A U.S. patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use and sell your invention in the United States, giving you a significant advantage in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, the process of obtaining a patent is anything but simple.  Your patent application must meet a host of legal requirements in order to be accepted by the U.S. Patent Office.  Thereafter, your application will be examined by a patent examiner employed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In order to obtain a patent, your invention must be novel, non-obvious and useful.  It is the patent examiner’s job to make this assessment after conducting a prior art search.  If every element of your invention is already described in one or more prior art references, the Examiner will reject your application for a patent.

Beware of attorneys or invention “assistance” companies who immediately fawn over your invention and ask you to cut them a check right away.

Before you go to the time and expense of paying an attorney to prepare and file a patent application, you should consider conducting your own (free) online search for prior art references.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has online resources to help you with this.  See https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/search-patents for helpful information.

A United States patent is a worthy investment and can make the difference between excelling or floundering in the marketplace.  If you are ready to take the next step in the inventive process, give us a call.