Mother of invention: Is a patent right for your idea? If so, make sure you take all the necessary steps stat

You’ve done it! Your brainchild will revolutionize hot air ballooning, myrmecology, or salad. Do you need a patent? Before you answer, it might make sense to get the answers to a few basic questions.

What Is a Patent?

A patent is a form of property right issued by a government that allows you to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing any product or process that falls within the claims of your patent.

What Types of Patents Are There?

Utility patents protect any new process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter, or improvement to a current one.

Design patents safeguard new, original, or ornamental design.

Plant patents defend the discovery, invention, or asexual reproduction of any distinct and new variety of plant.

When Should You File a Patent?

File immediately! U.S. patent law has changed from first-to-invent to first-inventor-to-file, meaning an applicant must file first or risk getting shut out. It’s essential to consult with an attorney and start the process as soon as possible. You should also require nondisclosure agreements before talking about your invention with anyone until your application is filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

What’s in a Patent Application?

Specifications are clear-cut descriptions of embodiments of the invention with enough detail for someone with less expertise to understand how to build and use it. The inventor should include as many embodiments and examples as possible. Specifications may not be amended with new matter after the application is filed.

Drawings include tables, diagrams, and flowcharts and should show all parts of the invention.

Claims define the scope of the invention, from core concepts to narrow distinctions between the invention and what has gone before.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Patent?

Because of the technical aspects of the application and the necessity of getting it exactly right, drafting a patent application can take months. After filing, “a dialogue begins between the USPTO and the applicant about patentability of the application’s claims,” Maura Moran, patent lawyer and partner at Cambridge Technology Law, tells Exhale, “This dialogue, known as patent prosecution, can take 3–5 years.” The USPTO searches technical and patent databases to determine if disclosures exist that could invalidate a patent. “The applicant has the opportunity to convince the USPTO otherwise or to amend the application’s claims away from the disclosures,” explains Moran. If the search yields no invalidating material, the patenting process continues. Patents last 20 years from the application’s filing date.

How Much Does It Cost?

The more research the inventor does, the cheaper the process. Furnish your attorney with as many documents, diagrams, and schematics as possible so he or she gets a complete view of your project. Attorney drafting fees range from $3,500–$20,000 and up depending on the complexity of the invention. Attorney fees for prosecution can double or triple the cost. The USPTO charges $1,600 in filing fees and $1,000 in issuance fees, but small firms and nonprofits are eligible for discounts on most USPTO fees.

If you are serious about obtaining a patent, it’s important that you follow all the rules and procedures associated with patenting. If you think we’re exaggerating about the need for detailed patent specifications, consider Louis Le Prince, who filed a patent for his 16-lens camera in the U.S. in 1888 describing the multi-lens system in detail. After filing, he added one sentence about a single-lens motion picture camera. Because of the absence of any further explanation (and his mysterious disappearance on the eve of a public presentation of his invention), his single-lens disclosure was not considered invalidating and Thomas Edison got all the credit in the U.S. for inventing movies.

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