Are you brimming with innovative ideas and eager to transform them into real, marketable products? One of the most crucial steps in this process is securing a patent for your invention. But if you’re new to the world of inventing, the patenting process might seem daunting. Don’t worry – this beginner’s guide is here to walk you through the basics of everything you need to know about patenting your invention.
Why are Patents Important?
Patents provide legal protection for your inventions. They give you exclusive rights to produce, sell, and use your invention for a period of time (usually for approximately 20 years from when your patent application was filed). With a patent in place, others are prohibited from manufacturing, selling, or importing your invention without your permission.
So if your invention product becomes extremely successful, patenting can become extremely important. In layman’s terms, it can ‘block’ potential competitors from being able to copy your invention in any territory you hold a patent in.
What Can Be Patented?
Aside from some technical requirements, to be patentable, there are two main things your invention must be:
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- Novel: Your invention must be ‘new’, and in most territories in the world, even YOU must not have disclosed it publicly before having filed a patent application for it. One important exception to this is the American patenting system, where you get a ’12 months grace period’. What this means is that, even if you publicly disclose your invention without any confidentiality in place, you still have a ‘grace period’ of 12 months within which to file a patent application for it. But American inventors be warned! In pretty much every territory other than America, there is no grace period. So going public with your invention and disclosing it without confidentiality in place without having first filed a patent application for it will destroy your chance of getting patent protection outside America. At SHIINE® ENTERPRISE we’re experts in UK and US patent protection, to give you the biggest chances of success outside America!
One thing to note – you can avoid a disclosure being considered a ‘public disclosure’ by getting the people to whom you disclose your invention to sign a confidentiality agreement. For your peace of mind, we give you a very powerful downloadable confidentiality agreement, even when you come aboard for the Free Trial aboard SHIINE® ENTERPRISE.
- Novel: Your invention must be ‘new’, and in most territories in the world, even YOU must not have disclosed it publicly before having filed a patent application for it. One important exception to this is the American patenting system, where you get a ’12 months grace period’. What this means is that, even if you publicly disclose your invention without any confidentiality in place, you still have a ‘grace period’ of 12 months within which to file a patent application for it. But American inventors be warned! In pretty much every territory other than America, there is no grace period. So going public with your invention and disclosing it without confidentiality in place without having first filed a patent application for it will destroy your chance of getting patent protection outside America. At SHIINE® ENTERPRISE we’re experts in UK and US patent protection, to give you the biggest chances of success outside America!
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- Inventive: Your invention must also include at least one ‘inventive step’. In other words, it must solve a problem, and cannot be ‘novel’ merely by making a very minor ‘obvious modification’ of what is already out there.
The 3 Main Steps You’ll Have To Go Through
The only true step you have to go through in order to get a patent granted is to file a full patent application for search and examination at the patent office. This is often called a ‘non-provisional’ patent application in the American patenting system.
However, there are two other steps that could be important. So, at SHIINE® we require them by default, before you get your full patent application filed. These steps are…
1. Getting A Patent Search
A patent search is a pivotal first step in the patenting process. This is because it helps give you feedback as to whether your invention is a new (‘novel’) thing that’s never been done before. It helps you understand the lay of the land, in terms of what you can patent, and what you cannot.
One important term in patent searching is the term ‘prior art’. Prior art just means any previous patent applications, publications, or public disclosures that are found in your patent search and are deemed relevant to the attempted patenting of your invention.
Relevant Patent databases such as Espacenet allow skilled patent searchers to search through millions of existing published patents and patent applications, from a huge array of patent offices.
Even if the patent search shows that your invention concept is not new in the broadest sense, in many cases it can reveal that your invention has important new inventive features that the prior art does not. This can lead to a narrowing/refining of the patenting strategy, which is also a key reason why a patent search is so important for your invention, and so important to do early. Even in these cases, it may still be possible to get extremely important patent protection.
So a patent search is something you want to do before expending the time, money and effort on filing a full (non-provisional) patent application that is searched and examined at the patent office. The patent office will ultimately do their own patent search when you file that full patent application with them. But by getting a high-quality patent search now, it can provide clarity as to what your best patenting strategy should be, and can lead to more precision in executing the patenting strategy, when it comes to your full patent application.
2. Filing a Provisional Patent Application
A provisional patent application is a patent application, filed at the patent office, that gets you 12 months patent pending status. It can never, in-and-of-itself, become a patent, because it is never examined by the patent office. But it can act as a ‘place-setter’, giving you patent pending status and getting you an early patent office filing date for your invention.
A lot of inventors like to file provisional patent applications because they’re relatively cheap to file, and it’s a relief to know you’ve given yourself the best chance of beating anyone else to the punch to patent your invention.
The way it works is that if you file your full (non-provisional) patent application at the patent office within 12 months of when you filed your provisional patent application. You can do what’s called ‘claiming priority’ back to your provisional patent application filing date. If all goes well, it means you will beat any ‘intervening’ prior art that is dated between your provisional patent application filing date and your non-provisional patent application filing date.
Watch this video to get fully up to speed on how this works in just minutes:
* Note: The terms ‘provisional’ patent application and ‘non-provisional’ patent application are American patenting terms. They are terms that are generally not used in the UK/European patenting system. However, the UK/European patenting system can function in much the same way.
3. Filing a Full Patent Application For Search And Examination At The Patent Office
This is where it will be decided whether you’ll get a patent granted or not.
The American term for a patent application that is searched and examined at the patent office is a ‘non-provisional’ patent application, and that is the term we will use here.
Your non-provisional patent application tends to be a significantly detailed patent application. Nearly always drafted by a patent agent or patent attorney, significant expertise, skill and some ability, is needed, to draft a high-quality non-provisional patent application.
Your non-provisional patent application communicates and discloses what your invention is, and ultimately ‘claims’ the special combination of features that you are trying to get a patent for.
Your non-provisional patent application will include the following 4 documents/parts:
1. Drawings
These are supposed to be only black-line drawings. Whilst drawings are not technically listed as a requirement, they will tend to be absolutely essential in order to fully communicate your invention.
2. Textual Description
This is a text document that, amongst other things, will include a detailed description of your invention as shown in your Drawings document.
3. Claims
The most important part of the patent application. A ‘claim’ is a singular sentence that defines what your invention is. Your non-provisional patent application has to have at least one ‘claim’, because it is the claims that define the scope of the search the patent office does. On top of this, it is the claims, once deemed allowable for patent and put through to grant by the patent office, that will define the scope of the PROTECTION your granted patent gives you. So the claims are, without doubt, the most important part of the patent application. Get the claims right and perfect patent protection could be yours!
4. Abstract
The word ‘Abstract’ sounds scary, but it just means ‘brief summary’. This is usually only about 5-10 lines long and just gives a brief summary of your invention/application. Amongst other things, it’s useful for future patent searchers so they can very quickly get an idea of what your invention/patent application is all about.
You’ll also need to pay relevant patent office filing fees for your patent application, including application fee, search fee, and examination fee. These tend to not be particularly expensive, and the bulk of the cost you’ll pay for your non-provisional patent application will go to the patent practitioner you pay for drafting, filing, and prosecuting your patent application to grant.
Despite what you may have heard, when it comes time for your patent application to be searched and examined, it will be apportioned to just one patent office examiner, who will be in charge of the whole examination process.
Your Patent Being Granted
If the examiner has any objections to what you’re trying to patent, they send out the prior art or any arguments they have in a document that is called an ‘office action’. This often requires responding back and forth with the examiner, and sometimes amendments are needed to the claims, to beat any ‘prior art’ found by the examiner that is deemed to block what you’re trying to patent.
If the patent office examiner ultimately deems your claim(s) to be novel and inventive, you may get a patent!
Patent Maintenance
Once your patent application has been deemed allowable for patent by the patent office examiner, the next step is for it to go to grant. Once this has happened, you will have to pay patent renewal fees, to keep your patent alive. At the USPTO, you have to pay patent maintenance fees at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years after your patent is granted. In the UK system, the fees are much lower, but you must pay a patent renewal fee every year after the 4th year from when your patent application was filed.
Our clients get a video that shows you how to file your patent maintenance fees, giving you the option of easily paying it yourself. Thereby you are saving the fees a patent attorney normally charges for this.
Conclusion
Securing a patent is a significant step in the path from an invention idea to a successful product. It can be a complex process, but with the right knowledge and support, you can navigate it successfully. Remember, patenting is more than just legal protection. It’s a testament to your innovation, a badge of honour that distinguishes you as an inventor. So go ahead, embark on your inventor’s journey, and let your ideas shine!