Do patent applications and confidentiality agreements offer the same level of protection for my invention? A confidentiality agreement is an agreement to keep the information disclosed by the inventor secret. This secrecy requirement is common among all confidentiality agreements, although other terms may be incorporated into the agreement. Unfortunately, even if the investor or licensee […]
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 $900 for most inventors to get an issued patent (USPTO government fees only). Hire a registered patent attorney or patent agent to […]
Just about every patent application submitted to the patent office will face an obviousness rejection. But what exactly makes an invention “obvious” to a patent examiner? According to the law (35 U.S.C. 103), even if a claimed invention is not identical to an earlier inventio, a patent on the invention cannot be obtained if the […]
Have a new product idea like a cell phone case that works the same as other products but looks different? A design patent may be the way to go. A design patent covers the ornamental design, not the functional design or aspects, of an object. An ornamental design refers to the visual ornamental shape of […]
When writing a patent application for a software invention, the most important objective is to provide enough technical description so that someone who is “skilled in the art,” can make and use the invention after reading the patent application. With software inventions, a person skilled in the art typically refers to a computer programmer. Basically, […]
Whenever I speak with a new inventor, the first question they ask is “Is my idea patentable”? I usually tell them “I don’t know” because in order to truly answer that question I would have to do a patent search and even then I cannot be 100% certain as you never know what type […]