When to Patent An Idea
According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, “America’s technological innovators are found in small firms, and they are more productive than their larger counterparts.” Whether you’re another Edison creating the next light bulb or an innovator who devises a new way of doing something—a business process, a software application or a new product—make sure to obtain government protection for the exclusive right to benefit financially from your idea.
What is patent protection?
A patent is a government-sanctioned monopoly on the use of your product or idea. You have the exclusive right to market it—if someone else wants to do so, you get paid royalties for allowing its use. This privilege runs for 20 years from the patent filing date. There are no renewals; once the 20-year period ends, your product or idea goes into the public domain for anyone to use. (By comparison, a copyright, which affords similar protection for words, music and images, runs for the life of the creator, plus 70 years.)
How to proceed
Say you have an idea for a product or process that you think is patentable. What should you do? Don’t try to do it yourself—the area is too technical for the layperson to handle alone. You can, of course, learn the basics and get a good idea of what the patent process is all about from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
And it’s probably not wise to use an online patent company that promises to protect and market your product for a flat fee (one large company charges $8,000). You usually get what you pay for—the company may file a design application on your behalf and take your product to a trade show to two, but you won’t necessarily gain the protection you need or learn whether your product will fly in the marketplace.
The best way to proceed is to work with a knowledgeable patent attorney who can guide you in obtaining patent protection (if it is ultimately determined that you want and need it).
Do an initial patent search to find out if someone has already beat you to it. Expect to pay a flat rate of around $500 for this service, which includes filing and attorneys’ fees. While filing fees with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are fixed by law, attorneys’ fees for all aspects of patent work vary widely across the country.
Be realistic
Getting a patent is no guarantee that you’ll succeed in the marketplace. Only about 3% to 5% of patens are ultimately commercially successful.
Consider in some cases filing a provisional patent application, suggests patent attorney Clint Wilkinson of the Law Offices of Charles A. Wilkinson, Bethlehem, PA. This tentative step will let you see if your product or process has commercial potential, and you’ll pay only a fraction of what you would pay for a formal patent application. Expect a provisional application to run about $2,000 to $3,000.
A formal patent application can cost from $3,000 to $10,000, while a patent for computer software and processes can cost up to $100,000.
A U.S. patent does not give you any worldwide protection. To obtain full protection, you would need to patent your product or idea in each and every country—obviously an overwhelmingly costly prospect (not only are there foreign application fees and legal costs, but also translation costs).
