Revision Legal’s Traverse City patent attorneys work with inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses throughout Northern Michigan to protect innovations through utility patents, design patents, and provisional applications. Whether you are at the concept stage or need to enforce a granted patent against an infringer, our team provides practical, strategic patent counsel.
Patent Legal Services
A patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell your invention for up to 20 years. Getting there — and enforcing those rights — requires experienced legal guidance. Our Traverse City patent practice includes:
- Utility Patent Applications — Drafting and filing utility patent applications with the USPTO, including claims drafting, specification writing, and drawing coordination to maximize the scope of protection.
- Provisional Patent Applications — Filing provisional applications to establish a priority date while you refine your invention or prepare a full utility application, giving you 12 months of “patent pending” status.
- Design Patent Applications — Protecting the ornamental appearance of your product through design patents, which are often faster and more cost-effective than utility patents for appearance-driven innovations.
- Patent Prosecution — Responding to USPTO office actions, navigating examiner rejections, and conducting examiner interviews to move your application toward allowance.
- Freedom-to-Operate Opinions — Reviewing existing patents to assess whether your product or process infringes any third-party rights before you launch.
- Patent Portfolio Management — Maintenance fee tracking, continuation strategies, and portfolio audits to keep your patents active and aligned with your business goals.
- Patent Litigation — Representing patent owners and defendants in federal district court patent infringement cases and inter partes review proceedings at the USPTO.
Read more about our patent law services. Inventions often need more than one form of protection, so patent clients may also draw on our trade secret and contracts practices for confidentiality and licensing terms, and on our civil litigation team when disputes arise.
Patent Protection for Northern Michigan Innovators
Traverse City has a place in patent history. Traverse Connect, the region’s lead economic development organization, notes that John Parson and Frank Stulen patented the first CNC (computerized numerical control) technology in Traverse City, and it describes today’s Grand Traverse region as home to companies in manufacturing, technology, and agriculture — fields that regularly produce improvements to products, equipment, and processes.
Our patent attorneys work closely with inventors from initial disclosure through granted patent, explaining the process in plain terms and helping you make strategic decisions about where to invest in IP protection. We also counsel businesses on building patent portfolios that support licensing, investment, and acquisition goals.
Timing is one of the most common pitfalls for inventors. Showing a prototype at a trade show, launching a crowdfunding campaign, or selling early units can affect patent rights, and the rules are stricter in many countries outside the United States. A provisional application can secure an early filing date, but the nonprovisional application must be filed within 12 months to claim its benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e).
Patent Litigation and the Courts Serving Grand Traverse County
Patent infringement cases are exclusively federal. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a), state courts have no jurisdiction over claims arising under the patent laws, so the 13th Circuit Court in Traverse City cannot hear an infringement claim. A patent case against a defendant based in Grand Traverse County is typically filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.
Appeals in patent cases do not go to the Sixth Circuit like most Michigan federal cases. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has exclusive jurisdiction over those appeals. Patent validity can also be challenged at the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board through inter partes review, which can run alongside district court litigation.
Serving Traverse City and Northern Michigan
From our Traverse City office we serve inventors and businesses throughout the region, including Petoskey, Cadillac, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, and the broader Grand Traverse area. Patent work can be handled remotely in most cases, and we represent clients nationwide before the USPTO and in federal courts across the United States.
Contact a Traverse City Patent Attorney
Ready to protect your invention? Call our Traverse City office at 231.714.0100 or contact us online to schedule a patent consultation.
Revision Legal — Traverse City
444 Cass Street, Suite D
Traverse City, MI 49684
231.714.0100
Patent FAQ for Traverse City Inventors
How long does a patent last?
A utility patent generally lasts 20 years from the filing date of the application under 35 U.S.C. § 154, subject to maintenance fees and certain adjustments. A design patent lasts 15 years from the date it is granted under 35 U.S.C. § 173. A provisional application never becomes a patent itself; it holds an early filing date for 12 months.
Should I file a provisional patent application?
A provisional application can be a lower-cost way to establish an early filing date while you refine the invention, test the market, or seek funding. It must describe the invention well enough to support later claims, and you must file a nonprovisional application within 12 months to claim its benefit. A thin provisional may not protect later improvements, so its content matters.
Can a patent case be heard in Grand Traverse County’s circuit court?
No. Federal law gives federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over claims arising under the patent laws, so the 13th Circuit Court cannot decide a patent infringement claim. Cases against Northern Michigan defendants are generally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Is it a problem if I already showed my invention publicly?
It may be. U.S. law provides a one-year grace period for certain disclosures made by the inventor, but many other countries require absolute novelty, meaning a public disclosure before filing can end the ability to patent there. If you have already demonstrated, sold, or published your invention, talk with a patent attorney promptly so filing options can be evaluated before deadlines pass.
Do patent clients need to visit the Traverse City office?
Usually not. Invention disclosures, drawings, and USPTO correspondence can be exchanged by email and discussed by video conference. Inventors who prefer to meet in person or show a prototype are welcome at our Traverse City office, 444 Cass Street, Suite D, Traverse City, MI 49684. Call 231.714.0100 to schedule a patent consultation with our team.
More Practice Areas — Traverse City
Our Traverse City office handles the full range of internet and intellectual property law matters for Northern Michigan clients.
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