Do it yourself Provisional Patent

If you feel you have a great idea for a product that no one has thought of, an idea for a product that could make you millions, but you don’t know where to start, then take a quick couple of minutes to read the following.  I’ve tried to sum up some of my experiences from when I patented my idea.  Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and gain from my successes.    

MY STORY

It was not too long ago that I was in your shoes.  I felt I had an idea that was an original; an idea that no one else had thought of.  I told a friend of my predicament and he gave me a number to an invention submission corporation.  I met an invention submission representative and he filled my mind with success stories of people making millions of dollars.  The representative also told me of a close friend of his that was a chemist that sold his car wax patent for a cool million dollars.  The representative went on to say that I had to be serious about my commitment and go through their whole invention submission process if I was to succeed with my idea.  The rest was history, and before I knew it they had approximately $10,000 dollars of my hard earned money; they were kind enough though (I’m being sarcastic) to set me up with a financing plan so I wouldn’t have to pay it all at once, 

My $10,000 dollars had purchased me a patent search, a colorful paged book of all the info of my patent (all information that I supplied the invention submission corporation), and the promise of the invention submission corporation to send my idea to several companies and even negotiate a deal with a company when the time came.

SURPRISINGLY, the opportunity never came when the invention submission corporation would have to negotiate a deal with a company for my product!?!?!  It later came to my knowledge that the invention submission corporation, with its several nationwide customers such as myself, failed to meet the financial expectations of a very large majority of its clients.   

After getting over my disappointment of not receiving any offers for my idea and getting over the shock of watching $10,000 vanish before my eyes, I decided to do what I should have done in the first place, do research, learn as much as I could about the patent process, and market my own product.  What I learned and accomplished was satisfying but disheartening at the same time. I learned and accomplished the following:

I performed my own patent search for my product, filed and received a patent, and marketed and sold my product all on my own for only a few hundred dollars. 

If only I would have done more research first, I would have saved a lot of money.  Live and learn as they say.  Anyway, here is a summary of what I’ve learned:

Be Careful who you do Business With!

Take the time and work to research any venture you proceed with, and especially get to know the company you do business with! 

Look up the company on the Better Business Bureau website; it’s free and you can see any complaints of the company.  If they are not registered with the BBB you may not want to do business with them. 

If an invention submission company gives you promises of riches and fame and it sounds too good to be true…then it probably is!

If you insist to go with an invention submission company, ask plenty of questions.  One of the first being, show me what you have done for other customers.  Make them show you customer statistics and get copies or original written documents stating what they are going to do for you. 

If you are going to pursue a non-provisional patent (most likely a utility patent), then hire a professional patent attorney.  Do your research and compare more than just one patent attorney firm by going to different attorney web-sites and submitting questions.  There should be no fees for setting up a consultation visit or e-mailing questions.  I received very good FREE patent advice from a professional patent attorney.  

Don’t be pressured into doing something you don’t want to do!

THE PATENT PROCESS

Protecting Your Idea

Rule number one; don’t tell anyone your idea.  That’s right, don’t tell anyone your idea until you’ve assessed all the risk involved in telling someone about your patent, or until you have properly patent protected your idea (Note: there is still certain risk even after patent protecting your idea; I will discuss this risk later).  You may say, “What possible harm can come from telling my idea to someone that I really trust, like my own mom?”  I recommend you especially DON’T tell your own mom.  Moms’ tend to brag about their children, and your mom may tell your aunt about what a great idea you have, and your aunt tells your cousin, and your cousin tells his friend Mike;  Mike liking your idea, files and is granted a provisional patent.  Even though it was originally your idea, Mike now has the ability to market, produce, and sell with patent pending protection.

To Patent or Not to Patent, That is the Question

Before investing a large amount of time and/or money into your idea, you need to determine if indeed your invention idea is an original idea that no one has thought of.  The following are some methods I used to determine if my original invention idea was in fact an original. 

Web Search

A simple web search is an inexpensive way to see if your idea is really your idea.  Do a word search using key words that describe your idea or use words that you think your idea/product would be named.  For example, I thought I had a unique idea that would make me millions.  My innovative idea was a disposable toothbrush!  After doing a quick word search for “disposable toothbrushes”, I found to my surprise several different types of disposable toothbrushes.  There were some toothbrushes that you could run under water to active the toothpaste already in the bristles; others required pushing up a lever that moved the toothpaste from within the toothbrush to the bristles.  After getting over my disappointment of there being so many versions of a disposal toothbrush, I came to appreciate what a powerful tool the internet is; we do really have the world at our fingertips.  Those without a personal internet service provider can simply go to a public library and access the internet with a library computer without any charge.  With a simple web search, I saved a considerable amount of valuable time and money by not pursuing an idea that was already a product. 

Search the United States Patent and Trademark Office Databases

If you were unable to find you invention idea with the internet web search, your next step should be to search the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) databases located at http://www.uspto.gov.  The USPTO website not only allows you to search patent databases, but also contains a plethora of useful patent information and available trainings.  The search criteria may at first seem a bit overwhelming, but the website gives detailed instructions for searching the USPTO databases using a quick search or advanced search options.  Select the “How to Search” topic from the FOR query box for information on how to search the USPTO databases.  The databases provide the patent/application number filed, the name of the inventor, an abstract (description of the invention) and in most cases an image of the invention can be accessed.  The databases even contain patents dating to 1790.   

Attorney Patent Search

A patent search and patentability opinion by an attorney can run you around $550 to over a $1,000.  Performing your own web and USPTO database search should be your first choice to determining if your patent invention has already been patented or already on the market.  I’d much rather search the web and be disappointed if I’ve determined my idea has already been patented or on the market than pay $550 to $1,000 for an attorney to give me the same info.

If you’ve performed a web and USPTO database search but are still unsure whether to pursue your idea due to a similar product that exists on the market, then you may want to shell out the few hundred dollars to get a professional attorney opinion regarding whether you should pursue patenting your idea; I do stress getting a professional patent attorney opinion and not an opinion provided as part of a package from an invention submission company.  In most cases the “professional attorney” is being paid by the invention submission company from your payments and the opinion of the “professional attorney” may not be as objective as if you personally paid the attorney or received the opinion first hand.  Remember, that the representatives from an invention submission corporation are sales people that are going to make more money if you decide to further pursue your idea, whether it’s already been patented or on the market. 

Regardless, of whether you perform the search on your own or pay for the services of a professional patent attorney, I strongly stress you gather as much information as possible to help you make a sound decision to pursue patenting your idea.  I have heard horror stories of people that spent thousands of dollars towards an idea that was already on the market.  Don’t be one of those people!      

A PROVISIONAL PATENT

To my knowledge, the United States is the only country that offers a provisional patent.  A provisional patent basically covers your idea (product) for ONE year!  You can sell your product for one year with patent protection; after that one year, you would have needed to file a more extensive patent (typically a “utility patent”) to continue with the patent protection.  In essence, the US government is giving you a year to see if your product is profitable and worth spending the time and money to pursue a more extensive patent such as a utility patent. 

I was able to do research and file my own provisional patent for a little over $200.  A provisional patent requires filing less paperwork and less detailed plans than other patents.  If you plan on obtaining a more extensive patent, such as a utility patent, I would recommend hiring a professional patent attorney.

TO SUM THINGS UP 

Do your due diligence and research and plan in advance how much time and money you are willing to spend.  As mentioned above, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), located at http://www.uspto.gov, has a ton of FREE and useful information.  Upon your request, they will typically send you a free patent packet. 

Know What You Are Getting Into - Not to discourage you, but I spoke with a patent attorney and he expressed to me that it is usually very difficult for an individual to successfully make money off a patented idea due to the amount of money that it takes to patent, produce and sell a product.  Even if you do successfully patent a good idea, you run the risk of a company stealing your idea and producing your product; a large company will often take the chance that you will not have the financial resources to take them to court, and even if you did…it is commonly very difficult to prove that an idea was stolen.  That said - there are also a few well known success stories of those people that have beaten the odds!