There has been a lot written in the news recently about patents and the ensuing lawsuits that have been filed in defense of patents on business processes relating to Amazon.com’s internet site. Since Amazon has been very successful in e-commerce other companies started using Amazon’s ideas. Fortunately for Amazon.com they had their processes protected by patents.
Whenever you work on an invention – be it a product or a process – you need to be sure that no one else owns the rights to that idea or you will be infringing on someone else’s patent. That’s the reason you often hear that you will need to do a “patent search” very early in the invention process. A search also will help you find out if someone has invented a product similar to yours that could be modified, which will save you time and money.
One way to start a patent search is on your own computer. However, keep in mind this is time-consuming, tedious and not a foolproof system by any means. Not all patents will be found there since most computer databases go back only 20 years and there are hundreds of classifications of products to dig through. Being untrained you could easily miss early patents.
It is a good learning experience for a new inventor to try to do the initial patent search though. You will learn about the products included in the different classifications and the patents on them; and you can view drawings and read abstracts to see how many of the patents are similar to your own idea.
The best place to start looking is at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. Their address is www.uspto.gov and they have many resources on their site for new inventors, including a complete listing of all the different patent classifications.
A patent attorney can be invaluable in making this search for you and there are links to reputable attorneys on the uspto site. A search will cost you about $500.
If there is no invention like yours on file in the U.S. Patent Office, you can move on to the next step of having your patent application written up and proper drawings prepared. While a full patent will probably cost between $4,000 and $8,000, you might be able to make arrangements with your attorney to spread out the cost by making payments; and don’t forget to ask what other charges will be incurred relating to the patent filing.
As soon as your application is in the patent office, you can call your product or invention “patent applied for,” and begin either to sell or license it.
I feel I must add one final note: many people have called me over the years – one just a few weeks ago – to say that they have invested several thousand dollars to get their ideas to the marketplace. The trouble is that they have invested their money with unscrupulous companies that take an inventor’s money and do nothing to help them. Working with a good patent attorney will prevent this from happening. Good luck to you!
(c) 2000 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by ParadigmTSA
