In the understandable excitement and inspirational fire of creation, many inventors rush into the patent process without doing their homework. Unfortunately, their zeal to push forward often comes back to haunt them in the form of longer wait times, higher fees, and more work that could have been avoided with proper planning. The purpose of this article is to steer you clear of these pitfalls and help you patent your new idea as painlessly as possible.
One of the biggest mistakes many inventors make is filing a non-provisional patent right away. A non-provisional patent is "the real patent." To file for one, you need to fill out a bevy of legal forms, include sketches and drawings of your invention, and pay hefty fees. If your application is approved, you are granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
While many inventors will one day need to do this, few of them need to do it immediately. Instead, there is another equally safe but less expensive way to go: the $100 provisional patent application. In a provisional patent application, you do not file a formal patent claim, oath, or any disclosure statements about your invention. But what a provisional patent will do is lock in your application date and give you "patent pending" status.
If you have ever seen "patent pending" on product packaging or commercials, it is because the company in question filed a provisional patent application with the Patent and Trademark Office. It is actually unlawful to use "patent pending" unless you have done this.
What this means in layman's terms is that you can begin to market your invention and gauge how much interest (if any) there is before deciding to file for a non-provisional patent. In the meantime, you can market your invention with the full rights and protections of a non-provisional patent. If you have ever seen "patent pending" on product packaging or commercials, it is because the company in question filed a provisional patent application with the Patent and Trademark Office. It is actually unlawful to use "patent pending" unless you have done this.
However, this grace period does not last forever. If it did, no one would spend the time or money filing for non-provisional patents. Provisional patents are only effective for 12 months after you file them. At the end of those 12 months you must either file for a non-provisional patent (which costs about $400 more) or forfeit all rights to your invention.
If you are smart and work quickly, you can use that 12 month period to hustle your idea and generate interest in it. By the end of that time you should have a very good idea of whether it is worth applying for a non-provisional patent.
When and if you do decide to file a non-provisional patent application, you need to ensure that you file everything you wish for the patent examiner to see. Once your application is filed, there is no way to go back and add more. What is there and only what is there is what the patent examiner will evaluate when deciding to grant you a patent.
To ensure that nothing is missing from your patent application, see our article "How to File Patents."
It may take as long as 2 or 3 years to hear back from a patent examiner once you file. The first time you do hear back is when the examiner issues what is known as a "First Office Action." This is when the examiner has told you what in your application they think is patentable and explains what claims of yours are lacking. You (or your attorney) must respond to each and every issue raised by examiner and file your response no later than six months after the First Office Action.
Once the examiner evaluates your response, they will issue a Second Office Action in which they either accept or refute your claims. At this point the examiner has the authority to make this a final verdict, but this is not actually the way it usually works. Your lawyer can continue to work with the examiner on resolving his/her complaints and getting your patent approved.
In closing, the best advice for 90% of inventors is probably to begin by filing a provisional patent application. Unless you are sure that your invention is a slam dunk (and such assurance is rarely justified), it will save you lots of money and give you 12 months to see what the market for your idea is.
We have also been made aware by many books that obsolescence is built into much merchandise to make it wear out long before its time. Or new styles are introduced so different from the current ones that one must abandon useful articles to keep pace. Much of this is of course highly objectionable.
We find that many good ideas are abandoned for the sake of change, such as the elimination of pockets in women's clothes, or the use of small purses instead of spacious ones, stiff collars instead of comfortable ones and so on.
On the other hand, an improvement by its very nature implies change too. So whenever you want an idea, consider all the facts and factors involved in your product or your subject, and see what aspects you can change. Some of the possible changes will doubtless seem foolish at first, but you may be able to find a justification for them later on that would permit you to use them. In any case there is nothing to lose in noting down whatever you think of, even if it seems far- fetched.
There are, of course, many kinds of rearrangement. One may use different sizes, different shapes, different materials or colors; or the same for different purposes; or in a different position, and so on ad infinitum.
The idea of interchangeable parts was first used by Eli Whitney in stepping up production for weapons for the War of 1812. Many years later Ford adopted it as part of his assembly line production method. The idea had many other applications, even down to basic dresses which can be used for different occasions simply by the use of other accessories.
You can imagine the familiar thing in almost any new position. Transposition from one place to another gave us the idea of serving meals not in homes but in restaurants. The same process of transposing gives us all sorts of outside services formerly done at home-laundries, hospitals, garment centers, schools and so on.
Which factors from one kind of service overlapping your own, can be applied to yours? A sunroom has a glass roof. In New York, some taxicabs have glass roofs to enable the passenger to look up and see the tall buildings-same idea, different purpose. Bathing caps for the swimmer are transferred to raincoat outfits. An ocean-going luxury liner supplies much more than mere passage. It draws for ideas upon restaurants, hotels, the entertainment field. Any large business can be analyzed for such overlapping of interests and can use them for idea sources.
A writer of articles may find in one magazine or trade journal possibilities for similar articles for another field. How a laundry found new customers may suggest that every business is looking for new customers. The fundamental principles do not vary much, and can be adapted to how other small business may find new customers.
Change is the secret for getting ideas. And since change is everywhere, simply keep your eyes open throughout your daily life, and at any moment a spark of inspiration will give you what you need to continue with your idea.
Both Eric Corl & Jon Weaver are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Eric Corl has sinced written about articles on various topics from Patent and Trademark, Home Business Failures and Scams and Patent and Trademark. Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can em. Eric Corl's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
Jon Weaver has sinced written about articles on various topics from Football, Gardening and Recreation and Sports. You can discover more at Sir Jon Weaver's FREE informational website at Visit to. Jon Weaver's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.