Tip 16 – “Patent Process”
Blog By Edward Ayres

It’s time to take your idea from drawing board to store shelves. What’s the first step? You need to protect your idea so it can be safely marketed. Most likely, you need a patent.

A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the government to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or importing an invention into the United States” for a limited amount of time.

A patent provides a competitive monopoly on your invention.

While, a patent is probably necessary this doesn’t mean you should rush out and hire the first patent professional you find. I strongly recommend first familiarizing yourself with the patent process. Of course, this doesn’t mean to become an expert on all things “patent law” but it does mean to gain a general understanding of terminology, procedures, and timelines.

The best resource to gain this basic familiarity is the United States Patent & Trademark Office. On their website you can learn about the different types of patents, their benefits, what they protect and other information.

Again, the purpose of becoming familiar with the patent process is not try to craft your own patent or to become an expert. When the time comes, we’ll discuss this in significantly more detail next week, you need to hire a patent professional. You may even need to speak with several patent attorneys/agents before deciding who you wish to use. A basic understanding of the patent process will ensure you’re armed with a little bit of knowledge, and will help you make better decisions on which type of patent to pursue and what patent professional to utilize.

I hope you enjoyed Tip 16. Next week we’ll discuss in more detail the types of patents and moving forward with actually securing patent protection.

Please consider sharing this information as it may benefit an inventor you know. If you have questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Check back next week for Tip #17.