How to Get a Personal Patent

Are you an inventor? If you are, then you should definitely consider applying for patent protection, because a patent will prevent others from profiting from your inventiveness at your expense for at least 20 years. A utility patent--the most common type--will protect useful processes, machines, items that can be manufactured or other compositions of matter (a new medicine, for example), and any improvements to these. Although patent protection standards and processes are complex, there are basic steps for applying for patent protection that anyone can master.

Instructions

1. Determine if your invention is novel. In the United States, your invention is novel if you invented it before anyone else did, and you can determine this by doing a "prior art" or patent search on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website. Anywhere else in the world, your invention is novel if you applied for patent protection before anyone else did, regardless of who was the first to invent it.

2. Determine exactly why your invention is useful from an engineering perspective and write it down. In order to be useful, your invention must serve a useful purpose--and it must be capable of actually performing its intended function--so consider having a prototype manufactured before applying for patent protection. Abstract ideas and scientific theories cannot be patented.

3. Determine exactly why your invention is non-obvious and write it down. Creating a patentable invention requires an inventive leap---whatever is new about your invention must be inventive enough to be non-obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the field to which your invention belongs. In other words, your invention must be unique enough to make the average technician scratch his head and say, "Why didn't I come up with that?"

4. Consider whether you should keep your invention as a trade secret rather than patenting it. Filing for a patent requires full public disclosure of your invention, while you can keep your invention secret indefinitely by keeping its details secret (examples of trade secrets include the formulas for Coke and KFC). Beware, however, that if someone comes up with your idea independently or otherwise legally acquires it, you will have no legal recourse.

5. Prepare an exhaustive description of your invention, including diagrams where necessary. This description should be sufficiently complete to allow a technician in the same field to duplicate your invention.

6. File an application for patent protection with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Most of the required documents can be submitted online. The patent application itself must include detailed specifications including claims establishing novelty, usefulness and non-obviousness; any necessary drawings; a sworn declaration; and the (variable) filing fee.

7. Prepare to answer questions from the USPTO and revise your application many times over the next year or so, by fully understanding your invention and its relation to the patent standards described above. The USPTO will publish your invention 18 months after the filing date, and if you are successful, it will grant the patent some time later (patent protection, however, will be retroactive).

Tips & Warnings

• If you create an invention and someone beats you to the filing office, even overseas, you can successfully challenge the application in the United States as long as you can prove you are the original inventor. A successful challenge will get you patent protection in the United States, but not overseas.

• If you describe your invention in a printed publication, use it publicly or put it on sale, then you have 1 year to apply for a patent or your right to patent it will be permanently lost.

Resources

• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Title 35, U.S. Code (Patent Law)