How do you get a patent on stuff?

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:26 pm

Just wondering, say you invented something cool and wanted a patent, how do you do it?

ZN13 · Post by **ZN13** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:28 pm

Go to the patent office...

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:29 pm

Well what do you need, do you need to actually build the thing first or just have a drawling of it.

ZN13 · Post by **ZN13** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:39 pm

I think just a "drawling" of it will suffice, but don't quote me on that.

(Well you can, but I might be wrong.)

Post by **Skyone** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:40 pm

A patent is a reservation of an idea, a drawling will help describe said idea.

ZN13 · Post by **ZN13** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:42 pm

That's what I thought, but just wasn't sure.

BTW, I just noticed the santa hat on Will Smith in your sig, nice.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:54 am

It is only worth taking out a patent if you have the financial backing to sue anyone who breaches it, otherwise there is no point.

Check no-one else has a patent on the idea (otherwise you are in breach). You could make the drawings with details (very, very detailed or the patent would be as useful as a colander is at holding water) and the item, and send one copy to the patents office and one copy (identical) to post to yourself in very sealed tamper proof wrapping by registered recorded post (don't open packet when it arrives), as proof of date.

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:57 am

bacteria wrote:It is only worth taking out a patent if you have the financial backing to sue anyone who breaches it, otherwise there is no point.

Check no-one else has a patent on the idea (otherwise you are in breach). You could make the drawings with details (very, very detailed or the patent would be as useful as a colander is at holding water) and the item, and send one copy to the patents office and one copy (identical) to post to yourself in very sealed tamper proof wrapping by registered recorded post (don't open packet when it arrives), as proof of date.

LOL, why would you mail one to yourself !?!?!?

Post by **Triton** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:04 am

its simple, because of the postmark, everything that goes through the post office gets postmarked and dated for the specific time it goes through so when you mail the packaged with your patent info inside to yourself you have an official record of the exact time you filed it, marked and dated by a branch of the federal government, doing this is a sort of "poor mans patent" so to speak because it will hold up in court in most cases

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:07 am

Triton wrote:its simple, because of the postmark, everything that goes through the post office gets postmarked and dated for the specific time it goes through so when you mail the packaged with your patent info inside to yourself you have an official record of the exact time you filed it, marked and dated by a branch of the federal government, doing this is a sort of "poor mans patent" so to speak because it will hold up in court in most cases

Neat, good info then!

So when I get rich I might come share with you all. XD

I dunno, I just have a neat idea for a thing.

Shadeslayer · Post by **Shadeslayer** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:16 am

The thing you have to remember on patents... they aren't the cheapest things in the world, depending on what category its in. My bro-in-law patented a movie script. When he patented it, he sent himself two copies of it threw the mail. So he has a spare in case something happens to it.

nightwheel · Post by **nightwheel** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:27 am

Make sure you idea is not taken first. So check around. Google is your friend when it come to this stuff, trust me. (I had a idea so i check around to see if it has been done or not. I used google and it was very helpful on my search.) Because if you a idea is too similar to a exsiting patent. The owner of the exsiting patent might take you to court over it. You can however improve on other peoples patent. But be careful when you do improvement on other peoples patent. Because if the change is not much of a change at all. Again the owner of the previous patent could take you to court over it.

Other than that, Good luck on your idea Dr. KillGood. And I hope it brings you fame and fortune.

Limewater · Post by **Limewater** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:28 pm

A lot of the information posted above is bogus.

Patent laws vary somewhat from country to country, and one has to separately file a patent in each country in which one wishes his idea to be protected.

A drawing is not sufficient to secure a patent. A patent application must contain a thorough written description of one's idea. Pictures can help, but are not sufficient.

You cannot patent a screenplay.

The United States Patent Office has a whole section devoted to answering questions about how to secure a patent. It's uspto.gov. But that only covers patents in the United States.

You need to do a search of prior art in the area to see if a patent has been filed for your invention already. If the idea is not patented, but has been published or otherwise publicly announced then you will not be able to get a patent. In the US, a patent can be filed up to a year after public announcement. In most other countries, a patent must be filed before public announcement.

Expect to spend between ten to twenty thousand dollars patenting your idea. You will need lawyers handling a lot of it if you want your patent to be worth anything.

The whole "poor man's patent" thing is not true.

Post by **Skyone** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:46 pm

Limewater wrote:The whole "poor man's patent" thing is not true.

It will not hold up in court, as you didn't publicize your idea, but it is a government proof. Stop acting like you're some official or something.

Post by **benheck** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:43 pm

Actually a patent is kind of like a screenplay, in that it needs to be formatted correctly for the Patent Office, like a movie studio, to even look at it.

Agreed you can't patent a screenplay, it just doesn't work that way. Technically you create a copyright just by creating something (as far as I know) but an above poster is correct in that if you don't have the means of protecting it (ie, army of lawyers) it doesn't mean much.

The best way is to goto the government website and just look at patents. You can get an idea of the formatting. But in general it is a lot of description, much of it redundant, and some drawings.

Filing it is somewhat like doing your taxes - you can do it yourself at regular rates and costs, cross all the T's, dot all the I's, but should probably pay someone to go over it all for you.

That said, "tens of thousands of dollars" is probably on the high side, even if you get a patent lawyer involved.

-Ben