The business world is extremely competitive. In order for businesspeople to protect their ideas and revenue, patents need to be filed on products produced. Businesspeople can increase the benefits of their patents by having good patent strategies.
- The business world is no longer limited to single nations--the advent of technologies that allow quick delivery of items and nearly instant communications means that products can be marketed worldwide. When you draft your patent, see the big picture and write the patent so that it is easy extendable into markets in other areas of the world. Have the patent reviewed by individuals from other nations who might buy the product right away, or in which there is a potential for sale.
- Although you want to be specific in regard to what the patent covers, you also want to leave the scope of the claims broad. The best way to do this is to include as many alternatives in the claims as possible. For example, say that the product might be made out of steel, titanium, gold, silver, etc. (if applicable), rather than just one metal such as aluminum. This prevents someone from copying the design with other materials. The more diverse you can make the patent, the greater the range of infringers you will have and the less likely you are to have claims rejected elsewhere in the world.
- Ideally, you'll want to file your patent before implementing any publicity on the idea or product. If you try to develop a "following" for the product prior to the patent filing, you run the risk of having someone file a patent prior to you. Although it certainly is unethical to steal someone's idea, the patent office only looks at whether a patent currently is held on the idea; it won't protect you against patent "early birds."
- There may be reasons to file for a provisional patent rather than a regular patent. If you have an idea similar to one protected by statute, you can file a provisional patent for $80.00 per year so that you can obtain "patent pending" status and get a full patent when the statute currently in place expires. You also might apply for patent pending status to protect you as you gain marketing monies or when you need to do more work to figure out the marketability of the product. The cost of obtaining and renewing a provisional patent is extremely nominal when compared to the amount of potential loss from having your idea fully patented by someone else.
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