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Archive for March, 2009

Perhaps you have a great idea for a new invention. Then, you develop and test your idea. Now, you are at the stage when you need a patent for your new design. Here is some advice for obtaining any necessary invention patents. The process may seem overwhelming at first, but there are a lot of resources that can assist you.

Your first step is to contact the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You can either visit their office or website or call them. The website has information on both invention patents and trademarks. They also have an electronic filing system that will allow you to apply for an invention patent online. There is a fee to apply. Since fees can change, contact them for more information.

But, how do you know you are ready to obtain invention patents for your newly developed products or devices? Patent law defines when something is “patentable.” Basically, if someone already created or described in a journal the same invention you created, you can not obtain a patent. Contact the USPTO for more information.

After you’ve determined whether or not the law deems your idea or product patentable, you will need to develop it and test it to make sure it works. Make sure you take detailed notes and document every change you make. You can lose time by neglecting to record something, because you’ll either need to test it again or you won’t make progress as quickly.

Once your design is developed, all you need to do is file the patent and pay the fee. Then, after your rights are secured, you can begin marketing your idea. It may help if you get a business or some financing to help you through this process. Some ideas are expensive to implement.

Free Patent Search Training in Free Patent Database online

The first step to find out if you invention can be patented is to conduct a free patent search online in any free patent information database online. How can you do a free patent search to find out if your invention can be patented?

Some of the most popular free patent databases in the world are http://www.uspto.gov, http://ep.espacenet.org, http://www.wipo.int and http://www.surfip.gov.sg.

We will briefly discuss in this article how you can conduct a Free Patent Search in USPTO database. This is the first of the seven articles that we will write to teach any one to use USPTO website to conduct patent search.

USPTO database contains over 33 million patent documents and is updated every week. The website is probably the largest patent website in the world. It provides a free patent search facility for both beginners and advanced users.

How can I conduct Patent Search at USPTO?

The answer to this question is given in a technical way in many websites. We will try to avoid the jargon and we will try to enable even a layperson that is not exposed to search databases regularly to do it easily.

The USPTO deals with conducting a Patent Search using its freely searchable patent database through the Internet. The instructions are given at
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/step7.htm The USPTO stresses the importance on 7 Steps each one to be done one after the other.

The Patent Search website Tmpsearchers.com has started a patent training course online. We can train you online wherever you live and the lessons and exercises are sent on a daily basis for three weeks. We teach a simplified version of methods to our students using Free Patent Databases. Although a paid database is more users friendly, the official free databases are updated with regular data and the expensive paid databases take some time (a short time) to update themselves to be current. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a search in the official free patent database online even after using paid patent databases. A proper training and search strategy for free databases is therefore very important.

Even if you choose to use a patent agent or attorney to help you protect your invention, you will still have some work to do. After all, it’s your invention. And they need you to communicate the in’s and out’s of it as best you can.

It’s not just as simple as meeting with a patent attorney, giving them a short blurb on your invention, and expecting everything to magically fall into place. You will have to put in some effort here.

Obviously, they don’t know your invention like you do. And a short little discussion on it is probably not going to put them in the know. You will likely need to spend a significant amount of time conveying the intricacies of whatever you’ve invented to them. After all, the strength of your patent depends on how well you communicate your invention to your patent practitioner.

So here are some things you need to ponder before you start getting charged by the hour…

What problem does my invention solve?

When exactly was it invented?

How can I describe my invention as specifically as possible?

What are similar or related inventions?

What makes my invention better than these similar or related inventions?

What features have I improved upon?

In this article we’re going to discuss making drawings for your new gadget that you’re trying to get a patent for.

In most cases, with a physical item, the patent office will require you to have drawings for your item unless you have a working prototype. So what do you do if you can’t draw a straight line? Well, today there are computer programs that can do your patent drawings for you. Draw your patent on custom silicone wristbands and get a unique collections.

The situation you find yourself in goes something like this. You’ve just invented the greatest thing since sliced bread. You’ve made some rough sketches and even written some of the patent application yourself. You’ve saved yourself thousands of dollars by not hiring a lawyer. The only thing left to do is prepare drawings to go with your patent application. But you are no artist. What do you do?

Well, many inventors turn this part of the job over to a professional draftsman at the price tag of $75 to $150 per sheet of patent drawings. If you have a number of these the cost can add up in a hurry.

Fortunately, with today’s technology, if you can do the patent application yourself you can also do the drawings yourself as well. You’re going to need to learn some USPTO rules and the learning curve is pretty steep, but the rewards will be more than worth the effort. Besides saving money on the application itself you’ll also be able to prepare brochures for prospective manufacturers or customers. Also, because nobody knows your invention better than you do, you’ll have the best idea of what the drawings should look like. By doing your own drawings you don’t have to explain to another person what your invention is about. The process of sending drawings back and forth for corrections is eliminated. Finally, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did the whole patent process by yourself, which is quite an accomplishment.

There are various ways you can create your drawings.

The traditional way is with pen and ruler in black and white. While this may seem old fashioned, it is the least costly and is actually how the patent office prefers them, nice and simple. You’re going to need to learn basic drawing techniques to do this.

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Infringement and Provisional Damages

There is no action for infringement of your patent until it actually issues. However, through publication of your application, it may be possible to obtain provisional damages for the time between publication of the application and the issuance of the patent. Once your patent issues, infringement can give rise to treble damages and an award of attorney fees. During the phase from publication to issuance, only reasonable royalty damages can be awarded. Furthermore, a claim must survive and be substantially identical from publication to the issued patent.

Provisional damages require notice. Notice is achieved by both publication and provision of actual notice. Thus, you still have the burden of detecting infringement and of providing notice of your application to the alleged infringer.

Why You Should Consider Early Publication

An inventor can accelerate the publication process by filing a request for early publication. This can be done at any time and should result in publication within four months of the request. There are two logical times to file such a request: 1) when you first file your application–to gain the maximum published time available, and 2) when you believe an infringement may be taking place. In this latter case, where you have actual evidence of infringement, you can then file a petition to “make special” and hope that the Patent Office will accept the petition and begin examination of your patent application within six months. That way, you will possibly get the benefit of provisional damages, with the patent issuing shortly thereafter with higher damage awards available.

Benefits of Non-Publication

Non-publication keeps ‘em guessing. When a patent is filed, the inventor-applicant is entitled, and should, claim “Patent Pending” status. “Patent Pending” means that an application is on file with the Patent Office and is in the patent process. The inventor should mark his product “Patent Pending” and claim such status in any written material related to the invention. So long as the patent application is secret, competitors do not know what the inventor has disclosed or the breadth of the invention being claimed. Once a patent application publishes, competitors can at least determine the maximum scope that is disclosed in the application. However, while they will see the claims presented in the application, competitors still do not know the breadth of the invention claims that might eventually issue in the patent.

The Hazards of Requesting Non-Publication

Until the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (effective November 29, 2000), United States patents were kept in secrecy until they issued. Subsequent to the AIPA, inventors can elect to keep their application secret, but only if they will not file in a foreign country or file an application under a multilateral international agreement, such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty. If an inventor later files such a foreign or international application, it can lead to abandonment of the U.S. application unless the non-publication request is rescinded before 45 days after filing the foreign or international application. Thus, extreme caution is recommended before considering non-publication.