Patent anything?

The Business and Investment section has many threads on this, $15 bucks and you're in for a year.

 

I am a licensed patent attorney. If you are simply looking to get a patent for the sake of having one, then you might try reading the book "Patent It Yourself." It has good information on the patent filing and prosecution process. However, if you are interested in having something of value with your IP protection, you need to hire an attorney. Patent law has lots of nuances and the value of the patent is directly related to how well it is drafted. A skilled patent attorney can draft claims having just the right amount of breadth to maximize the value of the invention and ensure that the patent is valid and enforceable.

You might try looking into patent agents. They are not attorneys, but are authorized to prepare, file and prosecute patents before the USPTO. They are generally cheaper than an attorney.

Good luck!

 

I remember buying and reading a book years ago titled "Patent It", or something like that. It may have been the book that you described. One of the things that they put forth strongly was that violation of a patent is a civil offense, not a criminal offense. If you patent a better mouse trap and find out that some big company starts violating your patent and selling the same mousetrap,...you can't just call up the FBI and tell them to make the big company stop selling the mousetrap. It's all a civil matter and it is up to the patent holder to stop the violator. And if the violator has deep pockets and lawyers on staff that can outspend you in the legal process,....then it's basically "tough stuff" to the patent holder unless he can come up with the money to fight on.

Is the above basically true?

 

Not to harp on the issue but there are many threads in the archives in the Business/Investment forum discussing all the aspects of patents and the pros and cons. It would be $15 very well spent for that information.

 

About as cheap as any 5 year old book.

 

That is exactly the point that I got after reading 2 different patent books. If you don't have deep pockets and somebody who does have the big bucks decides to ignore your patent, you're just left out in the cold. I believe this happens a lot now that so much manufacturing is done in China. Chinese companies just start making whatever somebody is paying them to make. They don't ask a lot of questions. Who has the time or money to hop on a plane with a fleet of lawyers and wing over to China to fight a patent infringement?

 

You do not need a patent to make and sell your product.

Just make the tool and start selling. You won't have any legal protection if a comptetitor comes along and starts selling
it too.

When you put it on the market it makes the idea non patentable. So go for it.