Do you want credit for that great new idea of yours? Inventors need protection for their ideas and that protection comes in the form of a patent. If you’re ready to make things official, you’ll need to know how to patent an idea.
Though it may seem like an intimidating process initially, learning how to file a patent isn’t rocket science. To learn more about how to get a patent, check out these five important steps.
1. Decide Which Kind of Patent You Need
Patent and trademark ownership is serious legal stuff, so understand what you’re filing. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, also known as USPTO, offers three kinds of patents.
These three patents are:
Utility, which will protect a useful technology or real-world invention
Provisional, which is a temporary, one-year patent (patent-pending) that allows for changes to made to the invention
Design, which protects ornamental, not functional, designs
You must go with a patent that is appropriate for your invention or situation.
2. Document All of Your Steps
From the very first idea to the end result, keep a close record of your invention. This is absolutely essential in proving that the idea was yours from start to finish.
Be detailed in your documentation. Keeping a notebook that is somewhat formal is the best way to track your thought process and steps. However, any forms will suffice, from photo documentation to a sketchbook.
Documentation details the process of “reduction to practice.” This process is the development of the invention past just an idea.
Though it may seem like an intimidating process initially, learning how to file a patent isn’t rocket science. To learn more about how to get a patent, check out these five important steps.
1. Decide Which Kind of Patent You Need
Patent and trademark ownership is serious legal stuff, so understand what you’re filing. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, also known as USPTO, offers three kinds of patents.
These three patents are:
Utility, which will protect a useful technology or real-world invention
Provisional, which is a temporary, one-year patent (patent-pending) that allows for changes to made to the invention
Design, which protects ornamental, not functional, designs
You must go with a patent that is appropriate for your invention or situation.
2. Document All of Your Steps
From the very first idea to the end result, keep a close record of your invention. This is absolutely essential in proving that the idea was yours from start to finish.
Be detailed in your documentation. Keeping a notebook that is somewhat formal is the best way to track your thought process and steps. However, any forms will suffice, from photo documentation to a sketchbook.
Documentation details the process of “reduction to practice.” This process is the development of the invention past just an idea.
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