LilBuddy Receives Notice of Allowance From Patent Office

LilBuddy recently announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has upgraded its patent application for the Lilbuddy product line of windshield installation tools to 'Allowed.'

"The day that I get it [the physical copy of the Notice of Allowance] payment will be sent out… and then it will be two to four months before it [the patent] issues," said Lilbuddy patent attorney Don Ersler.

The Lilbuddy patent application, which is the second for Mayhugh and Lilbuddy, encountered some difficulty during the application process, being denied three times. Ersler credits the PTO's change of heart to a shift in the way he described the tool. "The reason it got allowed was because I more fully described the structure of the Lilbuddy without unduly limiting the claims," Ersler said.

The current version of the Lilbuddy line of tools, including the Lilbuddy, Lilbuddy Pro and Lilbuddy Pro 2, is the second iteration of Mayhugh's idea. Mayhugh sold the rights to the first model of the product to the C.R. Laurence company prior to filing for a patent. After that transaction, Mayhugh filed for a patent for that version of the tool. C.R. Laurence then filed papers to block Mayhugh's patent application.

In response to questions about this episode Deuster said that the first version of the tool "didn't go anywhere" and identifies the experience with C.R. Laurence as, "a bump in the road, but no big deal."

Ersler did not rule out the possibility of new litigation if the patent is issued for the Lilbuddy line of tools. "It [lawsuits against other companies] has been discussed but I'd rather not talk about it," said Ersler. "The people who are infringing know who they are."

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Lilbuddy line of products.

CLICK HERE and HERE and HERE for previous stories on glassBYTEs.com™ following the progression of the Lilbuddy.