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inventions

 

Protecting Your Invention Ideas:

If you ever end up in court over your invention, you need conclusive evidence of when you thought of your idea. In the United States the rightful owner of a patent is the one who thought of it first, not the one who patented it first.

So what you need to do is to write down your new idea as simply and plainly as you can, and then have three or four credible non-relatives witness your document stating that they understand the inventions and dating their signature. It's usually a good idea to include drawings or sketches as well.

So in the future, if there is any dispute as to when you came up with your idea, you have witnesses that can testify in court, as to when you showed them your idea.

 

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You might want to consider writing it in an approved inventor's journal - a book specially designed with numbered pages so that it is difficult to add information later. There are numerous sources, just search the internet for them. Once you've established the date that you thought of your idea, you have to follow a few simple rules to avoid losing your protection. If you do not do anything to develop your idea within one year, then your idea becomes part of the public domain and you lose your right to obtain a patent.  So keep a file where you can put notes, receipts, etc. in, and at least do something that leaves a paper record you can file away in case you end up in court someday over one of your new invention ideas. If you disclose your idea in a publication like a newspaper or magazine, that starts a one year period in which you must file a patent, or you lose your right to file.

 

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Just because you have never seen your great idea in a store doesn't mean it's patentable or marketable. According to the patent office, less than 3% of issued patents ever make it to the marketplace. If an invention has ever existed, anywhere, at any time, created by any person, you can't patent it - it's already been invented! And the U.S. Patent office searches world wide when they process your patent application. You can do your own patent search using several online resources, but if you have determined that you have a viable and marketable invention, I would recommend that you hire a competent patent attorney to have a professional prior-art patent search done, to make sure your idea hasn't already been thought of, wasting your valuable time and money. Don't stop with a patent search, find and read trade journals related to the target industry, and search the internet. Maybe your great idea is in use somewhere and not patented.

 

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