First of all , ask your self this question. There is no question that the patent process is long daunting to many and expensive. While there are many good reasons for applying for a patent and there are also many myths and untruths. There are also times when you should not apply for a patent but do something else such as disclose it or keep it secret.
Reasons for Applying for a Patent
- Protecting your invention from unfair competition
You spent a lot of time and money developing your idea. If its a good idea and you eventually commercialize it yourself you will attract competitors. If those competitiors can simply copy what you did without putting in the same time or money they will have a substantial competitve advantage.
They can make a "me too" knockoff of your invention ,cut the price and drive you out of business. against them. Of course there are people and places that ignore patents (China being one wll known site), but then a patent can prevent goods made in one of these patent free safe havens from being imported into your marketplace.
- Satisfying your Investors.
If you are forming a business to sell your invention you may be getting capital from outside investors. Often those investors what your business to establish saleable assetsto increase its value. A patent is such an asset. If your business is succesful the patentwill appreciate substantially in value and can be sold with the business if it is spun off.
- Keeping someone else from patenting your idea and shutting you down
This reason is something inventors rarely think about , but it happens often enough.If you don't patent your idea, and go to market with it, someone else may patent the idea.If they can show they invented it before your invention was in the market they can get apatent and threaten to shut you down unless you pay them royalties. This is the strategy employed by so called "Patent Trolls" . The trolls get patent they have no intent ofcommercializing and wait for someone else to do so. Then they pounce and demandmoney. You don't have to patent your idea to defend against trolls, you can also"Disclose" it.
Reasons for Not applying for a patent
- Your idea isn't patentable
If you do a good patent search you may find out your idea has already been patented by someone else- In that case you cannot patent your idea and you may owe the other inventor a royalty if you try to market your invention and they find out about. Often you may find your invention was patented years ago and the patent has already expired or the invention was disclosed by its inventor or offered for sale without a patent. Such an idea is "in the public domain". You can make the item without running afoul of someone's patent , but so can everyone else. In this case its smart to look to improvements you are making over the prior art and file patent applications on them.
- You have no intention of marketing or selling your invention-
Sometimes people want to offer their inventions to the community. This is a common strategy in the software business where the "Open Standards" movement encourages it. Important software systems like Linux fall into this category. In that case, however, while you should not patent your invention you should disclose it publicly so that no one else may patent it and deprive the community of its use.
- Your invention can be protected by keeping it as a Trade Secret
Coca Cola has protected their formula for over 100 years and no one has ever been able to figure it our. If you have an invention that is not subject to reverse engineering you can follow Coke's example. However, such instances are rare. Also you must actively guard your trade secret or you will loose the rights to it. For example you need to execute agreements with your employees and vendors to keep the key information secret.
- Your idea is protectable by Copyright or Trademark, or Design Patent
Not all ideas are patentable. You can't patent a novel a movie and much software code. However all of these items are protectable by Copyright. Copyrights are easier and less expensive to get than patents and they last longer. So if you are the creator of the next "Mickey Mouse" do as Disney does and copyright it. Simiarly a catch phrase can be turned into a Trademark. A popular restaurant in our town was shut down by trademark attorneys for calling itself "Oscar's" and having the familiar Acadamy Award statue as its symbol. If you are a famous individual like Michael Jordan, you Trademark the "Air
Jordan" brand you don't patent it or copyright it.
Alternatives to Patents
Many people are familiar with Copyrights and Trademarks, but far fewer are familiar with Research Disclosures. If you have invented something and don't want to patent it, but still want to use it (without paying someone else for the privilege). You may file a research disclosure. The law says you simply have to disclose your invention publicly such as in a journal article or conference paper. There are however, companies who make a business of publicly disclosing inventions. One such company is ip.com. If you disclose through them or similar companies your idea is firmly established as in the Public domain
- Trademark, Copyright or Design Patent
If you have written a book, made a movie or created a cartoon character like Mickey Mouse, the appropriate protection for your invention is a copyright or trademark. Also if your invention is an object whose appearance you want to protect, like a piece of jewelry, you will best be protected by a Design patent. A design patent just protects the appearance of something, it doesn't protect anything else. So if you , for example , invent a table with an unusual leg design, you can patent that design but someone else can use the same structural approach with legs that look slightly different and go around your design patent.
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