Anyone here ever filed a patent for anything?

Yup.

 

Sircrashalot, Monsterdood is spot on with his words. I'd like to add a couple things.

Once you get a provisional patent, you can safely market the thing for a year to see if it goes anyplace. If you can't sell the idea or start marketing it yourself you just let the provisional expire without spending the money and effort on a regular patent.

Big money companies are more likely to go after a patent to nullify it or ignore it if the patent has large market impact or big sales. Think Dupont, Microsoft, etc. If your idea is not a game changer it is less likely to get attacked.

Always use a Patent Agent and not a Patent Attorney to get a patent. Patent agents can do all the patent work just like an attorney but Patent Agents can not practice law. This changes their focus. Patent Agents concentrate on solid patents where many Patent Attorneys will admit they want to litigate patents after things go wrong because that's where the real money is. Patent Agents also charge less than Attorneys. They both pass the same patent exam. They both must have properly accredited Science or Engineering degrees. This means many attorneys don't qualify to sit for the exam because their first degree is business or such. This torques them off.

There are some excellent books on self patenting but if I had the next breakthrough in electronics, I would go to the Patent Agent. If the idea is not so far reaching and you don't want to spend a lot, I would at least get the Provisional Patent myself. The Inventor’s Bible by Docie is an excellent book which I have read.

 

Success? Kind of. My buddy and I built a prototype of the following and submitted it to them:

https://aeropress.com/aeropress-go/

From the beginning, our intention was to license/sell the idea to them. They weren't willing to sign an NDA, and we weren't interested in doing anything else with our design. So, we signed their NDA, which only protects them, and submitted a product summary to them and a video of our 3D printed prototype. We had filed a provisional patent and told them it was patent pending. We had many phone meetings with the business manager (head person in the office, the owner doesn't deal with anything day-to-day) and he seemed really impressed with the design. He forwarded it to the owner and gave us the owner's contact info, but we never got a response from him until after they had the product on the market. This was well past a year from our provisional patent filing date, and we didn't see the business case to spend the money on a full patent, meaning all of our legal rights were gone. Since then, the owner insisted that he came up with the design 10 years ago, but refuses to submit any proof of that to us (obviously he doesn't owe that to us.) I think the smack in the face is that they are selling their product with the name we gave to our design.

I'm not fully sure what we'd do differently in hindsight. According to a patent attorney we contacted recently, their NDA was the most audacious she had seen in how it tried to take rights from us, the submitters. The great lesson to me was to not chase ideas with a limited market that you aren't willing to see through. We made this design specifically for Aeropress. Once we knew they wouldn't sign an NDA and that we wouldn't be spending the money on a full patent, our rights were gone, so we could have walked away. Truthfully, we knew all of this in the moment, but decided to keep pushing through, just for the experience of dealing with these issues.

 

So cBJr, was your provisional BEFORE the meeting and NDA agreement?

 

Yes

 

I'm not looking for a yuuuuuuge payday... Maybe enough for a nice dinner and the novelty of seeing something I thought of on the shelves of every hardware store in the world, and the knowledge that fewer people will bust their asses trying to reach just a little bit further when they are painting the living room (which I did, prior to coming up with the concept).

I think I'ma submit it through the link above. Why the hell not.

 

Since the idea was specifically for their product, the skunk at the top knew you would not have success other than with his company. "The more I learn about people the more I like my dog".

 

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

My buddy and I read the book One Simple Idea by Stephen Key, and really liked the idea of developing product ideas with the intention of licensing/selling them to other companies. So, we got our wive's to agree for us to meet once per week and it's been kind of awesome. When we don't have any great ideas, we just hang out and catch up on life.

 

I just submitted an application last month for one, feel free to PM me and I can tell you what it took to go through

 

Not sure I agree with that, I use an attorney, that specializes in mechanical patents and patents in powersports and does patent work for several OEM's. I would find a patent attorney that specializes in the industry in which you are trying to develop a product for...Also if you cannot afford the 5-10K it takes to apply for one, then it might not be worth doing... There are 4 ways to make money from a patent.
1) Usin the patent in a product and selling that product to make money
2) Licensing the Patent for others to use and charging for use of the patent.
3) Suing the crap out of anyone that infringes on your patent
4) Selling the patent to someone else

 

I have some history with utility patents. I have 6 issued patents at this point, and a number of pending applications - all through my employer. My employer strongly encourages us to come up with patentable ideas, and then supports the patent process - Application preparation, filing, prosecution, and issuance. Of course, we sign our rights to the patent away to the company (these are done on company time, and with company funds). We get a small filing bonus and a plaque if/when the patent is issued.

The basic process is:
- do the search for existing patents (Prior Art)
- Prep the application
- file the application
- the patent office accepts the filing, then eventually publishes the application
- an examiner will review and challenge the application, and you have to answer the challenges
- the claims are either accepted or denied (final action)
- the patent claims allowed become an Allowed patent
- pay the issue fee and the patent will be issued
At each step there are responses, appeals of denied claims, the ability to add claims and revise the application, etc.

I think the $10K is at the low end of costs through the cycle, or is a number for a do-it-yourself process.
The cycle typically takes between 2-5 years to get a US patent issued.
Doing it without a experienced patent attorney/agent is an exercise in frustration.
With a good patent attorney, you work with the attorney to prep the application, they file it and do the prosecution. You write a check for their work.

 

In a former life I have applied for patents and kept a log of ideas. I also did some unsuccessful attempts at selling ideas. I came to the conclusion the only way to make real money was to make things with you're own company or to contract the build. Both of which were investments I was not going to make. Next I got interested in patents and started studying to take the agent exam. After two years of part time study I decided sitting in an office and working on paperwork all the time was not for me. I went back to building things just for fun which includes vintage bikes.

Patent Agents specialize in industries and can do everything a Patent Attorney can do except practice law. It takes an attorney to sue people. Agents are experts in writing, defending, obtaining patents. They cost a lot less than Patent Attorneys. Large companies are not concerned about the cost difference. Truth be told, Large Legal firms employ Patent Agents to do their patent work but then turn to their Attorneys to sue companies. Thankfully the Patent Agents are allowed by the government to do patents themselves and can hang out their own shingle.

 

Your name (and others if applicable) is are on the patents correct? Companies get the IP - but inventors are not companies.

 

Yes, the patent is issued to the primary inventor and co-inventors. We are the named inventor(s).
Rights to the patent (the IP and its enforcement) are assigned to my employer.

 

The rights go to the employer if you were working on something for them and came up with the idea. That is why most companies make the staff sign agreements that say anything you come up with while on the job and related to their business is their property. At least you personally get the recognition for the idea but probably nothing else.

 

After thinking about this whole topic again I have some advice. Of course you know what advice is worth.

If it is simple enough to make them in your garage, can be sold for a good profit and can sell in numbers, do it. First get a provisional patent by using a Patent Agent. This is not expensive. Next put them on ebay in a way that many people see it. Make sure to include "Patent Pending". If it takes off great! If you want the rights go ahead with a utility patent. If it does not do well enough to keep going just let it die after a year. Keep records that show it is now in the "public domain" like dated advertisements and screen shots. Anyone else can start making them after you're Provisional Patent expires but no-one can legally patent it. There are also tricks to keep the patent pending status for more than a year without going with a full blown Utility Patent.

 

Thanks guys.... lots of useful info here.

 

most of the truth is somewhere in the last two pages.
only thing i'd clarify is that much of the total cost (10-15k+) to get a patent issued is the result of agent or attorney time spent arguing against rejections from the USPTO. and you will get them.
initial filing fees are really cheap (once the application is drafted).

 

I think this advice is the most realistic for a single person, it gives you the time to start the process, keeps the cost down, and most importantly gives you an idea if the product can take off.

I'm an inventor/co-inventor for 33 patents that the company that I work for owns. The whole process is lots of effort and tons of money. There is a good defense in having multiple patents surrounding a singular product, it provides more of a shotgun protection around the core idea / technology.

Good luck