Have you invented something useful or do you have a product idea that competitors may want to steal?  How can a patent lawyer help you with Federal Patent Protection?

Hiring an intellectual property attorney can help you get a federal patent grant, that’ll allow you to have a legal monopoly over a product or method lasting for approximately 20 years. It is not a right to make or use an invention but rather a right to exclude others from making or using (in addition to other infringing conduct).  In this country, an original inventor is the “first to invent” rather than the “first to file.”  Therefore, you can protect yourself from a later inventor gaining patent rights by signing and dating your invention description and preferably having an uninterested witness sign as well.

An experienced IP attorney will inform you that the most important thing that an inventor must be aware of is that there is a one year grace period after an invention is publicized or offered for sale to file for patent protection at the US Patent and Trademark Office.  After one year from publication, the inventor loses the right to a patent grant.

Secondly, patents are expensive and a lot more costly than most unfamiliar people would surmise.  Accordingly, another important bit of advice is that filing a Provisional Patent Application is an excellent way to defer expenses, meet the one year grace period and get your “place in line” at the patent office.

In sum, patents are more complicated and expensive than trademarks and the question of when and what to file involves a more thorough cost-benefit analysis.  Consult the advice of a knowledgeable IP attorney early in the process of developing your products or services.