Patents Articles

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @ Wednesday, 25th January 2006 @ 1:39 AM

Inventions may qualify for a utility, a design or a plant patent as set out by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This article attempts to provide you with an overview on each of these patent types. Examples of utility based inventions are everywhere. Most mechanical objects fit under this category. A rocket engine, paperclip and a new drug are all examples of utility based inventions. The variety between these objects is vast, but they all fit under the same catego... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @ Tuesday, 24th January 2006 @ 9:33 AM

Even if you choose to use a patent agent or attorney to help you protect your invention, you will still have some work to do. After all, it’s your invention. And they need you to communicate the in’s and out’s of it as best you can. It’s not just as simple as meeting with a patent attorney, giving them a short blurb on your invention, and expecting everything to magically fall into place. You will have to put in some effort here. Obviously, they don’t know your invention lik... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @ Tuesday, 24th January 2006 @ 8:15 AM

You can get a reasonable patent search for a few hundred dollars. An in-depth comprehensive search will cost more (around a $1,000). But before you spend any money at all applying for a patent, reducing your invention to practice, or building an expensive prototype, you can start searching around all on your own. Thanks to the internet, it is fairly simple to get started on your own patent search. The USPTO has a very detailed website with patent searching capabilities. Best o... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @ Tuesday, 24th January 2006 @ 2:33 AM

Many businesses make more than a decent living helping inventors just like you make money from their inventions. From filing a patent to licensing and marketing your invention, someone is around every corner offering assistance. Unfortunately, not all of this help is the kind you want. There are companies out there who make a living off exploiting inventors. It’s important not to get caught up in any of these scams. What you need is a professional who has experience and is licensed t... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

You hear them on late night television, newspapers and magazines, even the radio and the internet. The ad goes something like this, “Hey inventor, call our toll free number and we’ll help you protect your idea and get rich quick”. The question is; should you use an invention submission corporation to help you submit your invention? If you’ve ever heard one of their compelling ads, they make it sound like you’d be crazy not to. Ultimately, we’ll let you make up your own mind a... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

Please note that there is more to gaining a patent than just filing an application and waiting. It is possible that this is all you will have to do, but unlikely. Once a patent application is sent in to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), it will be assigned to a patent examiner. The examiner will determine whether your invention really is patentable based on the criteria set up by the PTO. If the examiner does not believe your invention is patentable based on these criteria, he o... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

So you’ve invented the next big thing (or at least something that may solve a problem for a select group of people)? Now what? Well, sorry to say, but there’s quite a bit you need to tackle. To give you just a taste, there’s patenting, licensing, marketing, and manufacturing. So goodness, where do you start? First of all, you need to figure out if you are going to be able to make a profit from your invention. Patenting and marketing your invention are not inexpensive, easy task... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

If you choose to hire a patent practitioner, they will help you throughout the complex patent process. You may even consider granting them power of attorney over your patent application. This means they will be responsible for acting as a liaison between you and the USPTO in regards to your patent. In these instances, all the correspondence received from the USPTO will be handled through your patent practitioner. They will need to file all responses to Office actions, send in fees, etc… ... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

Hopefully you realize that before you do much of anything, you need to look at the marketability of your invention. Remember, you don’t want to do anything until you have a good feel for whether or not you can actually make some money from your invention. Of course, you can’t ever determine with 100% accuracy if you will make money or how much, but you can gain an idea by looking at other products available in the marketplace. So you need to become an expert at products in the m... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

What can be protected? Determining what qualifies as a patentable invention is a highly difficult and complicated task. Patent laws state that “Anything under the sun that was invented by man qualifies as patentable”. Simple enough, but if you notice, there are hundreds of pages full of exceptions and details on the idea of patentability following this phrase. Scores of appeals and patent court cases have arisen due to questions regarding patentability because it still hasn’t, and probab... more...

Legal » Patents | By Lisa Parmley @

Gaining a patent on your invention can be an expensive undertaking. From beginning to end, here are the basic fees you will need to be prepared to pay. Please realize that many others may crop up depending on how complex the prosecution becomes for your patent. First of all, the PTO will expect you to pay a filing fee on your patent application. Fortunately though, the filing fee is not due immediately. You may choose to send in the filing fees later during the prosecution. There are... more...

Legal » Patents | By James Hunt @

What are inventions? Well, basically an invention is when someone comes up with an idea or an object that has never been thought of before. Typically this idea or object will help other people in some way. For example, electricity was an invention when it was first discovered. People invented new ways to use it and to bring it into our homes. People have even invented new ways of producing electricity. We use inventions every day of our lives in so many different ways. Some are very basi... more...