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Step 1. Invent!
The patent process starts right at the moment you first conceive an innovative idea. In the United States the first person to conceive of an idea is considered the first to invent the innovation, so long as steps are taken to diligently reduce the idea to practice. An invention is reduced to practice when it is described in a well-drafted patent application. Once you have your idea, you should first document that idea to the fullest extent possible; then go see a patent lawyer. There is special urgency in getting a patent application on file if your idea has been in public use, offered for sale, or described in a printed publication, as any of those events triggers a strict one-year statutory bar.
Step 2. Evaluate the Idea.
Once the idea is well formed, the next step is to make a pre-filing assessment. In making a pre-filing assessment, there are two main considerations: 1) Determine the business purpose of the patent application and define with clarity what needs to be in the patent application to meet that purpose; 2) Determine if the idea itself is patentable. In making those determinations, there are many important considerations. Our patent lawyers will work with you to determine whether proceeding with a patent application is the best course of action for protecting your idea. The more information and knowledge you provide to our patent attorneys, the better able we are to recommend a course of action.
Step 3. Patent Prosecution
If the outcome of the initial idea evaluation is favorable, the process of preparing the patent application begins. With advanced science or engineering degrees, our patent attorneys are able to quickly understand your ideas and focus on preparing a patent application that precisely captures the essence of your invention. Our philosophy in preparing patent applications is very straightforward: We apply a diligent and steadfast focus on producing high-quality patents to best protect your ideas.
Step 4. Maintenance
Patents are enforceable only for a limited time — which, with some exceptions, is currently 20 years from the date the patent application was filed. Maintenance fees are required at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years from issuance. For those who subscribe to our IdeaLock™ service, we diligently monitor your key patents and take the steps needed to maintain them. Whenever a patent comes up for maintenance, our patent attorneys will help you assess the ongoing and potential value of the patent, so that you can make an informed decision about whether to continue maintaining that patent.
Do you have an idea and need to protect it?
If so you may need a patent. The owner of a patent has the legal right to prevent others from making, using, selling, importing, or exporting things that encompass or implement the idea described in the patent.
The patent application process is very “expert friendly”; it is most efficiently navigated by practitioners familiar with the many laws, rules, and procedures involved when applying for a patent. These practitioners are typically referred to as “patent prosecutors.” A patent prosecutor is a patent attorney who drafts and files patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, makes arguments to the patent examiner explaining why an inventor is entitled to a patent, and takes the steps needed to keep the patent application in good standing.
After a patent application is prepared and filed with the Patent Office, it will be reviewed by a patent examiner, whose job is to determine if the idea described in the patent application is actually patentable. In reviewing the patent application the examiner will consider issues such as:
- Is the idea truly new, never done before?
- Is the idea an obvious change to an existing idea?
- Does the idea have a useful purpose?
- Is the idea adequately described in the patent application?
If the examiner concludes that the answer to each of these inquiries is yes, the examiner will issue a “notice of allowance.” In the large majority of cases, however, the first communication an applicant receives from the examiner is an “office action,” rejecting the application, challenging it on one or more of the grounds mentioned above. This is a normal part of the patent application process. Patent applications average about two and a half office actions before there is a final disposition: an allowance, abandonment, or appeal. The number of office actions varies significantly depending on the type of technology described in the application. Software or business-method applications tend to receive more office actions than applications about things like chemical processes or simple mechanical devices.
