What Is A Patent?
A patent is a legal right to prevent other people from copying your invention. It gives you the right as the inventor, to make, use, or sell what you describe as your invention.
How Do I Get A Patent?
In order to get a patent, certain requirements must be met. It must be novel, unanticipated, and a few things. It basically means you can’t copy some other invention and then claim it as your own. In order to get one, you should hire a patent agent, or you could do it on your own but it is often very complicated. The typical cost for getting a patent is between $10,000 and $20,000, it can range if it’s a much more complicated invention but $10,000 to $20,000 is the average range.
How Long Does It Take To Get One?
Due to the complicated nature, the process to get a patent approved and granted by the government, it often takes a year or sometimes even longer. This is why we recommend using an agent, to help the process run smoothly.
How Do I Stop Someone Who Is Infringing On My Patent?
Once you have a patent, you can then use that to stop other people from copying whatever your invention is, or from making it or selling it. You can also stop people from incorporating your invention into their invention. So if you invented a certain type of screw and then a car company decided to use this screw in their cars, you could sue them for patent infringement, provided it was valid in the country where they were doing this. In order to sue somebody for infringement, it is recommended you hire a lawyer to do it for you because it goes to federal court and is a complicated process.
Should You Get One?
For startup companies, I don’t recommend getting one right away because of the significant expense that is involved. There are other ways to protect your intellectual property such as confidentiality agreements and also just being careful about who you tell about your inventions. Once you start to get money and revenue or investors, then you might start to think about getting a patent.
We can help you sell your inventions or license inventions from others. To find out more, contact The Engineering Lawyer, Mike C. Stewart, P. Eng.
