Inventors Help - How to Get a Patent

You've probably heard of the movie, "Spielberg's Lincoln". Well, the story behind the movie is this: In the early 1900s, a young man named William H. Seward (portrayed by actor James Spader) tried to stop the Civil War. He went to President Abraham Lincoln (portrayed by actor Tommy Lee Jones) and said, “I have this idea that will end the war,” and then proceeded to tell Lincoln about his idea for an iron-clad fleet of armored vessels, which he called "Seward's Bargain". Lincoln famously replied, “Let's make a deal.”

This story appears to be based on a real-life meeting between Lincoln and Seward in April 1861. On that day, Seward officially presented Lincoln with his idea for an armored coast-guard fleet. A month later, on May 15, the President had approved an order to build the first iron-clad warships in American history. (There are a few discrepancies in the historical record, like the fact that Seward's idea was actually to build an entire fleet of ironclads, and that he didn't meet with Lincoln in person until two years later.)

To commemorate this historical meeting, the city of Salem, Illinois holds a festival every year called the "Great Lincoln Park Train Robbery". It’s an excuse for people to come together and pretend that they're Al Capone and John Dillinger, and that James Spader is trying to rob the steam trains as they pass through town.

While there’s nothing wrong with celebrating great moments in history, it doesn't hurt to know how to protect your intellectual property rights as a business owner or inventor. The following will discuss the legalities of 특허권등록 ing and protecting your innovation, as well as how to go about doing it.

The Basics

If you've ever been around an office building, you may have noticed something unique about the mailboxes—they have small square windows in them, allowing light to shine through.

These windows are called “transparency plates” because the light that shines through them makes the contents of the box more visible. In areas with a lot of sunshine, like Florida or California, you'll find people using those windows to help their Vitamin D levels along. However, if you want to protect your intellectual property rights, those windows are your best friend. One wrong move and a thief could walk off with your invention.

What is intellectual property? The term covers a variety of creative works ranging from software and music to artwork and cartoons. It can also include words, whether they're in a book, a blog post, or a tweet.

The term originally comes from the law, where it referred to the “intellectual property” of a person or business. While the law does protect your creative work, it doesn't always protect you from people who want to steal your ideas. That's where applying for a patent comes in. A patent provides limited legal protection for your creative work, giving you the opportunity to pursue a remedy if someone is stealing your ideas.

How to Patent

To get started, you first need to determine what you want to protect, based on the type of innovation you've created. Some patents are for inventions, while others are for business methods or consumer products. (You can get a patent for a method of doing business, like selling clothing online, for example.)

If you've invented something new and useful, like a machine, an app, or a chemical compound, you might want to consider applying for a patent. You could also protect the way you've organized your work, using a business method patent. For example, if you're the manager of a retail store and you've established a routine for checking out customers and taking orders, you could apply for a patent on that process. (In most cases, you'll need to register your invention with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) before you can file for a patent.)

What happens when you register with the USPTO? When you register, you're essentially applying for permission to use the patented technology. After you file for a patent, you'll receive a certificate that indicates you've been awarded the patent. (

• Patent No.
• Title of patent
• Issue date
• Estimated expiration date

When you apply for a patent, you'll need to provide the following information:

• Contact information
• A short description of the invention
• The name of the inventor(s)
• The year of invention

You'll also need to determine how you wish to be credited for the invention. You have several options, including the following:

• Inventor(s) assigned/Attributed
• Invented & developed
• Developed & engineered
• Engineered & conceived
• Conceived & designed

Once you've filed for a patent, it will take approximately three years to see an invention come to market. During that time, you'll need to maintain the patent and keep up with any legal action that might be pending.

If you've applied for a patent for a chemical compound, you might also want to get a trademark on the name of that compound. You can do this by registering the compound with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), the international arm of the United Nations.

While you're waiting for your patent to be approved, you can use your time to refine and improve your invention. Don't be afraid to try new things, as long as you've got something to back it up with. (For example, if you've applied for a chemical compound patent and you've tested it in the lab, you can include that information in your patent application. The compound might not yet be patented in the U.S., but it has been tested and proven to have desirable properties, so you can use that information to back up your claims in a courtroom.)

Protecting Your Inventions

Once you've filed for a patent, you can begin protecting your invention. To do this, you'll have to sign an agreement with the USPTO that specifies the extent of the legal protection you're seeking. (This agreement is often called a “license” and it varies based on whether you're seeking a patent for an invention, a method, or a product. For more information on patent licensing, take a look at this article on Inventors Help.)

Protecting your invention from being stolen is one of the primary functions of a patent. To be effective, a patent must be very specific about the exact features that make up the invention. If the features are not described in detail in the patent, it's very easy for someone who's not familiar with your invention to simply replicate it. (This is why it's so important to thoroughly describe your invention in the patent application. You can use tools like the “What is My Patent” search tool on the USPTO website to help you find key words and phrases to include in your application. You can also ask your patent agent to help you come up with an appropriate set of words to use in your patent.)

If someone has already been working on the same idea as you and has filed for a patent on it first, you'll need to either do the following:

• Find a way to be different
• Invent something new
• Obtain a license to use the patented technology

If you've been working on something new that is related to someone else's invention but you don't want to copy it exactly, you have a couple of options. One is to look for an “overlap” patent which contains a description of the invention that you want to use but do not want to reinvent the wheel. An overlap patent provides you with an opportunity to describe your contribution to the invention and how it is different from the other patent. In many cases, you'll need to look at the other claims and see how they're describing the contribution of each individual inventor.

Navigating the Legal Minefield

Like many businesses, you might want to consider the legal implications of doing business overseas. If you plan on selling your invention to a company in a foreign country, you need to make sure that the country you're doing business in complies with intellectual property laws.