How to Get an Invention Up & Going
It's a long road from inventing something useful to obtaining royalties from sales of the finished product. Before you earn any profits, you will have to obtain international patent protection, sell your invention to licensees, and wait for them to market it effectively. The patent process will involve significant expense, and marketing a clever invention will involve considerable ingenuity on your part. Nevertheless, many people have completed this process successfully.
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Instructions
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Develop specifications and claims for your invention. Specifications are detailed descriptions (including diagrams) that tell the world exactly what your invention is and what it does. Claims are assertions that your invention meets the three tests of patentability - novelty, usefulness, and originality. Claims should be prepared with the assistance of a patent lawyer.
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Submit an application for preliminary examination of your patent under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This will involve submitting your specifications and claims to the International Bureau in Geneva, Switzerland, or one of its Receiving Offices abroad. A "prior art" search will be conducted to determine if your invention is truly new, your invention will be publicized in an international gazette, and a preliminary determination of the patentability of your invention will be issued. These preliminary steps will be accepted by all nations that are signatory to the PCT.
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File patent applications in every nation in which you desire patent protection. At a minimum you should consider the United States, Japan, China, and the European Union. Once your application is filed, your application will be considered "patent pending," which means that if you are eventually issued a patent, protection will be extended retroactively to the date that you filed your PCT application.
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Create a prototype of your invention, with the help of a manufacturer if necessary. This will give you a tangible marketing tool, prove that your invention can actually be manufactured, prove that it works, and give you some idea of the manufacturing cost. All of this will be invaluable in your marketing efforts.
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Create multimedia marketing materials to sell your invention to potential licensees. You will need to think like a businessperson rather than an inventor - identify a market need and show how your invention fills that need more cheaply, more efficiently, and more effectively than anything now on the market. Include an estimate of the cost of manufacture.
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Search directories of manufacturers and trade associations for potential licensees. Patent law offices are also good sources for contacts. Use your marketing materials to pitch your invention to potential licensees. You don't need to wait until your invention receives a patent to advance to this stage, although potential licensees may insist that any license agreement becomes effective on the date that your invention receives final approval of its patent application.
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Negotiate license agreements with potential licensees. Unless you attract the attention of a major marketer, you should offer non-exclusive licenses to multiple licensees instead of an exclusive license to a single licensee. Seek the advice of an attorney at this phase, especially with regard to royalty payments.
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Tips & Warnings
U.S. patent law differs from the patent law of most other nations. U.S. patent law is based on a "first to invent" system rather than a "first to file" system. This means that if you invented it first but a subsequent inventor beat you to the patent office, you can have the subsequent inventor's patent invalidated in favor of your own patent, as long as you can prove that you were the first inventor.
If you publicize or market your invention before filing for patent protection, you could permanently lose the right to patent it.
