3 Ways to Protect Your Invention - Which Works Best For You?
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Of course your innovative new idea can positively change your life. But before you proceed with the required development and marketing, it needs to be protected! Unfortunately there are unscrupulous folks out there that won’t hesitate to steal your dreams. Until your invention or idea is protected, your options are very limited.
But just HOW do you implement and maintain that all-important protection? Broadly speaking, there are three ways: Secrecy, a full Patent, or a provisional Patent. You need to determine the best fit for you, your finances and your particular idea or invention. Here is a peek at each:
Secrecy - world famous Coca Cola was family-run and kept their products ’secret formula’ a secret for generations. Secrecy works best for processes or for products not easily reverse engineered. Long-term, however, it’s almost impossible to keep a secret. If you go this route, you will need deep pockets if you intend to avoid outsider involvement. You will have to finance the production and distribution of your product on your own.
Full Patent - secrecy likely won’t work if your innovation is mechanical, technical or electronic in nature. Your successful product will need a full patent ultimately. Companies working with novice inventors charge thousands for full (non-provisional) patent help. At some point a patent attorney will need to be involved — and they are even more expensive! If you can afford this, this is the way to go.
Provisional Patent - If your funds are limited, this may be your next best option. This is affordable and makes it quite easy to ‘get your foot in the door’. You’ll be able to show ‘Patent Pending’ status for your innovation, and be protected for an entire year. This gives you valuable time.
With a full or provisional patent in hand, you can safely negotiate with others to further develop, manufacture, sell, and distribute your product. You are in a position to have them pay you royalties, commissions, and other fees. This will leave you creatively free to come up with other new ideas.
Again, a full patent is very expensive and must involve an attorney at some point. As for filing a provisional application for patent, you can do it completely on your own, or you can use one of the many readily available kits, to help you file. To get started, go to the website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and look at the hundreds of available forms and the pages of instructions that go with each form. If you have the time to read and do the research — 12 - 15 hours perhaps — you will learn a lot, and eventually zero in on the half-dozen or so forms that you actually need.
Remember in all of this that time is of the essence! You don’t want someone else to beat you to the punch, so be thorough but be as quick as possible in completing your research. If you place a high value on your own time, or if you find researching government websites to be tedious, or just not your cup of tea, then an inexpensive ‘kit’ might be a better match for your needs.
All needed forms should be listed or actually contained in a quality kit. While some will only contain the government instruction pages for each form, others provide simplified, plain-English, step-by-step directions. Look for one that explains which sections on each form are required — and which lines. Your goal should be to obtain acceptance of your PPA, on the first pass. Kits start at $50 - $100.
Your valuable time will be freed up for more productive or creative use, once you have full patent or provisional patent protection. You will be searching for eager and able third parties that will help you push your dream toward reality. Once protected your move toward financial security will be accelerated. So don’t ignore the necessity of doing what it takes to get protected, them move confidently and safely forward!
