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Helping Your Patent Attorney Help You
First thing you need to do is to simply describe what it is in
plain terms that you are trying to patent by writing a brief summary
or description of the invention. This will help the attorney quickly
grasp your concept and make certain that he understands what you are
trying to protect. Next to further help, it would be good to write
down all the previous methods for your invention and why yours is a
better way. For example, if you hadn't discovered that ten other
people have patented collapsible, disposable cat litter boxes, you
may say, that, "Currently cat litter boxes stink up the room
because you have to scoop the litter. My invention will allow you to
just dispose of the entire box litter and all in the time it would
normally take to scoop the poop." Now another important part of
the application is the drawings that explain the invention. All of
this will of course be re-written and probably re-drawn by your
attorney and/or experts. But by drawing a picture in advance you
again help smooth the process and make the attorney more efficient
with his time. If he is like most attorneys he is charging by the
hour. Time is money. The creation of the application is what will
take the most time in this entire process.
Once the patent application has been drafted and converted to the
demanded format, the lawyer will submit it to the patent office
along with the proper fees. Currently patent application fees are
$300 for a utility patent. However a certain dispensation is given
to what the patent office has determined is a "small entity."
This is a 50% discount given if the owner of the invention qualifies
as a small entity (e.g., independent inventor, a small business, or
a nonprofit organization.) The filing, issue and maintenance fees
are reduced by half.
After submitting the application comes the wait. It may take
months or even years for the application to work its way through a
government patent examiner's stack of applications. During this
period you may officially describe your invention as "patent
pending." The bad news is that most patents are rejected on the
first application. However, this doesn't mean that you are finished.
A good patent attorney will have a relationship with the patent
examiner and will address the issues at hand with your patent. You
may not get the original patent, but in the end you may find that
you protect exactly the areas that you need to protect.
Once the patent application is accepted you are issued a "Notice
of Allowance." Then you will have to pay a patent fee which
runs around $650. Over the life of the patent you may have to pay
periodic maintenance fees that amount into the thousands of dollars.
Of course if your idea is lucrative you should have no problem
paying that small amount to keep others from copying and selling
your original idea.
Creative
Genius @ Work: A creativity consultancy that specializes
in creative thinking, creating great new ideas, and helping you
discover your own creative genius.
