If you are confident that your concept will be commercially successful, you could wish to skip the Provisional Patent and go straight to the Utility Patent.
The meaning of the word “utility” is “useful.” If you believe that your concept could benefit people in some way, even if it’s just in the realm of entertainment, you might want to consider securing a utility patent for it so that you can profit legally from it.
The application for the Utility Patent will be:
If you file for a patent, there is no assurance that you will end up wealthy, but there is no question that you will have a horse in the race.









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Protecting people’s ideas and creations is something that really matters to Phillip Butler. Over the course of more than 25 years, he has used his extensive knowledge of international trademark law, copyright law, patent law, and trade secret law to protect the interests of clients all over the world.
In the beginning of his career, Phillip worked for General Motors Corporation as a patent attorney and for Bendix Corporation as a materials engineer in the Advanced Materials Development Laboratory. Both of these positions were in Bendix Corporation. In 1990, he was a founding partner of the intellectual property law firm Wilson & Butler. Today, the company’s operations may be found in more than 130 countries. When it comes to taking their concepts from the concept stage to the commercialization phase, clients benefit from his experience as an engineer.
Phillip is a diligent advocate who offers clients advice on trademark selection, usage, and registration. This advice includes filing with foreign authorities, assessing infringements, and controlling filing expenses. In addition to this, he is responsible for the negotiation of worldwide licencing agreements and the prosecution of patent, trademark, and copyright infringements before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Copyright Office, and international offices.
Phillip is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Michigan Intellectual Property Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Porter County Bar Association. In addition to being authorised to practise law in New York and Michigan, he is also registered to do so before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Intellectual Property Attorney; Registered US Patent Attorney
Education:
1987 Juris Doctor, University of Michigan School of Law
1981 BS Materials Science Engineering, Purdue University
Experience:
Patent Attorney, Wilson & Butler IP Law (formerly Wilson & Wilson, P.C.), 9/1990 – Present
Patent Attorney, General Motors Corporation, 5/1987 – 8/1990
Patent Law Intern, General Motors Corporation, 11/1985 – 5/1987
Materials Engineer, Bendix Corporation, Advanced Materials Development Laboratory, 1982 -1984
Law Practice:
Presentations:
1989 – Present: Annual Speaker at Purdue University
Memberships:
New York State Bar Association
American Intellectual Property Law Association
Porter County Bar Association
Michigan Intellectual Property Office
Admissions:
Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1987
Michigan, 1987
New York, 1992
For the past quarter of a century, Davis Wilson has been actively engaged in the defence of the intellectual property rights of innovators, business owners, Fortune 500 firms, and educational institutions located both in the United States and in other countries. As one of the cofounders of Wilson & Butler IP Law, he has provided clients with legal counsel and represented them in a wide range of intellectual property concerns, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and Internet domain name rights. His education in engineering includes a degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration on materials. He then worked as an engineer in the aerospace and automotive industries, where his experience included design, development, and testing in the mechanical, chemical, and materials-related technologies. His engineering background includes a mechanical engineering degree with a concentration on materials.
Davis’s experience includes representing clients in appellate and post-issuance proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), representing clients’ international interests in foreign patent offices, as well as representing clients in trademark and copyright proceedings both in the United States and abroad. Davis is a seasoned prosecutor at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Davis is an experienced negotiator who draughts agreements and advises clients in matters relating to various aspects of intellectual property. These aspects include joint development, secrecy, employment and consulting agreements, as well as the licensing of patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. Davis is also an expert in the field of intellectual property law.
Davis is a member of several legal organizations, including the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Porter County Bar Association. In addition to being licenced to do business in New York, he is also licensed to do so before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Intellectual Property Attorney; Registered US Patent Attorney
Education:
1992 Juris Doctor, Wayne State University Law School
1981 BS Mechanical Engineering, Tri State University
Experience:
Intellectual Property Law Attorney, Wilson & Wilson, P.C., 1992 – Present
Law Clerk, Harness Dickey & Pierce, 1990
Law Clerk, Remy VanOphem PC, 1989 – 1992
Senior Engineer, Lucas Industries, 1985 – 1989
Development Engineer, Bendix Corporation, Energy Controls, 1981 – 1985
Law Practice:
Presentations:
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Seminar, Purdue University (Annual Speaker, 2013-Present)
Intellectual Property, Porter County Bar Association (Feb., 2015)
Intellectual Property Webinar, The Corporate Counsel Summit (Sept., 2015)
Intellectual Property, American Inns of Court (Nov., 2015)
Memberships:
American Intellectual Property Law Association
New York State Bar Association
American Inns of Court
Porter County Bar Association
Admissions:
Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1989
New York, 1992
Junior Associate
Dwayne Lucas’s practice focuses on intellectual property and technology-related litigation, including patent litigation. His experience includes preparing infringement and invalidity contentions, drafting motions, and supporting fact and expert witness depositions in cases involving medical devices and computer software.
During law school, Mr. Lucas served as co-president of the Patent Law Reading Group at NYU Law School. He also served as a senior editor for the NYU Law Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law, a law journal that publishes about intellectual property law, Internet law, privacy law, and entertainment law.
Junior Associate
Alyssa Milano’s practice focuses on intellectual property and technology-related litigation.

During law school Ms. Milano worked at the University of Missouri’s Technology Advancement Office, where she conducted patent prior art searches and assisted in the process of protecting university technology. She also worked with Unified Patents in their efforts to challenge patents in inter parties review. Her work at Unified Patents inspired her own personal research on a data-driven relationship between Article III courts and the Patent Office, culminating in her Missouri Law Review publication. Her research focused on the timeliness of district court stays of litigation in relation to a co pending inter parties review filing.
Prior to law school, Ms. Weber worked at a co-op as a Metallurgical Engineer at Monsanto (now Bayer). She was a dedicated member of her university’s Formula SAE engineering design team, and a four-year member of Marching Mizzou.
Associate
Ms. Sage practice focuses on intellectual property and technology-related litigation, and she specialises in Section 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission . Prior to joining the firm, she served as a law clerk to the Honourable Robert W. Schroeder III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where she assisted with jury trials spanning commercial litigation, patent, and trademark disputes.

Before clerking, Ms. Connors was a patent litigation associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Fish & Richardson PC. During law school, she served as a judicial extern for the Honourable Katherine O’Malley on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as an extern at the International Trade Commission’s Office of Unfair Import Investigations, and as an extern for the Cleveland Clinic’s technology transfer office.
Associate
Jamie Kennedy’s practice focuses on intellectual property and technology-related litigation, including patent and antitrust litigation. Her experience includes preparing pleadings and contentions, drafting briefs, taking depositions, and preparing fact and expert trial witnesses in cases involving smartphone software, computer networking technology, medical and robotic devices, and consumer products. Ms. Welsh has also served as pro bono counsel in asylum proceedings at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

During law school, Ms. Kennedy served as an Articles Editor of the Cardozo Law Review, a law journal dedicated to advancing empirical, interdisciplinary, and philosophical scholarship, as well as exploring cutting-edge national issues. Ms. Welsh also participated in Cardozo’s Tech Startup Clinic, where she assisted tech startup clients with entity formation, funding questions, intellectual property issues, commercialization strategies, and operational and employment matters. Ms. Kennedy additionally served as Research Assistant to Professor Michael Burstein, focusing on the intersection of intellectual property law and economics.
Lead Copyright Attorney
Allan’s practice encompasses a span of the Copyright fields, ranging from medical devices and recombinant cells to artificial intelligence and facial recognition. Ryan has experience in a broad base of intellectual property matters, including copyrights, copyright preparation and prosecution, diligence and opinion work, and worldwide portfolio management.

Allan’s practice also extends to privacy and data protection issues, including guidance and counseling. He holds certifications as an Information Privacy Professional for both U.S. (CIPP/US) and Europe (CIPP/E) from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Ryan is actively involved with pro bono opportunities. He has recently helped individuals in family court with domestic violence matters and in federal court regarding civil rights issues.
Prior to law school, he worked for a high-performance computing (HPC) company, building clusters and ancillary systems.
Lead Patent Attorney
Tiancheng Yu is a litigator with significant experience in handling complex intellectual property disputes. Dr. Tiancheng Uu has represented companies in a wide range of technologies such as semiconductors, lithography, computer memories, displays, solar cells, batteries, and wireless power transfer. He has helped clients resolve issues before U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. He also has experience in international arbitration concerning intellectual property issues.

Dr. Yu ho also actively practices before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has presented oral arguments before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and has obtained favorable decisions for his clients.
Prior to starting his legal career, Dr. Yu received his doctorate degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and authored research articles in the fields of optics and nanomaterials and served as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He then worked as a patent agent and counseled large technology companies, universities and hospitals, and startup companies on managing their patent portfolios. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, Dr. Yu clerked for Judge Timothy Dyk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Judge Beth Labson Freeman at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Based on his science background and clerkship experience, Dr. Cho has advised clients in all stages of litigation from pre-suit investigation to trial and appeal in patent disputes.
As part of his pro bono practice, Dr. Cho has helped a client pursue a civil rights appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has also defended an incarcerated client against criminal charges in a Maryland state court.
Lead Trademark Attorney
Sara Smallwood’s practice focuses on Trademarks and IP counselling. She has participated in all phases of litigation, from pre-suit investigation to trial, in cases relating to a wide range of technologies, including wireless communications, computer processors, audio compression, and medical devices.

Ms. Sara Smallwood was on the trial team that, in August 2022, successfully defeated a patent infringement case brought by Egenera against Demarrias LLP client Cisco with a finding of no infringement. Cisco Cleared In $371M Software Patent Trial
Ms. Sara Smallwood was the senior associate on the team that, in June 2022, won summary judgment of no infringement on behalf of client Fitbit LLC on at least three grounds for each of 21 claims across three patents asserted by Cellspin Soft, Inc. . Nike, Fitbit, Others Shake Cellspin’s Tech Patent Suit
Before joining Stone Bridge Law Firm, Ms. Smallwood spent 18 months clerking for former Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark in the District of Delaware. Prior to her clerkship, she was an associate in the Intellectual Property Litigation Group in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. During law school, Ms. Sara served as the Senior Articles Editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal.
Co-Founder
Phillip Butler places a high value on maintaining his ownership of his intellectual property. Since he possesses an extensive understanding of international law pertaining to trademarks, copyright, patents, and trade secrets, he has been in a position for over 25 years to offer protection to clients located in every region of the world.
Phillip helps clients choose, use, and register trademarks. Filing with foreign authorities, assessing infringements, and controlling filing costs are advised. He negotiates worldwide licensing agreements and prosecutes patent, trademark, and copyright infringements before the USPTO, USCO, and international offices.
Phillip is an active member of the New York State Bar Association, Michigan Intellectual Property Office, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and Porter County Bar Association. He is licensed to practice law in New York, Michigan, and the USPTO.
Stone Bridge Law Firm cofounder advising clients on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and Internet domain name rights. He studied materials-focused mechanical engineering. Aeronautical and automotive engineers created, developed, and tested mechanical, chemical, and materials technologies. He studied materials-focused mechanical engineering.
Davis has represented clients in USPTO appeal, post-issuance, foreign patent offices, trademark and copyright lawsuits, and international patent offices. Experienced USPTO prosecutor Davis Davis negotiates contracts and advises corporations on IP. Joint development, confidentiality, employment, consulting, patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright licensing are examples. Davis practices IP law.
Davis is an active member of Porter County, New York State, and American Intellectual Property Law Associations. New York and USPTO business licenses.
