How can I get INTERNATIONAL PATENT for the product ? I can reveal idea only at this stage and not designed

Question

How can I get INTERNATIONAL PATENT for the product ? I can reveal idea only at this stage and not designed .What are the formalities I have complete and how much it will cost me ?

Answer 1

There are no international patents. Patents are issued by individual countries; however, there is a process known as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (or PCT) which is use to initiate the patenting process for most countries. See the following link for a detailed list:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/pctstate.html

Of course the expense of filing patents throughout the world is expensive. If you wanted to file in all PCT countries the cost would be around $300,000. So most applicants reduce the number of countries to only those that have the largest markets for their invention.

So if you insist on filing a PCT application and you only have an idea at this stage then one possible solution for you is to file a "provisional" patent application with your national patent office. This will buy you one year of time in order to perfect your idea and file a regular (or non-provisional) patent application with your national patent office and a PCT application.

However provisional applications can be troublesome because the provisional application must support the later filed regular and PCT application. If your provisional lacks details about your final invention then your applications can be challenged and you can lose all your rights. So please seek the advice of a professional if you choose this path.

Good Luck

Answer 2

There is no such thing as an international patent. You'll have to file in the US, Japan and I'm not sure if you can do a patent with the EURO people or if you need to do it country by country in Europe. I have quite a few patents but work for a company that handles all the formalities. The last time I dealt with our patent department (late last year) I asked and was told that the average US patent is about $10,000 and close to three years. Patents in Japan are a bit over 10 years now. Good luck!

Answer 3

Idea is not enough to obtain a patent, you need to have the technical solution in mind. For example the idea of a camera ; a device to take picture is not enough to get a patent. You should at least be able to explain how would your camera work.
Contrary to what is said above, a US patent would only be honoured by a US court and US courts only recognized US patents. So if you seek international protection, you should apply for patents all over the world.
In order to limit the formalities, the best is to apply for a patent in your home country and then to extend it via an international application (PCT).
This would also postponed all the cost for 2 or 3 years, time for you to evaluate if your invention is worth it.
The cost of patents in the three main market US, Europe and japan + some countries like China, India and Brazil can make the price of your patents close to 100.000$.

Answer 4

The US Patent Application is as follows. Foriegn countries around the world honor US Patents as does the US courts honor many foriegn patents. One can get a US patent and license in Pakistan, India, China, Japan, All of Europe and so on.


There are Patent Attorneys in your area that handle the whole thing. These are people with, (believe it or not) Engineering Degrees + a LAW degree. (What a combo!!!)

The steps are thus:
!. Interview with PAtt. and review sketches, ideas, models
and "qualifies" your idea as patentable.
2. Patent Search in Washington DC./ Special Firm does that
makes sure its not already patented.
3. Final prepared patent Script, done by your local Patt.

4. Application for a patent US Pat office. Takes up to 2 years or even more or less depending on complexity

The cost for such patent varies greately. For example an ordinary "locking washer" patent issued recently in last 1/2 of 2006 cost $32,000 as the final figure. Another patent i know of was for an electrical connect that ran as a total $16,000 issued in 2005.

This is a complex and lengthy process which requires a lot of work by costly people involved.

Answer 5

There is no such thing as international patent. In your case you can apply for provisional patents in countries such as US and/or Japan and/or europe. Try to go through PICT application which enables filing in multiple countries. A good patent attorney would help you.