How much does it cost to patent an idea? It depends. There are two ways you can patent an idea: Write and file your own patent application (the cheapest way) – total cost about $830 for most inventors to get an issued patent (USPTO government fees only). A provisional type application is only $150 to file […]
Patents do not give you permission to make or sell anything. In a legal sense they are a defensive tool only. My old boss used to joke and say “a patent is just a very expensive ticket to the courthouse” meaning you can use your patent to sue other people and stop them from copying […]
Watching late night TV I often see commercials for new products that use the term “Patent Pending” and wonder if people really know what this means. Patent pending simply means you have filed your patent application in the patent office and it is still “pending” or waiting for an official approval. It is not the […]
Almost every day I get a question from someone asking about protection with their provisional patent application (PPA). This is always tricky to answer because first we need to understand what is meant by the word “protection”. I usually try to break it down into two types of protection: Protection from people trying to copy […]
No doubt you or someone you know has come up with a clever way to solve a problem and has heard it said, “You should patent that idea!” For many people, inventions and ideas are the same. To the Patent Office, ideas and inventions are very different. The Patent Office requires Non-Provisional patent applications to […]
The first section of a patent application is the “background” section. Many inventors write lengthy background sections which attempt to explain how the inventor came to invent the invention, how the invention is better that a number of existing inventions, and even some background on the inventor themselves. If I had to guess, this seems […]