Patent Prosecution

Understanding Patent Procedures And Protections In California

When it comes to protecting your inventions and innovations, patents are a common tool that most everyone is aware of. Ask a random Californian on the street how to actually prepare or file a patent however, and you will get blank looks or incorrect assumptions. This article aims to shed some light on the otherwise complicated topic so that everyday innovators and inventors can get a basic understanding of how to protect their intellectual property with patents, including:

• What patents are, and what protections they offer to innovations in California.
• The types of inventions and innovations that can be patented (and those that cannot).
• How an attorney can help you prepare for your patent filing.

What Is A Patent, And What Protection Does It Provide?

Unlike a trademark or copyright , patents protect the function of a product or innovation. It protects your idea from someone recreating, copying, or using it without your permission. If you discover someone else has used it or copied it, a patent gives you the right to sue them.

In order to gain this protection, however, you do have to disclose what it is you actually invented and how it works to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As a result, in the future, once your patent has expired, other people in the world can then use, copy, or benefit from your innovation.

Most patents protect your innovation or invention for an initial period of 20 years, during which time only you can make money off it. Therefore, every patent is inherently an exchange; you offer your idea to the world but get to have 20 years of monopoly over its use protected by the federal government.

How Long Is A Patent Valid For?

The 20-year validity of patents starts, technically, from what is called the earliest priority date. In general, that is 20 years from the time you file your application, but there are some cases in which it can be extended.

If you filed a provisional patent beforehand, that will not count against the 20 years. Additionally, if there were delays or litigation required, that can add some time. However, it is also possible the USPTO will give even less time.

For example, if they suspect you of double patenting (patenting something that is too close to a previous patent of yours to add to your term), they may limit how much the second one is valid for accordingly.

What Types Of Products Or Services Need Patent Protection?

There are two main types of patentable innovations and inventions: utility and design (the third type, plant patents, are used exclusively for new plant strains and varieties). Utility patents are for distinctions in the way something is made or works, while design patents are for innovations in how they look or can be used. There are some general principles that apply to all patents, though.

A patent is needed if whatever you are putting out into the world can be copied. Whether that is anything from a design someone else could copy to a manufacturing procedure someone could reverse engineer, if someone else can figure it out, they can and will copy it to undercut your profits.

If you think you can keep your idea entirely secret, then you might not need a patent at all – but most of the time, when you put out a product or service, someone will find a way to copy it if you do not take steps to prevent them from doing so.

Sometimes, the patent might only be on one part of an idea or innovation, such as a technical element of its production. This could allow you to gain clout and repute by sharing a broader idea or concept with the world but patenting the precise means so you can make money off of it. This is often the case for innovators in academic fields or start-ups who want to be able to gather funding and cultivate their reputation while also building a strong basis for profitability.

What Legal Due Diligence Will My Intellectual Property Attorney Do To Begin The Patent Protection Process?

Filing for a patent is hardly easy, especially if you want the USPTO to accept it. An experienced attorney can help you prepare for that crucial filing, both beforehand and during the process.

The first, and in many ways the most essential, factor is ensuring that your desired patent really is something new or novel. If you want the protection of a patent, it is vital to make sure no one else has already done or patented the same thing.

In addition to being novel, your idea or innovation has to be actually patentable, which is not always an easy distinction to navigate without the help of an attorney. Just because it is new does not mean that it belongs in one of the accepted patentable categories.

What Can I Patent In California?

What can and cannot be patented is quite a complicated topic and is one of the reasons patent and trademark attorneys exist in the first place.

To be patentable, whatever you are making must have some sort of physical, man-made product. It cannot be an abstract idea or concept. You must be able to boil it down to a man-made method or product; even a bacteria might be patentable.

This, unfortunately, is an area of common misconception. People come up with a new idea to run a website, play a game, or a new way of doing business and understandably want to protect it. Unfortunately, US patent law has become very suspicious of anything that is just a new way of organizing human activity. Even porting things through a computer may not be sufficient.

There are ways around this, including software that runs on the computer, but it is not easy to understand, much less implement. Even if you are working with a machine, like a computer, the law says it has to be an idea that is specific to that machine. You need to improve the machine or get it to do things in a new way. Not just getting the machine to do a new thing.

In today’s modern, technology-driven world, such distinctions are essential and can make the difference between you getting a successful patent approved or not. This is why it is imperative that you have your potential patent reviewed by an experienced intellectual property attorney. For more information on Protections Provided By A Patent, an initial consultation is your next best step.

More Information:

• Defending Your Patents: Denials, Production And Protections
  
• Patent Perils: Why You Need A Patent And Trademark Attorney To Protect Your Intellectual Property
  
• The Path To Patent Protection: Disclosure To USPTO Approval
  
• Strategies For Overcoming Patent Prosecution Hurdles: Novelty, Inventiveness, And Global Laws
  
• Advanced Patent Protection: From Infringement To Enforcement And Litigation Strategies