Inventions- how will you define them?
When you put together unique ideas and objects to create something new and useful that has never existed before, it is called an invention.
Then what is the discovery? Is it not the same as an invention Idea?
Umm… No. Discoveries are defined as ascertaining something that has been ignored or unrecognized by the community.
Inventions and discoveries prevail in products and processes. As an inventor, it is impulsive to claim the exclusive right to inventions to protect them from copying.
so, how can you protect your invention ideas? The answer is by applying for patents, by patenting your ideas.
Let’s talk about this in detail.
What Is Patent Anyway?
A patent Service is a part of intellectual property right (IPR). An intellectual property right is a law that deals with the ownership of ideas. Other than patents, trademarks and trade secrets are also a type of IPR.
A patent gives the patent holder an ownership right to prevent others from making, commercially using, or importing anything within the range of the patent.
By getting a patent over your idea, you will have exclusive control over your unique idea, and you can also restrict others from using it.
The US Patent and Trademark Office is a government agency that reviews requests for a patent, makes an analysis of who should be granted a patent, and issues actual patents to the inventors.
What Could Be Patented?
Can you file a patent on an idea? According to the US government website, in order to patent idea for free, it must meet the following demands:
- It can be something that can be practically made or used.
- It must be new and unique.
- It should be an invention- not a minor modification to an already existing thing.
What Can You Not Patent?
There are rules and regulations for patenting something. According to the US government website, the things that you cannot patent are:
- Literature, music, or artistic work
- A process of doing business or playing a game.
- A diagnosis method
- A scientific theory, a mathematical method, or a discovery
- The way information is presented
- Mobile applications or computer programmes
- Biological processes like cross-breeding.
Is Patent Right Choice For You?
Due to time consuming lengthy application process and high cost, you must be thinking, is patent the right choice?
If you have decided that you can stop others from legally producing a product identical to yours, you will have to apply for a patent. Moreover, you can only patent ideas for free that are new in the market, so you have to do thorough research to check whether there is an existing patent on the same idea or not.
In addition to this, licensing is the best way to make money from an invention. With a unique idea, you have to pitch it everywhere, and the more you pitch, the more it will be at risk of getting stolen.
It is a legit fear of having an idea stolen. So, yes, patents are the right choice in these cases.
How to Determine if Your Idea Can be Patented or Not?
It is crucial to determine whether your idea is applicable for a patent before filing. For an idea to be patentable, the idea must be:
- Novel
- Non-obvuous
- Useful
This is a patenting criterion set by the patent law, 35 U.S.C section 101. The law states:
“Whoever invents a new and useful process, machine, or composition of matter, or any new useful improvement, may obtain a patent, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.”
A Brief About How To Patent an Idea for Free?
Now, if you have concluded that you want to get a patent, let’s discuss the steps to apply for a patent.
- Complete prep work, build a prototype, draft a business plan, look into the eligibility option, decide the inventors of the patents, conduct market research, and ownership considerations.
- Conduct a patent search through a patent database.
- Prepare the patent application.
- Patent prosecution
- Appeals and petition process
