How to Patent New Invented Product Ideas

The U.S. Patent and Trade Office grants patents to inventors.

The U.S. Congress created patent laws to protect inventors and formed the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) to enforce these laws in 1903, according to ThinkQuest New York City. If you have a new product idea that you invented, the USPTO will become an active partner in reviewing your application and eventually granting patent rights to you.

Instructions

1. Write a product disclosure to lock the date of the invention, according to Lynn Wilson, Adjunct Marketing Instructor at Rogers State University. Courts will accept this disclosure as a legal document to resolve "who was first to invent" disputes, even though it does not grant rights to the intellectual property as a patent would. The disclosure can be manually penned or typed and should cover the concept and its most logical uses. Write it in the same manner as you would describe the concept to your peers. No formal requirement dictates the format of the document with the exception that two witnesses, friends or colleagues, need to read and understand the disclosure and sign and date the document. The document stays privately with you or your company in a secured file cabinet.

2. File a provisional patent. According to the USPTO guidelines, this document encourages the inventor to present the new concept in a narrative form without being restricted with editorial rules. The provisional content needs to cover some background information and articulate the novelty of the concept and its advantages. You can file directly with the USPTO, which will give a 12-month protection period during which you can write a formal patent application. Some prefer to hire an attorney to navigate the USPTO system and file on their behalf. The cost of filing a provisional patent ranges from $400 to $1,000 (as of 2010). Attorney fees would be additional.

3. Run a patent landscape investigation. Patent landscaping explores the intellectual property that has been granted in the past on similar topics and identifies possible infringement or untapped space. To do this, search the patent database accessible through the USPTO website. Use keywords similar to your creation to see if it has already been patented. Once you have established the prior art around your new concept, contrast your idea with what others have already claimed and identify what aspects of your idea have never been patented before. These elements become your patent claims.

   Designing patent claims that juxtapose closely to competitor claims without infringing elevates the patent strength and market value, according to J. Michael Buchanan, Ph.D, J.D, author of Stanford Law Review papers and Associate at Cantor Colburn, LLP.

4. File a patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional patent following the USPTO format requirements. These guidelines ask you to describe the background information, list the detailed patent claims and explain the value of the invention in contrast to the prior art found from the patent landscaping. You can submit the patent application directly to the USPTO, or you can service the talents of a patent attorney or patent agent to file the document on your behalf. The USPTO will provide feedback within one to two years from the time of the application and invite you to adjust your claims if they detect some problems.

   Once approved, this document grants you intellectual property rights for 14 to 20 years. A patent application costs about $7,000.

Tips & Warnings

• For protection outside of the U.S., apply for a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which grants intellectual property rights to the invention in 125 countries.

• Seek guidance from patent attorneys and patent agents, who are already experts in writing patents.

• A patent examiner may reject some of the patent claims or all of them. Fortunately, the office letter presents the reasons for denial, and the inventor is invited to challenge the findings or provide alternate description.

References

• USPTO: Consolidated Patent Rules, Dec 17, 2008 (.pdf)
• Stanford Technology Law Review: Deference Overcome: Court's Invalidation of Patent (.pdf); J. Michael Buchanan, PhD, JD; 2007
• Rogers State University: From Idea to Commercialization; Lynn Wilson; Feb. 2009
• USPTO: Filing Fees
• ThinkQuest New York City: The History of the USPTO

Resources

• "Patent It Yourself"; David Pressman, J.D.; 2009.