What the new patent reform laws mean to inventors with invention ideas

On Thursday, September 8th, 2011 the Senate passed the America Invents Act which dramatically amends U.S. patent laws for the first time in over 60 years.  President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law soon.  Unfortunately, the new law contains 152 pages of legal jargon that may cause confusion for small time inventors with brand new invention ideas.

In this article, we will explore some of the major modifications the new law will make and how they impact inventors just like you.

Higher Fees for Start-up Inventors
If you are a sole inventor with a small business, the new patent laws will likely be hitting you in the pocket book while putting you at a distinct disadvantage compared to the rest of corporate America.  First, the USPTO will now have the authority to add a fifteen percent increase to a variety of existing patent fees.  Second, smaller businesses, particularly those in their infant stages, may not have the capital needed to hire a patent attorney who can quickly file a patent application on their invention.

Patent Trolling
The American Invents Act should also help to reduce patent trolling.  Patent trolls are individuals that come up with an idea, document it, and then sit on the idea without bothering to file a patent.  The patent troll than lies in wait until an inventor comes along with the same idea.  Unbeknownst to the new inventor, there is no record of a previous patent ever being filed so they go ahead and file for their own patent.  The patent troll then comes along, pulls out the previous (non patented) documented idea that they have, and sues the bewildered inventor for a profit.  Now, under the new law, patent trolls that wait to file a patent application may risk losing their patent rights to an inventor that came up with the same idea, only later, but filed the patent first.

Post-Grant Reviews
Individuals or companies that want to challenge a patent (on any grounds) that was just issued to another inventor or company will now only have nine months to do so.  This is a completely new rule to the current patent law.  However, the challenger must show, “more likely than not”, that at least one of the challenged claims is unpatentable.  The challenger can provide a broad array of evidence to support their claim including patents, printed publications, commercials sales, or public use prior to the effective filing date of the patent being challenged.

Regardless, it will still be up to the USPTO to determine whether or not a post grant review will be allowed or not.  In addition, whatever decision is made, this will be a final decision which cannot be appealed.

Inter Partes Reviews
After the post grant review time period has expired, patents can now only be challenged if the third party challenger presents “previous patents” or “printed publications”.  This is a much narrower definition of the evidence that can be presented compared to post-grant reviews (described above).  Under inter partes reviews, the challenger must show, “more likely than not”, that at least one of the patent’s claims is unpatentable due to either a previous patent or printed publication only.  Under the previous law, a challenger merely had to show a “substantial new question of patentability”.

Filing on Behalf of an Employee
Under the old law, if you were an inventor that created an invention on behalf of a company but you decided that you didn’t want to sign the invention patent application, you could create all sorts of headaches for your employer.  However under the new law, your company can file a patent application regardless if you decide to cooperate or not.

Best Mode Requirement
The America Invents Act will also change the “best mode requirement”.  The best mode requirement in terms of patents can be thought of in two parts:  First, it refers to a person that has a specific skill set in relation to an invention.  In other words if a mechanical engineer looked at a patent that has been filed that describes how to build a new type of blender, then the engineer could do so without having to experiment.  Second, this same skilled individual could not only build the blender but can also use the blender based upon the information in the patent without having to experiment.  Pretty straightforward, huh?  When patents fail to fully disclose how to build a device and how to use the device then they are in violation of the “best mode requirement”.

Well, the new law will no longer merely invalidate a patent if the inventor fails to meet the “best mode requirement”.  However, this doesn’t mean that an individual that files for a patent should not fully disclose the best mode requirement in how to make or use the product that they are patenting.  Regardless, we’ll just have to wait and see how the USPTO is going to in force this one.

False Marking
Putting the word “patented” or words such as “patent applied for” or “patent pending” on an invention in order to deceive the public when, in fact, a patent was never filed in the first place is called “false marking”.  New reforms to the America Invents Act will significantly reduce the number of false marking suits by individuals or companies.  Surprisingly, a large majority of false marking suits are brought by companies or entities that have NOT suffered any sort of injury from an invention being falsely marked.  Many of these companies or entities file false marking cases because, if they win, the offender will have to pay up to $500 per offense.  In addition, in cases where an inventor marked that their invention was “patented” but their patent had previously expired will now no longer be liable for false marking.  Hopefully, this new rule will cause the backlog of false marking cases at the USPTO to be dismissed.

Conclusion
There are numerous other changes that will be made to U.S. patent laws once this bill is signed into law.  If you would like to read the entire 152 page bill via the USPTO’s website click here.  As you can see, how to patent an idea just became a lot more complicated.  Our advice, especially for new inventors that have just come up with an invention idea, is to speak with a patent attorney as soon as possible.  Sure, it may cost you some money up front but it will likely also save you not only your time but, perhaps, also your invention idea.

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Obtaining invention ideas safeguarded by a patent provides the patent owner concrete legal protection under the law. A patent adviser or legal professional can let you know your patent invention legal rights. Invention ideas which are not safeguarded by a patent and also that are not patentable can be utilised liberally by everyone. This will lower the invention commercial price. Due to this single reason many organizations look at patent protection essential for their own invention ideas as well as invention ideas submitted to them. As a result, those corporations might possibly expect inventors submitting inventions to them to look for invention patent protection under the law issued by a patent in the same way any business would be asked to guard their own personal invention ideas.

There can be intricate legalities linked to invention ideas submitted to big firms. Those difficulties can consist of joint development of the same invention. A further case could be two inventors that developed the invention together, including trade secret ownership and confidential rights. A patent agent or lawyer can help you with those issues before applying for an invention patent.

Your patent agent or lawyer may advise or recommend that you obtain an issued patent before submitting your ideas to a big company. However, some companies may allow you to disclose and discuss your idea after an invention patent application has been filled. Keep in mind that the businesses that you submit your ideas to prior to an invention patent has been issued could possibly be under no obligation to keep your idea a secret. They can also be under no obligation to neither pay anything nor refrain from making use of your idea while the invention idea is being looked at unless a written contract has been finalized.

Following a invention idea evaluation, the organization might be under no obligation to keep your invention idea a secret or may well not refrain from using your invention ideas unless an agreement in writing is concluded. The main benefit of getting an issued invention patent is the fact that it entitles you to privileges as defined by the invention patent claims. Depending on the company that you’re submitting your ideas to, a patent agent may desire you to obtain an issued invention patent before submitting your inventions to a company for evaluation.

However, there are numerous other companies that will review your invention ideas before an invention patent application is in progress. Or, prior to an invention patent has become issued. For instance, the organization Plaid will accept invention ideas before an invention patent has been issued. The company Plaid does agree to keep your invention idea submission confidential and will not use or disclose the invention idea to any third parties or workers of Plaid, other than those Plaid employees who participate in the review of the idea submission, unless such disclosure is required by law or unless Plaid acquires knowledge of the submissions prior to your disclosure thereof.

Sears is an exception, and may accept invention ideas prior to an invention patent have been issued or an invention patent application is in process. However, by considering a submitted idea, Sears may not obligate itself to pay any payment whatsoever for its use of un-patentable ideas. Also, Sears may make no commitment that your submitted invention ideas shall be kept a secret or confidential. It may be necessary for a large company like Sears to refer your invention idea submission to a number of persons at Sears or at third parties, such as suppliers and manufacturers, that have business dealings with Sears. Think about this when submitting your invention to big businesses, because this may be required to thoroughly assess your invention idea submission. You might think about including a period of limiting time for the organization that you’re submitting you invention idea to judge your invention idea. A proper period of time may be 45 to 60 days to evaluate an invention submission.

Make certain to determine contact with the business that you’re submitting your idea to prior to delivering any kind of material or detailed information of your invention idea. Validate if the company will take outside idea submission and exactly what the company’s submission rules and guidelines are. Don’t forget, until a legal contract is signed and finished, your only legal privileges in and to the submissions stay with you.

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If you are looking for a very lucrative business venture to get into why not try your hand at inventing. In fact inventors are some of the wealthiest people today. Invention ideas can literally generate billions of dollars. One of the reasons why inventing is so lucrative is that not everyone will come up with that winning idea. In fact most people will never even think about inventing anything at all.

The reality is also that inventing is not for everyone as only a few of us will ever be able to dream up, design and actually create that product that has never been done before. The hard part of invention ideas is the actual idea as designing the product can easily be done using computer software.

There are also times when invention ideas are not just something that is created from scratch with entirely new materials or never before seen products or designs. Sometimes inventions come from the combination of 2 or more products that are already in existence which results in something completely new. This is more evident in the use of technology and computer software. Where 2 or more programs are combined in order to create a more efficient and often times a more user-friendly program.
Thinking outside the box is obviously an inventor’s best friend; even though some of the best invention ideas are born out of necessity. These days the work of inventors is recognized encouraged and this can be seen by the vast majority of resources and information that is available to inventors. So what are you waiting for, dream up something today.

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How to patent an invention idea?

Stage 1: Fist you must understand the invention idea itself cannot be patented. Patents fall into two categories mechanical patents and also design patents. To receive a patent for either mechanical patent or design patent not only do you need to have a new invention idea or ideas but you must also resent something tangible. Until you produce something concrete receiving a patent is impossible.

Step 2: Contact the patent office in your country or whatever organization that deals with patents where you live. They would give you all the information you need to filling out a patent for your invention ideas. The application would generally consist of a complete detailed description of your new invention ideas. One of the most important aspects is what makes your invention ideas unique from invention that have already been patented.

If you are awarded the patent a mechanical patent which is also known as a design patent will give you exclusive inventor rights for 20 years whilst a design patent is granted for 14 years.

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When you come up with a new invention idea its like having that magic Eureka moment. One of the first things you should do is look to get a patent to protect you from copycats. Before taking these steps you also have to analyze if your new invention idea has all the ingredients of a good invention.

Many of today’s new inventions and invention ideas you may come up with are usually not entirely new but an improvement on an existing idea that is already in place. This doesn’t matter so do not be afraid to get your new invention idea patented if this is the case. Even if there is a similar product on the market, your invention will generally offer something unique to the market.

All great inventions eventually need to be presented. A new invention idea without a strong and competent presentation behind it will not showcase the invention’s full potential to investors.

All great new inventions have an inventor with a passion driving it to the masses. There are many ingredients one needs to get their invention idea to the masses and persistence is one of those ingredients.

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