How to protect your commercial ideas through patenting

Having an unique idea can be a great source of wealth, if you manage to exploit it commercially; however, if the uniqueness and originality of the idea erodes, with other people copying the idea, then the idea becomes less lucrative or someone else will profit at your expense because of the failure to patent.

It is very important that any idea that you believe is highly or remotely unique and can be exploited commercially should be patented by filing for a patent with the Patent and Trademark Office.

What is a patent

A patent is, in effect, a legal affirmation that the idea, product or service being patented belongs to you, for which you will have a copyright to that provide you with protection in the case of infringement if others try to steal your idea. Patenting is often as much about protecting an idea for the future rather than necessarily developing a product in the present. Patenting is an important part of business innovation.

What makes an idea patent worthy?

An idea can be patented as much as a product or service. You can patent anything that is unique and is not already in use or patented by someone else. An idea does not need to be very unique, but has to differentiate in some way to any patent that is already in existence.

Why you should patent your idea

You should file for patent with the US patent office if you believe you can market idea and profit from it. Your idea might or might not necessarily be at a stage where it is being developed into a product or service that can be of commercial value anytime soon, but you do expect to derive commercial value in the future in some way.

What you should know before you patent your idea

• Do a patent search to see if the idea or product/service that you claim as your own is already in use, and therefore, already patented. The best place to do a patent search is to scour through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They have list of registered patents. You can also get this done through a patent attorney, but of course, there will be a fee charged for the service.

• If you find that your idea or product is already patented then you will need to either cancel the thought of applying for a patent or need to modify the idea so it has the required originality to be worthy of a patent.

You can patent an idea and then sell your idea to an organization or a business – Some people apply for a patent for their ideas to try and profit by selling it to businesses who will then market it by developing the idea for commercial use. This is one way inventors protect their ideas before selling off their inventions to businesses.

Some people might patent an idea simply to receive acknowledgement that it was their idea; they do not necessarily want to profit from it, but simply to derive recognition.

How to get a patent

There is more than one way to apply for a patent. You can register to patent an idea through a lawyer who will file the necessary patent forms and deal with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. There will be lawyers that deal with patents in every state. The procedure and the costs of dealing with patents can vary a little from one state to another.

How much does a patent cost?

The cost of a patent is structured in two parts: the fees paid to the patent office; the fees paid to a patent attorney.

The process of applying for a patent in itself will cost just under $1000 , however, this cost will increase significantly when fees for a lawyer are added. The fees paid to a lawyer will vary greatly depending on the subject and complexity of the patent. The greater the complexity of the idea/product to be patented the higher the fees charged by a patent attorney.

Once you set in motion the patent application procedure, you will need to wait while the patent is pending to be authorized or declined.

To patent or not

Patenting is not cheap. The greater the complexity of patent the higher the cost. In many cases, it will cost well in excess of $10,000, so it is up to you to decide whether these costs are justifiable to copyright your idea or product or service.

This matter is entirely up to you. If you believe the idea will be commercially successful and easily override the costs of patenting, then you should secure a patent before someone else copies or accidentally comes up with the same idea and patents before you do.

Remember, that, many big companies file for hundreds, if not thousands of patents in order to have the first right to an idea, even if the idea eventually does not prove to be commercially viable.