How do you patent an invention?

Question

I have a really neat invention. I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to the patent part of my invention. Does anyone know what the best way to patent something is. Any kind of idea would be helpful.

Answer 1

The US patent office has detailed instructions on the requirements for receiving a patent. The first link below spells out the requirements and different types of patents.

Basically you can get a patent for any novel product, process or method. There are basically three types of patents:

1) Utility Patent - Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof. These can include methods of doing business.
2) Design Patent - Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. This would be like the shape of a lamp or chair or something that relates to a unique qualitative characteristics of a product.
3) Plant patent - Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant. This is commonly used for roses and other plants that are reproduced via grafting.

You can legally file for the patent yourself, details are at the USPTO and the link copied below. This can actually get you a patent and could serve to limit the cost to just the filing fees, but it is likely that the patent will not have tremendous value unless you have the assistance of someone who is well versed in writing a patent. The USPTO requires legal practitioners doing patent work for hire, to pass a Bar exam specific to the patent system. Those who pass the Patent bar receive a registration number. Surprisingly, a law degree is not required to take the patent bar, but a technical degree or other technical qualification is required. Those that pass the bar are either called a patent agent (if they are not an attorney), or a patent attorney.

Understand that using a legal practitioner will likely be expensive, fees of $8,000 to $12,000 are common. Many decent ones will work with you on ways to reduce the cost and some may even waive part of the cost for a partial interest in your patent. There are also several companies that act as invention clearing houses, that may buy your invention at the application stage and even give a share of future product royalties.

The most important part of your patent is the claims, which describe what is actually protected by the patent. Even if you decide to file your own patent, I would strongly advise you to seek the help of a experienced patent agent or attorney in writing this section of the patent.

One additional item to note. It is not necessary to do a "prior art' search for your invention before filing your patent. If fact, most companies do not so so. The patent examiner will do the search and respond with an 'office action' that outlines the related inventions that were found. You will then have to distinguish over these by either explaining how you invention is different as filed, or modifying what you are trying to patent to make it different. If you are concerned that the invention may be out there and don;t want to even pay filing fees, you can do a simple search yourself at the patent office website for existing patents and patent applications and look for on-line for other non-patent references such as white-papers or conference reports. Understand that even an improvement to an idea may be patented, so read them carefully to see if all of your invention is in there.

Finally, there is something called a provisional patent that you could explore. This is a disclosure of the concept that gives you a documented date of invention, but allows you one year to file the rest of the patent.

Be careful. I personally am named inventor on 17 patents. I got totally ripped off on my early patents because they knew I did not understand the system. The main thing a law group tries to sell you on is the 'prior art' search and they can charge tens of thousands for it before you even get to drafting a single paragraph of your invention.

Answer 2

To protect an original invention OR a significant improvement to an existing product, a patent would be filed. Here's the USPTO's definition: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#patent

NOLO is a great, free informational site. Also, be sure to read what else the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) has to say about patents.

Associations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* Patent It Yourself (11th Edition) by David Pressman
* Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook by U.S. Department of Commerce
* How To Make Patent Drawings Yourself: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Jack Lo
* The Inventor's Notebook: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Fred E. Grissom

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

Disclosure to anyone who is not a patent agent or attorney could be detrimental to your rights, so for now keep it under wraps.

First, you have to go through either a patent attorney or a patent agent. You will work with them, to do what's called a "prior art" search, to see if you actually do have a patentable invention (that is, to see if anyone's invented it before). Also, the attorney/agent can explain to you if you meet the requirements of patentability:
It must be novel, nonobvious, and useful.

Second, there are three different types of patents that you might qualify for: utility patents, plant patents and design patents. The agent/attorney will be able to classify it for you.

Third, take a visit to www.uspto.gov or http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/howtopat.htm. (United States Patent and Trademark website and the second link is one explaining to lay people how to obtain a patent.) Unfortunately, to obtain a patent, you must go through this process with a patent agent or attorney, who is admitted to practice before the USPTO; this isn't like a criminal or civil court, where you can represent yourself.

If you need further assistance, you can email me. Also check out www.martindalehubble.com or www.findlaw.com to look for patent attorneys/agents in your area.

Answer 4

the cheapest way is to get a patent agent, as opposed to a patent attorney, attorneys which can be $10,000 and up. they also say you can patent yourself but the process but not recommended since the patent agency is used to receiving the product description in a certain form. Don't sign on with any of those, "we help you patent your invention companies" they're all scams. since we're dealing with the gov't you can find a patent agent in a low cost state and interact with them via fax, scan and telephone to incur the least amount of cost, (i.e everything in new york is much more expensive than say Iowa, that includes patent agents). also bear in mind the process of getting an invention to market is Extremely expensive. i.e paying an engineer to create a prototype, patent agent, manufacturing on a small scale, when most manufacturers don't, etc..... A GREAT BOOK is Dan S. Kennedy, No B.S series, in one of his books he gives specific no holds barred examples and directions on exactly how to get a product to market, and gives you a real idea of what you're in for and your myriad of options. (there's a lot of books in the no b.s series, they ALL are GREAT. I believe the book that deals in depth with invention options is "million dollar ideas..."

Answer 5

Where are you from?IM me for more on this topic.
By the way check this link
http://www.inventorshelpline.info/emailOffer?source=RS_GOOGLE_1

Good luck.