscrew is deep into the cork and ready to remove. The CorkBoss™ CorkScrew will soon be available across the nation and worldwide. Retailers: please contact Franmara. Got A Bright Idea? Visit GotABrightIdea.com or call 925-600-7342.

Got A Bright Idea? Want to protect and develop the idea? Read On.Part I. Cautionary Statements1. Ideas are not protectab...
02/17/2021

Got A Bright Idea? Want to protect and develop the idea? Read On.
Part I. Cautionary Statements
1. Ideas are not protectable. You may be able to protect the registered use of a tangible idea, but not ideas. Never send an unsolicited idea to a company. Patents protect eligible inventions. Trademarks protect brands. Copyright protects a select set of creative ideas. Many companies have successfully used unsolicited information and even changed ideas from other people. SpongeBob Squarepants started from an idea of a Sponge named Bob.
2. Selling ideas is rarely profitable. Avoid these mistakes.
A. Invention promoters: Less than 1% of people earn back the money they spent. Glossy brochures look good, but some promoters do little more than send out letters.
B. Licensing deals: The accounting of "costs and fees" almost always "exceeds" revenue.
C. Corporate Partnerships: The process tends to work like: A. Desired partner uses due diligence to learn protectability, marketability, and profitability. B. Desired partner cancels the contract. C. Desired partner builds its own version. D. Ousted partner fights in court and has to settle for a cheap deal. The lousy thing is how often this occurs. Examples: Auto industry, Home Depot, and WalMart even used it on Nike.
For more information, see https://www.gotabrightidea.com/post/protecting-bright-ideas

If the parts of an invention can be made separately, they can be sold separately. Manufacturers can make one part only a...
01/02/2021

If the parts of an invention can be made separately, they can be sold separately. Manufacturers can make one part only and not infringe a patent. Prevent patent infringement by patenting each part. USD900404 is one of three parts of US9708154 Off-Road Rolling Film Vision System. Call 925-600-7342 for a patent, trademark, or copyright.

Humans have been wearing footwear for many millennia (a recent find was over 5500 years old), but even in the 21st centu...
09/05/2020

Humans have been wearing footwear for many millennia (a recent find was over 5500 years old), but even in the 21st century, patents are important for shoe designers. Not long ago, Elephant Shoes created new designs and wanted patent protection. To be worn, shoes must abide by human foot contours and use, which are both a law of nature, and long-known, so related features are not protectable by a utility patent.
Fortunately, Elephant Shoes contacted Gerald R. Prettyman, who worked with a graphic artist to capture the design elements of the shoes, and assure the drawings met the stringent graphic and artistic requirements for a design patent.
Unlike a utility patent, a design patent must show every feature of the design and every feature must have sufficient views to indicate relative position, depth, and as the inventions must be useful - the drawings must indicate use of every feature. But like a utility patent, we want to make sure to provide protection against knockoffs by omitting unimportant elements from the protected features. The drawings must therefore distinguish between important design elements that capture the eye (and sales), while not allowing unimportant design elements that would allow knockoffs
Shown is U.S. Design Patent No. D743152. If you've Got A Bright Idea, visit GotABrightIdea.com or call 925-600-7342.

Toothpaste has been in use for perhaps 7000 years. For most of history, people used available components for abrasivenes...
07/04/2020

Toothpaste has been in use for perhaps 7000 years. For most of history, people used available components for abrasiveness, with soap for cleaning, and often in powder sold in jars or tins. Herbs and other flavorings were sometimes added to overcome the taste and smell and to treat bad breath.
By the 1850's, industrial manufacturing of tooth cleaners provided standardized formulation and tube packaging. Most jars, tins, and tubes, however, are comparatively small and are a major cost to the price, as well as a cumulative component of landfills. Having to remove and replace caps also make tubes inconvenient.
Fortunately, ULTRASMILE® realized that tubes are not needed in many uses and designed a reusable pump system, and then contacted Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. After reviewing the design and features for patentable options, Gerald R. Prettyman prepared and filed a design patent application. While utility applications protect the function of an invention, design patent applications protect the appearance. Design patent applications also require less work and are therefore less expensive. With US Patent D887844, ULTRASMILE® can help people around the world to SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.

Typical manufacturing techniques shape stock material by cutting or by injecting liquid or semi-liquid stock material in...
06/01/2020

Typical manufacturing techniques shape stock material by cutting or by injecting liquid or semi-liquid stock material into molds. Cutting techniques waste stock material and require much time and resources of personnel and equipment to assemble the final product. Injection methods require expensive molds and waste expensive energy. Both techniques are also dangerous to workers and require extensive training and safety protection.
Additive manufacturing sprays and fuses together stock material using computer-controlled powdered material with heat or a fusing material, thereby reducing energy use. Most additive techniques, however, are unable to use more than one material or waste most of the stock material.
Recently, Additec Additive Technologies developed a non-wasteful additive technique capable of simultaneous multiple material delivery. They then contacted the Law Office of Gerald R. Prettyman to secure a patent. Working with Additec managers and engineers, Gerald R. Prettyman drafted and filed a utility patent application. Just two years after filing he secured US Patent 10661343 for a Smart Additive Manufacturing Device. Got A Bright Idea? Call 925-600-7342 or visit GotABrightIdea.com.

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