Patent attorneys are lawyers that have specialized training and experience in order to help you the inventor to protect your ideas and inventions. They have the practiced ability to obtain a patent for your invention that will likely withstand all challenges. While it is necessary for you to work with your chosen attorney at each step of the process, they have a very high probability of obtaining a defendable patent that will be a good foundation for your startup business.
While you may consider preparing the patent application without a patent attorney, it is a perilious road. Following are some of the skills you must master in order to do an adequate job preparing a patent:
These skills are vital if you want a solid patent that can be defended. However there is another consideration that must be addressed
Inventors of new inventions and startups are facing new challenges from both the United States Supreme Court and Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision in KSR v. Teleflex that significantly raises the requirementfor patenting an invention, and gives the United States Patent Office broad new powers to reject inventions as unpatentable based on the patent examiner's opinion that the invention is obvious. Congress is also seeking to pass new patent legislation that has been crafted by lobbyist seeking to weaken patent protection.
While patent protection for new inventions has always been a critical part of business, patent preparers are now, more than ever, carefully crossing treacherous minefields. The good news is that risk and reward is nothing new to businesses, and is particularly familiar to those with earth shaking ideas While the KSR decision may make it harder to obtain a patent, newly issued patent should have an increased likelihood of being upheld in court, which in turn means a greater likelihood of licensing or otherwise profiting from a patent.
Patent law encompasses thousands of volumes of books. One volume alone, the Manual of Patent Examination Procedure (MPEP) encompasses thousands of pages of rules. Add to that many volumes of case law and statutes and the task of obtain a strong patent alone become nearly impossible. In addition those with new inventions and startups often don't realize that not all patents are equally strong. Patent that are not written well may not hold up in court even if they are granted by the United States Patent Office.
Another treacherous route many startups and those with new inventions take is to not turn to patent protection at all, but rather proceed to the market without a patent. While this is certainly an option for many startups and those with new inventions, the generics industry has strong incentive to rip off the new invention. Indeed existing industries often oppose startups by delaying the first to market advantage through legislation, by creating fear, uncertainty and doubt in the minds of potential buyers, and through frivolous lawsuits. Without strong patent protection to fight back with, large businesses often prevail against the small inventor with a new invention and his startup.
ln order for you to minimize the risk involved in obtaining, licensing, or otherwise profiting from a patent, you should turn to patent attorneys who are intimately familiar with the new patent laws and how they affect the process of your obtaining a patent. Each of your business decisions starts and ends with evaluating the risk and reward. Not all risks pay off and some rewards do not have a large enough return. The goal of patent attorneys for you the inventor is to help you evaluate your invention. Retaining a patent attorney can cost a sigificant amount of money. However, it is usually worth it in the long run to have someone to help you minimize the risks and maximize the rewards.
Mike was a patent examiner at the United States Patent Office. While there he examined over 300 patent applications. This experience has helped him to understand all the subtleties of getting a patent. You want that experience on your side.
Mike is extraordinarily creative in finding patentable features. Sometimes it requires thinking outside of the box to find the patentable features of an invention. He has an expertise at finding ways to get patents on new inventions that other patent professionals would not consider.
For a free consultation with Mike about your invention fill out and submit the form below
