The US Patent Law changed in 2013 to a “First To File” – how will this affect inventors and small business? Watch this video to find out.

The “First To File” Patent Law and what inventors and small businesses need to know

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Today I’m going to talk about the “New” Patent Law. Now when I say “New” patent law, this patent law actually took effect back in 2013. But by patent law standard which have hardly changed over the past 200 years, this still qualifies as a “new” patent law.

Read more about changes to the patent law on the US PTO website.

Why should you care about the “First To File” patent law?

You don’t want to read about patent laws, right? You have an invention and just want to file a patent application. Well, there are a couple of reasons you need to know about this patent law, and how it affects you, and how it could even prevent you from getting a patent.

The most important provision under this patent law is what’s called the “First To File” provisions. It used to always be that the United States was a “First To Invent” patent system. That meant that if you invented something today, and somebody else invented the same thing a month from now, even if that person filed their patent application before you, you could go to the Patent Office and tell them you invented first and that you should be entitled to the patent, that opportunity existed.

But that’s all changed now.

“First To Invent” no longer applies to new patent applications.

So if you think you’re just going to do the “Poor Man’s Patent Application” – where you think of an invention, write it down and mail it to yourself – that won’t work any more.  Everyone is under the new patent law now.

If you think of an idea first, but someone else files before you – even by one day – you’re out of luck. Whoever files first is the one that gets the patent. Now that may seem unfair – can’t big companies file patent applications every day? Yes, they can. Can you do that? Probably not unless you have a huge budget.

What can you do? Talk to a patent attorney as soon as possible. There are options available for you – including filing a provisional patent application as quickly as possible to lock in  your filing date. File as soon as you have an invention that’s worth patenting.

Does the provisional patent application count under the “First To File” patent law? Yes, and you may want to consider this. You can even file more than one provisional patent application.

I hope that this answered the question “What changes in the patent law mean for inventors and small business?”

Inventors want to know how to protect an invention. Watch this video to find out.

How Can Inventors Protect an Invention?

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Today I’m here to answer the question “How does an inventor protect their invention?”

Usually, someone will give me a call and tell me that they have an idea for an invention, and ask if I can help them protect an invention, and what is the first step?

I typically suggest a patent search. A prior art. An invention search. Whatever you want to call it. What that does is it gives us an idea of what’s been doing before. Because, if something is already out there that’s the same or so close to your invention that it’s considered an obvious variation – you’re not going to be able to get a patent for it.

So let’s start with a professional search, have a professional searcher look for your invention, and have a patent attorney review the results with you, and give you an idea whether your invention rises to the level of something we should pursue at the Patent Office to protect an invention.

A patent search can save a lot of money in the long run

Doing a patent search might seem expensive at first, but in the long run, could end up saving you a lot of money if we find that your invention is already out there – and technically it’s not an invention anymore (it’s something you can already go buy).

Now it’s not required to do an invention search, but I generally suggest it and that’s the reason why. You don’t have to – I just put it out there for you to consider.

Once you do a prior art search (or decide you don’t want to do an invention search), then I usually talk about either filing a design patent application (for a design – what something looks like – not how it functions), or a utility patent application to protect an invention.

Design patents protect ornamental appearance; Utility patents protect function or “utility”

Now if it’s how it functions, I’m going to talk about either a provisional patent application or a regular utility application. Both of those are out there as options, and both are valid options. The decision is up to you, based on how much money you have, where you are in the product development cycle, how quickly you need to get something filed with the Patent Office. Those are all going to be considerations, and then you’re going to decide whether to do a provisional application or a regular utility application.

I also get asked whether you can file both a design and a utility application. The answer is yes – if your invention qualifies. So if your invention has both a unique ornamental appearance and a unique function, then you may be able to file both a design application and a utility application. I have clients that file both. Some clients file just the design applications. Others file just the utility application.

Next, I ask whether you want to file outside of the US (foreign filing). And we can usually do that with what’s called a PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent application. It covers most countries. Not all, but most of the major countries you may want to file in.

So to recap – the question was “how does an inventor protect his or her invention?”

The first step is to consider a prior art search. It’s not required, but often a good starting point.

Let’s consider whether the invention has design or utility (or both) that needs to be protected.

Then consider whether you want to file only in the US, or outside of the US as well.

I hope that answers the question “how to protect an invention?”

Inventors always ask whether it is necessary to pay for a patent search. Watch this video to find out.

Do Inventors Need A Patent Search for an Invention?

Read the transcript below.

Today I’m here to answer your question “What is a patent search (or “prior art search”) – and does every inventor need an invention search?”

Let me start off by saying that a patent search is not required. It is recommended to get a patent search – but it is not required. That is, even if you do your own invention search before filing a patent application, you will have to cite those references to the Patent Office. But the Examiner at the Patent Office will still do his or her own patent search during examination.

Now do you need a prior art search? Maybe, and that will be up to you.

Usually it is a good idea to do a patent search

Usually, I will say that you should consider a patent search, unless there is a reason to expedite the filing, such as for a bar date when you need to file right away.

A patent search can give you an idea of what’s come before. Any product that’s out there, whether it’s been commercialized or just filed as a patent application (even if it’s never been marketed or made) – even if the patent application was not issued – that’s considered prior art.

If it’s published in a journal – in a scholarly journal, in a book, online (even if its out there on a YouTube video) – it’s prior art, and you want to look at that. See if there is still room for your invention in the patent world. Should you file a patent application or would it be a waste of money?

Can you do your own invention search?

Now a lot of the time people will come to me and say “I searched on Amazon” or “I searched on the Internet and I don’t see anything out there like it.” Or a business will say “we know this product space inside and out, and there’s nothing out there like this.”

I always put it out there as an option. Maybe you don’t want to do a prior art search. Maybe you don’t think you need an invention search. And that’s fine. You don’t have to do a patent search for an invention.

But you might just want to consider doing a patent search for your invention. Sometimes I’ll do an invention search and it will come back with something that’s right on – or very close. Then they make the decision not to file a patent application. That saves a lot of money.

If they decide not to take the product to market – who knows, maybe they avoided a commercial mishap.

I hope that I answered your question “what’s a patent search and does every inventor need to do a search for their patent.”

Do you need a patent or trademark? Small business owners are often confused by intellectual property terms. Often they will ask, ‘can I file a trademark to protect my invention?’ Watch this video to learn the proper terms and what they mean.

Patent or trademark protection?

Read the transcript:

Today, we’re going to answer your question: Do you need patent or trademark protection? First, you may be wondering what is the difference between a patent and a trademark?

Now it’s really important that you keep these two concepts separate, because tehy are different areas of the law. If you call up an attorney for help, you don’t want to say “I need a patent for my business name” or “I need a trademark for my invention.”

Do you need a patent or trademark attorney?

First, you may be calling the wrong attorney. If it’s just a trademark attorney, they may not be able to help you with a patent. If it’s a patent attorney, they may not be taking on any trademark cases, or may charge you more than a trademark attorney.

Some attorneys will handle both patent or trademark matters.

But let’s start by explaining “What is a trademark.” Now a trademark is going to protect your product name, or a name of a service. For example, I have a trademark for “IPATENTATTORNEY” for intellectual property law services.

So a trademark protects your brand. Like STARBUCKS. That’s the name of their coffee product. That’s the name – it’s a registered trademark.

ALLSTATE is a trademark of the insurance company – it’s a registered trademark for insurance and insurance services.

So what is a patent? A lot of the time people will come to me and ask if they can get a patent for their idea. The answer is no. It has to be an invention.

What’s the difference you might ask – patent or trademark? I might have an idea to make my car fly over the traffic during rush hour. It’s just an idea, because I have no idea how to make it work.

An invention is an idea that I know how to make work. You don’t have to have actually made it, but you need to know how to make it, or explain it to someone so that they can build it or implement it.

You don’t need to built or make your invention before filing a patent application, but you do have understand (and be able to convey to someone) how to build and implement your invention.

I hope that answers your question “What’s the difference between a trademark and a patent?” A patent protects an invention (not an idea). A trademark protects the name of a product or service (your brand).