| If you've created something unique and something | | | | name or names of experts who have attested to |
| you believe to be marketable the subject of patents | | | | the usefulness and unique nature of your creation. |
| should be of immense interest to you. Without a | | | | This is where you must be careful. Sharing your idea |
| patent your idea could be stolen from you. With a | | | | prior to its patent could result in its theft if you don't |
| patent in place the concept, and its financial rewards, | | | | take precautions. Besides carefully studying the |
| are yours for a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 20 | | | | credibility and ethics of those from whom you seek a |
| years. | | | | professional opinion of your new idea or product, |
| Does your new product qualify for a patent, | | | | you'll also want to carefully document your |
| however? To determine this you'll need to not only | | | | step-by-step creation - from original concept to |
| prove its uniqueness but to also make sure it's not | | | | completion. |
| disqualified for category. | | | | Purchase a notebook. It doesn't need to be anything |
| In the United States, for example, the issuing federal | | | | fancy - just a diary sort of concept that notes each |
| agency is the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This | | | | and every move made and every idea generated |
| agency offers utility patents, the most common | | | | that helped to bring your concept and product to |
| form of patent, on brand new designs that can | | | | fruition. While in this day and age you're probably |
| prove usefulness. They can even patent new | | | | more prone to use a word processing system to do |
| varieties of foliage such as plants. | | | | so (and that's a great idea for backup since you can |
| What cannot be patented, however, are new | | | | not only keep it on your hard drive but save it to |
| pharmaceuticals that are determined to be unsafe, | | | | CD, DVD or disk) you'll first want to record these |
| nuclear weapons, phenomena theoretical in nature, | | | | steps, in your own handwriting, in your notebook. |
| inventions that aren't operable, non-operational | | | | Make sure you date each step as well. |
| changes such as aesthetic improvements, inventions | | | | The process for earning a patent from initial |
| whose primary purpose would be seen as illegal, and | | | | application averages two years. However, while that |
| those considered by the patent office as "whimsical," | | | | process is pending you will still have proof that you're |
| i.e., serving no serious purpose. As of this writing the | | | | the inventor by showing the PTO documentation of |
| patent office also refuses "immoral" patents, but a | | | | application number and official date of filing. If |
| change is in the offing that will eliminate this category | | | | applying online, you'll have this information in minutes. |
| from patent refusal. | | | | If you apply by mail, the documentation should arrive |
| One of the criteria used by the US PTO to | | | | within eight weeks. |
| determine uniqueness and thus eligibility for a patent | | | | Once you've received your patent, you'll have |
| is whether someone who is considered an expert in | | | | protected your new product or idea from |
| the field in which you're introducing a new product | | | | infringement. What this means is that were anyone |
| would consider the product not only useful but also | | | | to try to claim it as their own, or to duplicate it and |
| unique. You will, therefore, delay your application for | | | | use or sell that duplication, you could sue for |
| a patent until you've determined that the answer to | | | | damages. |
| this is yes. You'll want to provide the PTO with the | | | | |