Patent Your Invention

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

STEP BY STEP GOES A LONG WAY

Should you decide to apply for a patent, after evaluating your idea, you must then establish proof of the date on which you conceived your invention ...or at least of the day you first drew plans, wrote up a description, or otherwise made a record of your "baby". Don't bother sending yourself a description by registered mail: The only proof acceptable to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is that provided by one or more corroborating witnesses. Ideally, you should prepare a record including a sketch and a written description - when you first get your idea, then ask one or more of your most trustworthy friends to read, understand, sign, and date this record. (Remember, even if one such associate should turn out to be less than trustworthy, you'll have the signed and witnessed record dated in your favor if there's any question about whose idea it was.) You should also keep carefully dated and detailed records of any other steps you take in furthering the development of your invention ... have one or more friends examine such steps ...and then have them sign as witnesses. Be sure to keep all correspondence related to your invention, all sales slips for material or services used in its development, and any sketches or models of your work ...in case you later need to validate the facts and dates involved.

SEARCHING THE RECORDS

Before you complete work on your design, you should attempt to locate the most closely related prior patents on file. To do so, you'll have to visit the Search Room of the Patent and Trademark Office in Crystal Plaza, 2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia. You can, if you prefer, hire an attorney or agent to do this search (a patent agent is not a lawyer, but is a qualified practitioner registered with the PTO).

In most cases, though, it's a good idea to conduct the search yourself ...for several reasons: [1] The information and experience you get may help you with future inventions, [2] you might see some ways in which you could improve your present work, and [3] checking other patents can be a great source of inspiration. Making a search does require both skill and experience, though, and most inventors have neither the time nor the money to make a trip to Virginia just for this purpose ...thus they end up hiring patent practitioners (either attorneys or agents).

All registered practitioners are listed with the PTO. You can buy a copy of this listing from the Superintendent of Documents ...or you can examine it at a public library that keeps government publications on file, a district office of the U.S. Department of Commerce or the Small Business Administration, or your state's Department of Commerce and Industry. The PTO will also send, free of charge, a list of practitioners with offices in your own locale (write to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Dept. TMEN, Washington, D.C. 20231). When you select a practitioner, be sure that he or she is registered (since only registered persons can legally represent you if you decide to file an application and choose to have help in doing so), and ask for an estimate of search fees and application fees before the work is begun, so that you have some idea of what to expect.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print