Congratulations on your new invention! After inventing something, it is understandable that you want to have exclusive rights to prevent anyone from copying your ideas. You can read more about famous inventions when you click here. But before you file for a patent, there are several things that you need to know to save time and money. If you want to know what these things are, then this article is for you.
Who Grants the Patent?
A sovereign authority often grants the patent to the inventor. The grant has several benefits, including owning all the rights to the design. For those who haven’t made an invention yet, they will get incentives so that they can keep making new things without worrying about infringement.
An example of this is that large pharma companies that want to invent a vaccine for a particular virus may have spent trillions of dollars in studies, samples, tests, and development. However, without the protection of a patent, the drug can be reproduced and sold by other companies without capital and research, which is unfair. What this means to the first pharma company is that they won’t get any profits every time the vaccine is sold if they don’t have exclusive rights to the medicine.
To further understand how trademarks and rights work, they protect an individual or company’s intellectual property for a period of time. This, in turn, will result in more revenues and profits. For some, the patent will serve as bragging rights of inventors to demonstrate their creativeness and innovativeness in these changing times.
But before filing for a patent, there are critical things that many inventors should understand and know. Here’s a list of them.
- You Need to Research and Review Previously Accepted Patents
Before undergoing a project, an investor must review all the previously filed applications related to what he is trying to invent. There might be a similar technology already filed by other applicants in the same field as his.
When a new application is received, the examiner will search for previous inventions and prior art related to the newly submitted work field. If you want to get some help with regards to research, you can visit Tatonetti IP to know more about applying for trademarks and design the right way.
After verifying that there are no other accepted applications, the work is novel, and it meets all the requirements. The patent is going to be awarded, and everything will get published. In some cases, the utility type will protect the inventor for about two decades, while the design will last for 15 years.
- Know How the Invention Is Unique
Before applying for a copyright, the person should identify how the project is specifically different from others. There are three types of copyright that one can use for including a plant, utility, and design patent.
If you are working at a design, there should be a specific visual aspect of the object. For plants, these people may reproduce new species of shrubs or other tree varieties asexually. The utility type is where an invention comes in.
For those applying to the invention types, they should have a discovery of the machine, process, manufacture, or matter composition that is new and unique. The new invention should add value and improve the overall process of businesses, homes, and more.
- You have a year to file after you present your discovery to the public
Many scientists who have presented their work to a public audience on a science fair have a year to file their patent. They might have a detailed description of their invention, and a fellow scientist might replicate it, so they must submit within a year.
The amount of information and the details will matter. If the scientist only provided broad and abstract information about the discovery, this may not be considered a public disclosure. Read more about public disclosures here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_disclosure.
For example, Rose took a project for a vaccine, developed it, and Anne replicated it. If Anne tries to claim the invention as her idea, then Rose can take steps to go into the US Patent and Trademark Office to stop Anne. She can say that the vaccine is “not novel or new,” which she (Rose) originally came up with and developed. But Rose has a year to counter Anne’s filing for a patent, or the former should file the patent right away after she developed a vaccine to be safe.
- Give a Full Description
You should always convince the examiner that what you created is unique, original, and useful. Not only this, but you also need to show them the variables and the little details of production.
Someone from the patent office says that what you have in mind should be more than a mere idea. You should show a complete and practical method of actually reproducing your concept. There are times when you don’t need to create the invention first before you can apply a patent to it. In this case, you need to provide lots of information that will show everyone the steps that you plan to take for the idea to become real.
You can illustrate the device and make specific descriptions of how it will be used. The materials you are going to use, and the time it will take for you to make the invention can matter.
- Patent Attorneys are Important
It is for your best interest to get a patent attorney. A lawyer who exclusively works in applications can save an investor time and money. They know the processes and the things that one should do. They are experts in researching previously submitted applications, and these things can be daunting to someone who does not have enough experience. They are also meant to defend the inventors against legal cases.
The attorney will protect your rights and patent, so having them can give you peace of mind. They have the information and legal assistance you will need if other people try to steal your designs and ideas. If you can successfully protect your patent, then you can reap the benefits for years.
