How to Protect an Invention When Pitching It

Your great invention is certain to make lots of money, but you need to pitch it in order to get a backer. New inventors worry about potential investors stealing their inventions. Start preparing your pitch as soon as you understand these steps to minimize your risk and protect your invention.

Instructions

1. Perform a preliminary patent search with the United States Patent Trademark Office or at a nearby Patent and Trademark Depository Library. Someone may have already applied for a patent for the same invention.

2. Create an inventor's notebook to document the progress in your invention. Document everything about your invention. Consider videorecording your work and marking it with a date stamp.

3. Know that you can move your product from the idea stage to the concrete before filing for a patent. Filing too soon often results in too narrow of a focus in your patent, which makes it hard to sue someone for patent infringement. A provisional patent application protects you by getting something on file while you work on feasibility studies and pitching your invention.

4. Arrange for an outside market feasibility study to analyze whether there is indeed a market for such a product. Check with inventor's groups about reputable organizations that perform feasibility studies, or ask at a university.

5. Ask potential investors to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which states that they will keep all information regarding your invention confidential and will not reproduce it as their own idea. If an investor refuses to sign an agreement, you have to decide whether you want to risk it or move on to someone else.

6. Determine the right time to file a patent. A patent allows you the exclusive right over your invention for a period of time up to 20 years. If your feasibility study looks good and you have a backer, now may be the time to move forward. Don't wait too long. Remember, a provisional patent only gives you a year from the date you applied. Additionally, patent law states that you have a year to file a patent once you make your invention public.

7. Consider hiring a patent law attorney. The attorney performs a more thorough patent search plus assists with the filing of the patent. If you insist on doing the work yourself, look at software programs like PatentPro to help you with the legalese.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also apply for trademark protection through the patent office. A trademark protects a word or symbol used to identify your invention.

• If your invention is a design or manufacturing method, consider keeping it a trade secret.

• Many scam artists are out there just waiting to help you by telling you what you want to hear and taking your money. Learn all there is to now about product development and marketing. Check with inventor's groups about a company you're considering doing business with.

• The patent process costs in the neighborhood of $25,000, with many patents never resulting in marketable products.