Results 1 to 3 of 3
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1

    Default How to Determine If an Invention Qualifies For a Patent

    I do not know exactly where to start.I live in South Mississippi and there are NO Patent Attorneys anywhere close.I am starting a business that will make specific marking tags for a specific industry.I presently work in this industry for 17 years now.There are different kinds of tags in this industry (but none have ever been that good or lasted more than a couple of years).My idea is a completely different material(will be permanent and not fade),design and concept.Ultimately they are all still marking tags.Can I still patent it.I have not been able to find anything else like it and it will solve a problem that we in this industry have been constantly trying to find new ideas to correct.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Key West, FL
    Posts
    2,350

    Default Re: Dont Know Where to Start .need to Talk to a Patent Att

    If you go to uspto.gov you can do patent searches online. You can also search for patent attorneys. Your patent application would seem to be much simpler than most. You might be able to do it yourself. There are also services in Washington DC that will do a patent search for you. Personally, I just fly to DC and drive to Crystal City and do the searches myself in person. Actually cheaper in the long run. Of course, you gotta know how to do patent searches.

    You might find the book PATENT IT YOURSELF in the library or you can order the current edition at Nolo Press.

  3. #3

    Arrow Re: Dont Know Where to Start .need to Talk to a Patent Att

    Usually the patent attorney does not have to come visit and see you in person if you can provide good photographs, email and telephone explanations. It is nice, for touchy-feely client relationship reasons, to see the inventor and her products in person, but this is generally not necessary or even particularly helpful.

    Call one up who is further away. I take about one cold call a week and will spend up to about half hour to an hour on the phone for free. Not all patent attorneys will do this but many will. Generally on the cold call I explain costs and deadlines because patent work is expensive and the costs come well before any rewards. Patent prosecution is too expensive for many people and small companies. Others can do it, but need to delay as long as the law will let them. I am sure some go out and find someone who is cheaper than me.

    You may also want to consider the technical background of any patent attorneys you shop. If your innovations are chemical (eg, new inks) then you want someone with a chemistry background. If it is more mechanical (eg, printing process) or electronic (eg, industrial machinery) then you want someone with an electro-mechanical background. I wouldn't get to hung up on finding the patent atty with the most similar background to exactly what you are doing. The most important quality a patent atty can have is to simply be intelligent, and the best way to decide who is the smartest is to talk to the ones that will talk to you.

    The ones that charge the most aren't always the smartest, but the cheapest ones are probably not the smartest. Generally, you get what you pay for, but you have to be a smart shopper and use your best judgment. Even more than contract work and litigation work, patent "prosecution" is a battle of wits -- your patent atty against people who will try to wiggle around your patent 5 or 10 years from now. You need someone who can figure out what people 5 or 10 years from now will try to pull, and pre-empt them from pulling that. It is easy to ignore that aspect of the work, but you really can't do much to fix a patent later when the big money is at stake. You need someone who can thinks in terms of the far future and has a real passion for sticking it to your competitors in the far future. This will probably not be the patent atty who is cheapest, or who coddles you and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Patents: When is an Invention Patentable
    By propainter in forum Intellectual Property
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-22-2011, 02:00 PM
  2. Restrictive Covenants: Confidentiality and Invention Agreement
    By redsnake in forum Employment and Labor
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-26-2010, 04:09 PM
  3. Patents: Provisional Patent Application and Inventor Logbook - Invention Protection
    By olimits7 in forum Intellectual Property
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 08-24-2010, 10:11 AM
  4. Patents: Patent Owner Gave Me Permission to License Patent - Now What
    By kabaty@mail.com in forum Intellectual Property
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 03-18-2010, 01:17 PM
  5. Patents: Applying For A Patent On Someone Else's Invention
    By ramanbagga in forum Intellectual Property
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-07-2007, 06:24 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources