{Don Debelak’s new book, Turning Your Invention into Cash is now available on Amazon for $3.49. Go to Amazon.com and enter inventions Don Debelak to purchase. From the author of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Bringing Your Product to Market.}

Patent Facts for New Inventors

Everybody always talk about the importance, and as a patent agent I agree that patents can be crucial for inventors in order to cash in on their inventions.  But patents have their drawbacks and inventors should know what they are.

Here are some of the facts you should know before moving forward

1. You don’t need a patent to sell your product.  You just need to avoid infringing on others patents.
2. What does a patent protect?  A patent a U.S. patent allows its owner to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing, or exporting an invention included in the patent’s claims for a definite amount of time in the United States.  The key here is the concept of an invention included in the patent’s claim.  Sometimes the invention claim is very specific and it doesn’t prevent products that to consumers and end users may be very similar to your product.
3. A response to you patent application from the patent office typically takes at least a year and sometimes longer
4. Patent examiners do reject virtually all patent applications on the first pass and you can expect a substantial fee, anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 plus.  It is very rare not get an additional rejection.
5. Some patent applications do not become patents. Sometimes the applicant can’t overcome the examiner’s objections, and sometime the inventor feels the examiner is forcing the claims to be so limiting that the patent is not worth pursuing.  The majority of applications do become patents, but a significant percentage of application do not.
6. There are additional patent fees once the patent is issued, and then there are maintenance fees every 3.5 years, and those patent fees escalate.
7. The inventor is responsible for enforcing his or her patent and those patent litigation costs can be very large.
8. You don’t need a patent to sell your product.  You just need to avoid infringing on others patents.

Despite these negative facts, the pros of a patent are powerful and usually dictate an inventor should strongly consider a patent

1. Patent pending status delays competitors from entering the market till they know what your patent is.  Eventually a competitor might know how to produce a product without violating your patent, but you could get a two to three start in the market.  This patent pending period is even longer if you start by getting a provisional patent. (highly recommended)
2. You don’t any intellectual property if you don’t have a patent.  That means you can’t license your product to someone else and your product won’t have nearly as much value if you sell the product to someone else.
3. You will have more credibility to investors and other industry contacts with a patent.  While not everyone expects you to have a patent, many people do.
4. You will have the ability to write to companies and tell them that they are infringing on your patent and ask them to stop.  This will deter some companies from competing with y
5. ou.  You also have the ability to take more expensive legal action if your product becomes successful.

If you are low on cash, considering getting a provisional patent first.  America’s patent system is now a first to file system.  A provisional patent can get you an early priority date in the event someone else files a similar patent.  Then you have time to go out into the market place and see if your idea can sell.

Look at the home page of www.onestopinventionshop.net and notice the search box.  Put market research into the search box and you will get several articles about how to do market research.

While you are there also check out our patent page http://patentsbydondebelak.com/ for information on low cost patents