What You Don’t Know About Patent Law Will Hurt You
Since 1790, American inventors have been taking out patents to safeguard their inventions and let the world know that their ideas are theirs alone. That’s how long the U.S. Patent Act has existed. Since then, the patent office has grown and grown. And if you don’t know patent law, all the things you don’t know could ultimately hurt you and your invention.
Are You a Patent Law Expert Now?
Not everything can actually be patented. However, most inventors can rest easy. The qualifications for receiving a patent are very broad, and for the most part, they encompass most original inventions. That big idea you have can probably be patented, but you need to know quite a bit about patent law in order to fill out the application and go through the entire process. Taking out a patent isn’t an easy process. You can get swamped with paperwork and red tape pretty quickly. This is why it’s so helpful to hire an expert patent lawyer who knows how to cut through all that red tape and help you get your patent.
The sooner all the paperwork is in order and you have a patent for your invention or idea, the sooner you can start monetizing that idea. The initial expense of hiring a patent attorney is offset by how quickly and easily they can help you obtain a patent. This means you can get your idea out on the open market even sooner and hopefully, start raking in all those big profits.
Unless you’re already somehow a patent law expert, there’s going to be a ton of stuff you don’t know about applying for and obtaining a patent. It’s very easy to get bogged down by the bureaucracy. A patent attorney, however, will already have contacts and shortcuts and they’ll know all the ins and outs of the patent law that can help you get the approval you need to get your invention out there.
All the Secrets Patent Attorneys Know
Do you know what a provisional patent application is? With this piece of paperwork, your invention will be protected for 12 months. You’ll also have the option of using the “patent pending” tag for your product or idea, which lets people know that you’re professional and official. Many inventors believe that taking out a provisional patent is all they need, and this will roll over into a permanent patent after 12 months. This isn’t true. You still need to obtain a traditional patent even after you have been approved for a provisional patent (or PPA). This is the kind of tricky secrets about patent law that a good patent lawyer will know. Their job is to know all this stuff and take care of it all so that you can simply focus on being an inventor, and how best to showcase your product or idea.
The USPTO receives more than 500,000 patent applications every single year. Yours could be pretty easy to overlook. It may end up in a pile somewhere, collecting dust as it waits. But if you have a patent attorney whose job it is to check on your patent and get it pushed through, then you know you have someone fighting for your best interests. Best of all, it’s someone who is an expert in patent law. That way, you don’t have to be.
The first patent law was used over 228 years ago. Since then, a whole bunch of other laws, rules, regulations, and paperwork has been added to the process. In a survey, patents are used quite a bit across 12 different industries. Among those 12 industries where patents are successfully used, 50 percent or more inventions meet the criteria and become successfully patented. Get the right patent attorney and you can make sure that one of those patents that pass the process is yours.
Today, you’ll focus on using the patent law to your benefit and get your invention market-ready. Tomorrow…who knows what the future might bring your way?