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Start
A Home Business
Have
You Invented Something? Get a Patent
by Jeff Cohen
There is one kind of home business that is
very different than any other: that of the inventor. If you’ve
invented something, the chances are that you don’t have the
resources to mass-produce it yourself. You’ll probably need
to send the plans and designs off to someone else to make in
their factory. When you do this, though, how can you protect
your idea against theft by them, or anyone else who might see
it? The answer is a patent registration.
What is a Patent?
A patent is when your government gives you the
exclusive right to profit from an invention for a set number
of years. If anyone
else tries to sell a product that is covered by your patent,
you will have the legal right to make them either pay you a
licence fee or cease and desist.
Each patent has a patent number. You might have seen ‘Pat
No’ printed on some things, followed by this number. You may
also have seen ‘patent pending’, which means that the patent
has been applied for but not yet granted.
Your Invention Must Qualify
Not all inventions can be covered by patents. Check that your
invention meets these two important requirements:
Is it new
and secret? You can’t have shown your invention
to the public before you apply for a patent. Whatever you do,
don’t take your invention around and demonstrate it to people
before you think about patents – you might make it impossible
to get one.
Is it non-obvious? Your invention must not be something that
would be obvious to experience in your chosen industry. This
is to stop people rushing to patent things that anyone could
figure out, and then charging high fees for their use.
In addition, you cannot apply for a patent for any of the
following: a scientific or mathematical theory or method, a
work of art (books, plays, etc. – computer programs are included),
a way of doing things (eg. a new business method). Many of
these things are, instead, covered by copyright. Patents are
intended for actual, physical inventions.
Where Do I Get One?
Wherever you live, the chances are that it has a government
agency called a ‘patent office’, or similar. There are also
patent agencies for larger areas, such as the European Patent
Office or, ultimately, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organization).
To start with, you should apply for a patent at the patent
office for your country – it’s best to get a lawyer to guide
you through this, and make them sign an NDA (non-disclosure
agreement, a contract saying they won’t tell anyone else about
your invention). Depending on your country, this can either
be absurdly cheap or really expensive.
Once you’ve done that, you generally have only one year to
file for any patents you might want in the rest of the world.
You used to have to apply individually in every country where
you wanted a patent (this got very painful and expensive very
quickly). Now, though, you can take advantage of the PCT (Patent
Co-operation Treaty), which allows you to apply once and eventually
receive protection in all of the 126 countries that have signed
up to the treaty.
You can apply for a PCT patent either through your own country’s
patent office, or through the WIPO’s office in Geneva. It is
again important to stress that you should really get a lawyer
if you plan to go through this process, as international patent
law isn’t especially intuitive or easy.
You should note that if your patent application is refused
at any stage, you won’t be getting your fees back – although
you can usually apply again, if you want to pay again.
What if I Don’t Get a Patent?
If you’ve looked at the prices, you might be wondering: what’s
the worst thing that could possibly happen to me if I didn’t
get a patent? The only answer I can give is that anyone you
happen to explain the idea to can steal it, and you won’t be
able to do a thing. What’s more, once your invention does come
to market, success will attract many imitators, and they’ll
probably be able to produce your invention cheaper by sacrificing
quality.
Essentially, a patent gives you protection against competition
– but if you think you could do perfectly well in the market
no matter how many imitators you had, then maybe patents aren’t
for you.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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