Monday, March 24th
The Pros and Cons of Patents
Trying to decide whether or not to file a patent, for your new idea or invention, can be overwhelming for those novice to the patent process. New and great ideas each year, go unprotected because of a lack of knowledge and motivation to work through the legal process. Follow through is imperative to protecting your idea from competitors. However, it's not a walk in the park to obtain legal protection on your invention - consider the pro's and con's of a patent before moving forward.
Positives
- Obtaining a patent on your invention allows you to take legal action against a person or company from copying your product, process or technology without your permission.
- Patents typically provide 20 years of protection from another company copying your invention without your permission.
- You can produce and profit from your patent or sell the rights to another company. Many companies work to obtain patents for the purpose of selling to other companies for their use.
- You are not required to have a patent to create, produce and sell a product. However, another company or individual can come along and duplicate your invention, obtain a patent and put you out of business.
- A provisional patent may be filed during the finalization of a new invention - providing temporary protection. This will give a company approximately 1 year to finalize their product and file for a full patent before another company can attempt the same.
- Patented products sometimes have an edge over the competition. For many reasons, consumers like to hear "patented" or "patented pending".
Negatives
- During the patent application process your super top-secret, once in a lifetime, idea becomes public knowledge. That said, companies can potentially take your initial idea and modify it enough to create their own patented super, amazing product.
- A patent requires many preliminary steps, legal documents and sometimes years to achieve approval. This can be expensive to apply for and sometimes the product in question doesn't do well in the market - a financial risk to those that pay for the patent.
- Once a patent is obtained, regular maintenance fees are required to keep a patent active. If you don't pay the fees your invention will go unprotected.
- A patent only offers coverage within the US and only if you identify that someone else is using your idea. Having patent protection doesn't stop someone from attempting to profit off your idea, especially if they're not caught in the act. Taking legal action against a patent offender can be very expensive and hard to recuperate the costs from.
Patent Application Service FAQ
A patent gives you rights to an invention for a certain period of time. It prevents other people from "making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention...or importing it into the United States” once the patent has been publicly disclosed. A patent has to be granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to be legal and valid.
There are two types of patents: utility and design. Utility patents can be granted for a process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter or any improvement of those things that is "new, nonobvious and useful”. Design patents cover how an invention looks, not how it works. You can't get a patent for a physical phenomenon, abstract idea, laws of nature, or inventions which are "offensive to public morality”.
Copyrights cover literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Trademarks protect words, phrases, symbols or designs that differentiate goods and services. Patents generally relate to inventions rather than anything covered by a trademark or copyright.
The USPTO charges $320 for the filing fee on a utility patent and $220 for a design patent. However, there's a long list of additional fees that may or may not apply to your application; you can find that list on the USPTO website.
Brace yourself: according to the USPTO, the average timeframe is about 25 months. There are options for expediting the process and reducing the time to 6-12 months, but you'll pay upwards of $1000 for the rush job. And, if you've made any mistakes in your application, expect it to take longer.
It can be tricky to navigate the process of applying for a patent, and every misstep can cost you time and money. Patent application services can eliminate a lot of the guesswork and help you get it right the first time.
Not necessarily. You can get expert help for less than $200, plus the standard fees required by the USPTO. If you want concierge-level assistance, you'll probably pay closer to $700 from start to finish. There are also extra services like patent searches, patent valuation, professional illustrations and more that you can consider adding to your package.
You're not going to find a provider that guarantees your patent will be accepted (after all, this is the government we're ultimately dealing with here). However, many will provide a refund within the first 30 or 60 days of using the service, though your patent process won't be even close to complete within that timeframe. The best indicator of a reliable application service isn't a satisfaction guarantee - instead, look through the provider's site to see case studies of customer patents that were granted after using the service.
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