The first documented patent-like decree dates back to ancient Greece, around 500 BCE, and referred to a dish of oysters stuffed with honey. The cook who created the dish had a monopoly on the item for one year, declared the government leaders of Sybaris, and no one else could cook the same delicacy. While today's patent system is considerably more complex, the basic premise is the same: an inventor should have a specific time period during which he or she has a monopoly on a business process or a mechanical device. Patents provide the inventor with potential financial remuneration for time and money invested. Learning how to patent ideas is critical for inventors, their inventions and for intellectual property law to be properly enforced.
How to Patent an Idea
The process for patenting an idea under current U.S. intellectual property law is fairly straightforward. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the government office that manages and confers patents:
"The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, 'the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling' the invention in the United States or 'importing' the invention into the United States."
There are three types of patents:
- Utility. Relates to a machine, business process, or improvement of an existing patented item or process.
- Design. Any process or material that improves an existing article of manufacture and is new and original.
- Plant. New or improved, distinct plant types produced asexually.
Most patents fall under the first two types.
Intellectual Property Law and Inventors
Filers can go directly to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and click on "file a patent application electronically." Before filing an application, however, inventors need to do a thorough search for "prior art."
Prior art is the term for any publicly-known drawing, text, or 3-D item that demonstrates that the information an inventor seeks to patent is actually already part of public knowledge. Sometimes prior art is simply an earlier patent for the same device, in which case someone beat the inventor to the punch.
In other instances, prior art is difficult to find, and can involve any of the following:
- A patent in another country
- An article in a newspaper, magazine or website describing the business process or article of manufacture
- A picture or drawing in a newspaper, magazine or website
- An article or graphic in a company newsletter
- Information in an old textbook
and much more. Due diligence is important with this aspect of intellectual property law and inventions. Patent infringement is a serious legal violation and can result in six or seven figure fines and/or patent law settlements requiring intellectual property attornies. If an inventor files a patent application and patent research does not find prior art, the patent is granted, and later another party demonstrates ownership of prior art, the patent can be made invalid and lawsuits and fines can ensue.
Extensive patent research for prior art, then, is critical before an inventor even begins to complete an application with USPTO.
Inventions, IP, and Patent Research
If no prior art can be found, inventors should proceed to complete a patent application. Small businesses and individual inventors can qualify for "small entity status", paying half the normal fees to patent an idea. A basic filing fee for a utility patent small entities is $165, but additional fees for various processes can add thousands to the bill. For instance, for a small entity filing a utility patent:
- Search Fee - $270
- Examination Fee - $110
- Appeals - $270
and international filing fees can run as high as $1202 for one patent. The USPTO electronic filing system walks inventors through how to patent an idea, and inventors need to think carefully about whether to consider hiring a patent agent, an independent patent examiner, or an intellectual property lawyer. These are individual decisions, as no two patents are the same (of course!) and no two patent application situations are the same, nor can the complication or simplicity of the process be predicted. Research is critical, and inventors need to read as much information on the patent and IP process before proceeding.
In the end the most important part of the process is keeping innovation on the forefront. New inventions spark inspiration, and knowing how to patent an idea is critical for ingenuity and progress.
To learn more about current business issues with patent law and intellectual property research, please read Crowdsourcing and Patent Research - Article One, Peer to Patent to understand how the Internet is radically changing how the U.S. patent and trademark system works and how anyone - yes, anyone - can become a patent researcher by simply joining a forum.
In addition, information on prior art, novelty searches, and validity searches can be found at Prior Art and Patent Infringement - Intellectual Property Law.
Resources:
Rines, Robert H. Create or Perish: The Case for Inventions and Patents. MIT OpenCourseWare.
Melanie Zoltan - Melanie Zoltan is a former college professor and administrator who has written for About.com, PCWorld, Brain Child, Thomson Gale, and ...
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