Getting
Started with Patents
A
Beginner’s Guide to Help You Patent Your Invention
Also see Patentseed for insight into some of the most recent patent applications filed by major technology companies.
|
|
Written By This patent guide is written by Denis Khoo, a certified Patent Agent (#53,117) practicing in the following cities: Arcadia, CA. Pasadena, CA. Alhambra, CA. San Gabriel, CA. Temple City, CA. El Monte, CA. Monrovia, CA. Monterey Park, CA. Hermosa Beach, CA. Manhattan Beach, CA. El Segundo, CA. Redondo Beach, CA. Torrance, CA. He can be reached at 626-644-5466. (A Patent Agent, just as a Patent Attorney or Patent Lawyer, is authorized to prosecute a patent application, i.e., assist you in obtaining a patent for your invention.) Who should be reading this? This document is catered
towards individuals who have never obtained a patent, and also for those who
may just need a refresher on the topic.
The entire process of obtaining a patent (i.e. patent prosecution) can
be very complicated and cumbersome, but instead of confusing you with the
details and legalese, this guide will focus on covering the core basic of what
you need to know. Overview By now, you probably have
an invention in mind, and you’re wondering if you should try to obtain a
patent. Yet, you’ve never dealt with
patents, and don’t know where to begin.
This guide will help you get off on the right start by walking you
through the following questions:
Is your invention patentable? Generally, your invention is
patentable if the following three conditions are true: 1.
Your invention
is useful. 2.
Your invention
is novel. 3.
Your invention
is unobvious. You generally shouldn’t
have any problems getting past the first condition of usefulness. Presumably, your invention will be useful
to someone. In order for your patent
to be novel, it must be demonstrably different from what is publicly known
today (i.e. prior art). You cannot
obtain a patent on something that already exists in the public domain today. Not every aspect of your invention has to
be different from what exists already.
For example, if your invention involves parts X, Y, and Z, and you
find a product in the marketplace that involves the parts X, Y, and W, your
invention will be considered novel against that product, even though they are
similar. Let’s look at an example
where you invention would not be patentable, because it wasn’t novel. If you found a magazine written in 2004
which details your invention, then your invention would no longer be patentable. Why?
Because your invention is no longer novel. It was already known by the public through
the 2004 publication in the magazine.
(There are situations where you can pass the novelty condition, even
if your invention is publicly known.
This situation arises because of the “first to invent” system within
the The third condition states
that your invention should be unobvious.
This is the most subjective and usually the most difficult condition
to pass. This condition checks to see
if it would be obvious for a person skilled in the art (i.e., someone who
works within the profession) to combine two publicly known ideas together to
come up with your invention. If so,
then your invention is considered obvious.
Let’s look at an example. Imagine your invention is a windshield wiper
made of a special rubber that glides better over glass. Both the windshield wiper and the special
rubber are already known by the public domain, however, nobody has ever
created your invention of putting the two together. The USPTO may declare your patent obvious
to someone skilled in the art and thus not patentable. However, you could certainly come up with
many rebuttals, one being that if it was so obvious, how come no one else has
done it yet. Should you file for a patent? First, you should try to
make as certain as possible that your invention is patentable based on the
conditions above. To make sure you
meet the conditions of being novel and unobvious, a prior art search will
need to be performed. In a prior art
search, a search is conducted to find any publications that may affect the
patentability of your invention. Once
a thorough search has been performed, it will be up to you to judge how novel
and unobvious your invention actually is.
Now, you have to decide
how much time, effort, and money you’re willing to spend. Realistically, you will want the assistance
of a patent agent or attorney to help you finalize and file the patent
application. If you are willing to
commit the time and effort, you should be able to draft most of the patent
application on your own, thus saving you a significantly amount of
money. There are parts of the patent
application that will be best left in the hands of a patent agent/attorney. We will cover this next. Ultimately, you should expect to pay
anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 to a patent agent/attorney, based on how much
work you need fulfilled. The sooner your file, the
sooner you will establish a filing date.
Once your patent application has been filed, you will no longer need
to worry about any future publications, products, etc. in the public domain
affecting the patentability of your invention. If you have faith in your
invention, find it to be patentable, and are willing to commit some time and
money, then you should certainly file for a patent. If/when your invention gets granted as a
patent, this decision may turn out to be the most important one you make in
your life. How do you write a patent application? First, let’s cover some
terminology. When you first have an
idea, we refer to it as your invention.
When you put the invention on paper for your personal records, it is
known as a disclosure. To file for a
patent, you put together what is known as a patent application. A patent application is comprised of a few
parts, and this is what is submitted to the USPTO. Once the patent application is submitted to
the USPTO, your invention will have an official status of “patent pending.” If/when the patent application is approved, your invention will have the official status of
being “patented.” Now, getting back to the
topic, let’s take a look at the parts of a patent application. A patent application is comprised of:
The best way to understand
the different parts of a patent application is by reading a few good
patents. I’ve provided links to a
couple of popular patents below: You can have a patent
agent/attorney write everything for you, or, if you are trying to save money,
you should be able to write the specifications, write the abstract, and do
the drawings. At a minimum, it is
recommended that you hire a patent agent/attorney to perform the following:
|