How to Get a Patent

An inventor creates different inventions and when they are accepted and used by the public, he feels happy. He becomes more happy when the public acknowledges him for his inventions. Once his invention becomes a hit, he needs to patent the idea. Why? Because a patent is a document, given by the government, that grants the inventor the sole rights of invention. If he does not patent his invention, someone else might claim the credit for the invention and patent it in his own name. Getting a patent, thus becomes important. So, if you have a great original idea you will have to patent it to protect yourself.

Patent is a right, granted by the inventor's government, giving inventor the right to use the invention for a specific number of years. Any other person claiming right over the inventions or using the same inventions in his name, will be punished by the law. Thus, the inventor's rights are protected and the public also gets the benefit of the inventions. In the US, the Congress has the power to make the laws regarding patents. The first Patent Act was enacted in 1790 after which it underwent a lot of revision.

How to Get a Patent on a Thing
There are certain requirements that an idea or invention must meet in order to get a patent. They are:

• The idea should be completely new or novel.
• The subject matter of the patent should be patentable.
• For getting a patent for your idea, the idea or the invention must be of some utility to the people.
• The invention or the idea should be disclosed so that the others can use it properly.

The laws of nature, abstract ideas, inventions that are insulting to the public are some of the ideas that cannot be patented. On the other hand, you can get a copyright on a novel of yours, not a patent. Once all the above criteria match, you can proceed to get your idea patented.

How to Get a Patent on an Idea
There are three different types of patents that are issued by the USPTO i.e. the United States Patent and Trademarks Office. They are utility patents for a process or machine, design patents for designing a better product and plant patents for reproducing new variety of plant. Ideas are considered as intellectual property and hence they can be patented. Remember that you will be spending a considerable amount of money in patenting, so research the market before taking the decision. Check if some trademark is marketing an idea similar to yours. If you feel that your invention is one that should be patented and will benefit people and you, then go ahead with the patent application. So, how to patent an idea or product then? The procedure to file a patent application is mentioned below.

Step One: The USPTO has an online database which enables you to check if your idea or invention is patentable. Check through the database and find out if your idea warrants a patent. Also check thoroughly for other patents that may be very similar to your idea.

Step Two: The next procedure is to fill out the required forms to file for the patent. This does not mean that you will get the patent, it will only state your claim over the idea. The patent filing process is not very expensive. In this step, you are needed to submit a description of the idea to be patented, how to use that idea and how to convert it to make it usable and an informal drawing of the invention. This is known as the Provisional Patent Application or the PPA.

Step Three: The next step of getting a patent is the filling up of the Regular Patent Application or the RPA, within a year of filling up of the PPA. If you miss out on the date, you may not be able to patent your idea, so be careful while filling out your applications. This procedure kick-starts the examination of the patent by the USPTO. If the USPTO does not find any similar patent approved previously and does not object, the next step becomes very easy.

Step Four: Once the USPTO has no objections, your idea is granted patent on payment of the final fee. You get the proprietary rights and you become the sole owner of your idea.

Cost of Getting a Patent
If you file for a patent and do it yourself, patent will cost you less. For this, it is mandatory that you know the complete procedure of getting a patent and also the various fees that need to be paid. The patent fee amount is inclusive of filing fee, patent search fee and the examination fee. If your application is accepted, there will be a further fee towards getting your patent issued. The drawback of this procedure, however, is that it will take you at least a year or two to get a patent for your idea.

On the other hand, if you were to go to a patent attorney, you will have to shell out a lot of money to patent your idea or invention. There are chances that you will not have to wait for a year to get your idea patented. This saves you the risk of losing your invention to someone else and also saves you from the trouble of getting involved in complicated procedure. The cost of getting a patent is different in different countries and international patents will cost you more.

If you have an idea or an invention, think of getting it patented and make it known worldwide. You have worked hard at it, so why should someone else take all the accolades for it? Apart from getting recognized, getting a patent can become very beneficial for you in monitory terms too.