Mahish Guru
Co-founder and CEO, PatentAssist.ai
Mahish Guru is a co-founder and the CEO of PatentAssist.ai. He has written about patent drafting and claim drafting on the PatentAssist blog since 2024, and writes PatentAssist's guides to US, European and Indian practice.
Guides by Mahish
- How to respond to a USPTO office action
Reply deadlines and extension fees, 101, 102, 103 and 112 rejections, interviews, and options after a final rejection.
- How to file a UK patent application (UKIPO)
Forms 9A and 10, the deadlines, the IPO fees in force from 1 April 2026, the Green Channel, renewals and the European route.
- Notice of allowance and the issue fee
The non-extendable 3-month issue fee deadline, 2026 issue fees, and the IDS, RCE and continuation options before and after you pay.
- EPO renewal fees (2026)
Renewal fees for pending European applications, due dates under Rule 51, the 50% late fee, divisionals, Euro-PCT, and what you pay after grant.
- UK patent fees and forms (2026)
UKIPO filing, search and examination fees, excess claim and page fees, the forms that go with them, and renewal fees from year 5 to year 20.
- USPTO extensions of time (37 CFR 1.136)
One to five-month extension fees by entity size, which deadlines can and cannot be extended, how to request one, and what happens after abandonment.
- European patent validation: countries and deadlines
Translation rules and deadlines in all 40 EPC states, the London Agreement, extension and validation states, and the Unitary Patent.
- Software and AI patents in Europe
Computer-implemented and AI inventions at the EPO: Article 52, COMVIK, G 1/19, claim drafting, and the UK and US positions.
- European divisional applications under Rule 36 EPC
When the parent is pending, fees by generation, back renewal fees, the Article 76 added-matter trap and timing.
- The German utility model (Gebrauchsmuster)
What it protects, the 10-year term, the 6-month grace period, branching off from a patent application, DPMA fees and cancellation.
- The European Patent Convention, annotated
Key EPC Articles and Rules explained one by one, from novelty and claims to Rule 71(3), with deadlines, fees and Enlarged Board case law.
- Types of patent searches, and which one you need
Patentability, freedom-to-operate, invalidity and landscape searches compared by purpose, timing, scope and deliverable.
- Invalidity search: prior art to challenge a patent
IPR, PGR, EPO opposition and UPC revocation deadlines, prior art dates, standards documents and claim charts.
- How to search Espacenet
Smart and Advanced search, field identifiers, proximity and truncation, CPC, INPADOC families, legal events and Global Dossier.
- Patent search Boolean operators and search strings
Boolean, proximity and truncation syntax compared across Patent Public Search, Espacenet, Google Patents and The Lens, with semantic search for contrast.
- How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection
The Alice/Mayo steps in MPEP 2106, Ex parte Desjardins and the 2024-2026 USPTO guidance, Berkheimer evidence and Rule 132 eligibility declarations.
- How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection
Written description and enablement after Amgen, 112(b) indefiniteness, 112(f) means-plus-function after Williamson, and 112(d) dependent claims.
- The US foreign filing license (35 U.S.C. 184)
When a US-made invention needs a license to be filed abroad, the six-month rule, expedited and retroactive licenses, and the Indian and European equivalents.
- What is a utility patent?
What a US utility patent covers under 35 U.S.C. 101, the parts of the application in 37 CFR 1.77 order, the 20-year term and USPTO costs.
- Continuation, CIP and divisional applications
Copendency, patent term, double patenting and terminal disclaimers, the 2025 continuing application fee, and continuation strategy.
- How to patent an idea in the US
Nine steps from patentability and search to provisional filing, Patent Center, examination and maintenance, with the USPTO's free help programs.
- Can AI write a patent application?
What AI drafting does well and badly, the USPTO and EPO positions on AI tools, AI inventorship after 2025, and confidentiality.
- Request for continued examination (RCE)
What 37 CFR 1.114 requires, first and later RCE fees, patent term effects, and when an RCE beats an appeal.
- Track One prioritized examination
Track One requirements, fees by entity size, the 20,000 annual cap and USPTO timing data, plus PPH and age or health petitions.
- How to file a provisional patent application (US)
What a US provisional must contain, the USPTO fees, the 12-month deadline under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), and when to skip it.
- How to write patent claims: USPTO, EPO and India
Claim structure and worked examples, then the claim rules and fees at the USPTO, the EPO and the Indian Patent Office, side by side.
- Provisional vs complete specification in India
When to file a provisional, what it must contain, and the 12-month deadline for the complete.
- How to respond to a First Examination Report (FER)
The FER deadline, common objections, how to structure the reply, and the hearing.