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A patent refers to a set of special rights granted by a state to an inventor in exchange for the disclosure of his invention. A patent is granted for a limited period of time. Patent is a kind of intellectual property. A patent provides the inventor exclusive rights over the product or idea for a set of time. The time granted is for twenty years, till that period no one else is allowed to use the product or idea without the permission of inventor.

In the process of registering a patent, an important document is used known as a patent application. A patent application is a request in written form for the grant of a patent. It includes more than one claim related to the invention. Related information such as patent specification, official forms and content documents are attached with the application. To obtain a patent grant, a person must file an application at the patent office within the local geographical area over which coverage is related. After complying with the legal laws, a patent will be granted to the inventor for his further proceeds. A Sample patent application is of many types. Each one is specifically designed for different situations. Each application offers different benefits as per the nature of patent and therefore requires professional assistance from patent agencies, such as, patent invention InventHelp agency. Following are the types of patent application such as:

1. Standard application: It is a kind of patent application consists of written description of the invention and necessary related parts. The grant of a patent under standard application depends on the outcome given by the patent office. In some countries, it is considered as a non- provisional application.

2. Provisional applications: A provisional patent application is used for obtaining a filing date and also securing it by placing an application at the patent office. It protects the interest of investors for a period of 12 months. Also, it is less expensive and does not require any legal assistance. It also offers a status of patent pending to inventors while they complete their filing process. Provisional patent applications must be sent through the post.

3. Continuation applications: It refers to the process of filing in continuation of a previous application. These applications are of two types such as continuation-in-part and continuation. A continuation application is specially used for granting additional claims for an invention. On the other hand, a continuation-in-part patent application is used for disclosing new matter such as numeric figures or written descriptions.

4. Divisional applications: A divisional application is obtained by dividing an existing application. The subject matter of the parent application is divided and disclosed in the divisional application. It is used for obtaining additional patent right in regard of the original one.

Many companies, such as InventHelp patent an idea agency, are there in the market offering legal services related to patents, trademarks and copyrights. They provide Services related to investors protection and many more.

Any patent application, even a provisional patent application takes time and money. So how do you decide if you need a patent?

General Guidelines

Ultimately, only you, the inventor, can decide, but here are some general guidelines to help you decide for yourself.

Is There A Reasonable Chance Your Idea Is Sufficiently Novel (New) To Qualify For Patent Protection?

If not, then preparing any patent application is probably not a good idea.

Do You Need To Be Talking To Outside Entities Such As Potential Buyers, Sellers, Or Investors About Your Technology?

If so, filing can protect your patent rights in the event one of your contacts develops the technology as a result of talking to you.

Does Your Idea Have Potential Commercial Value?

Are You Sure Or Can You Determine The Commercial Value Within A Year?

If the answer is yes to either, then patent protection may be a good idea. Hiring a patenting agency, such as InventHelp patent invention agency, in this step would be wise.

Note: A patent does not make a commercially unviable product viable. The patent office is full of patents having no commercial value. Some have said that 90% or more of issued patents have no commercial value.

Have You Identified Who Would Make, Who Would Buy And Who Would Sell Your Technology?

If not, you really need to do your homework and answer these questions for yourself in order to make an informed decision on pursing a patent.

Can You Afford To Pursue A Patent?

Money is generally tight for individuals and small businesses. The cost of preparing and filing a patent application, whether it is $300 for a provisional patent application or $5000 for a full utility patent application is an investment but also needs to be viewed as “risk capital”. Filing a patent application does NOT guarantee a patent will ever be issued. But, in order to do the best you can to get that patent issued it is highly advisable to have a professional patent agency, such as InventHelp patent an idea agency, by your side.

Provisional patent applications can minimize the cost for the short term, but at some point, more money will be needed to secure patent rights. The reality is that patenting is not inexpensive.

It is not easy to obtain a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Therefore, the process of properly drafting and filing a patent application is critical in regards to the ultimate disposition of the application. Every ounce of care and diligence must go into the patent drafting and the patent filing process.

Below you’ll find information regarding the drafting and filing of a patent application. You’ll also find information regarding what you should do to prepare for the patent application drafting process, what information will need to be included on the patent application, what initial steps you should take in furtherance of your patent application, the options available for filing your patent application and how you should proceed if you want to be sure to give yourself the best chance to have your application approved.

Initial Patent Application Preparation

The first step towards drafting a patent application seems quite simple, but it could be the most important step you take. You need to gather as much relevant information as possible in regards to your invention, as any or all of it could be useful when the application is drafted for review by the USPTO.

Examples of information you’ll need to gather include:

• The invention’s specifications
• The invention’s use
• The invention’s novel qualities
• The date of the invention
• Notes from your invention formulation process
• Information regarding your invention design process
• How you will use your invention in a commercial sense

Assuming you choose to work with a patent agency, such as patent service InventHelp, or an attorney, he or she will need to be able to review this information in order to properly position it in your patent application, and during this step, it’s better to err on the side of including too much information.

Prepare Your Invention’s Official Specification

You likely already have a draft of your invention’s specifications on-hand, but many times those specifications exist in the forms of loosely-gathered notes, charts and numerical equations. The specifications on a patent application must include the following information:

• A description of what the invention does
• The features that make it novel, non-obvious and useful
• The title of the invention
• The background and summary of the invention
• Descriptions and drawings or photos of the invention
• Claims

State Your Claims

The claims made on a patent application are thought by many to be the most critical aspect of the overall presentation to the USPTO. Every application must include at least one claim. The reason is that claims define, in technical and in legal terms, the extent of the protection that the invention should enjoy. These claims should be specific in nature, including the mention of what the product does, how it works and what would be constituted as an infringement should the patent be granted.

Additionally, there are two types of claims:

• Independent claims – These are claims that stand on their own and should be largely self-explanatory in nature.
• Dependent claims – These are more complicated, and they depend on either another dependent claim or on an independent claim. They are sometimes difficult to understand, which is why a professional should be involved in the drafting of claims.

The Oath

Signing the oath on the application is a relatively simple process, but it must be done in the presence of a notary so that the USPTO can assume that the application should be given the same weight as testimony in court.

Complete the Application Data Sheet

This is another relatively simple document, and it’s intended to gather basic information about the invention and biographical information for the inventor who is submitting the application. This information is used when the application is entered into the USPTO’s database.

Filing a Patent Application

Filing a patent application is also relatively simple. You can either send the application to the USPTO or you can file it electronically. Regardless of how you do this, the date you file is important, as it could determine whether you or someone else who claims to have the same invention is granted the patent based on the ‘first to file’ standard.

Summary

Drafting a patent application is a complicated and meticulous process, and you should start by gathering all relevant information regarding your invention, compiling a thorough specifications breakdown of your invention, state your claims properly, complete the oath and complete the date sheet. You can file the application either via mail or electronically, but in order to make sure you avoid unnecessary mistakes, contact the patent invention InventHelp offices today to schedule an initial consultation.

Wherever you live, the chances are that it has a government agency called a ‘patent office’, or similar. There are also patent agencies for larger areas, such as the European Patent Office or, ultimately, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).

To begin with, you should apply for a patent at the patent office for your country – it’s best to get a lawyer to guide you through this, and make them sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement, a contract saying they won’t tell anyone else about your invention). Depending on your country, this can either be absurdly cheap or really expensive.

Once you’ve done that, you generally have only one year to file for any patents you might want in the rest of the world. You used to have to apply individually in every country where you wanted a patent (this got very painful and expensive very quickly). Now, though, you can now take advantage of the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty), which allows you to apply once and eventually receive protection in all of the 126 countries that have signed up to the treaty. For more information read – how to patent a product with InventHelp.

You can apply for a PCT patent either through your own country’s patent office, or through the WIPO’s office in Geneva. It is again important to stress that you should really get a lawyer if you plan to go through this process, as international patent law isn’t especially intuitive or easy.

You should note that if your patent application is refused at any stage, you won’t be getting your fees back – although you can usually apply again, if you want to pay again.

What if I Don’t Get a Patent?

If you’ve looked at the prices, you might be wondering: what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen to me if I didn’t get a patent? The only answer I can give is that anyone you happen to explain the idea to can utilized it, and you won’t be able to do a thing. What’s more, once your invention does come on the market, and if it is proven to make money from your home based business, success will attract many imitators, and they’ll probably be able to produce your invention cheaper by sacrificing quality as described in how to file a patent with InventHelp article.

Essentially, a patent gives you protection against competition, or someone use your idea for starting a home based business – but if you think you could do perfectly well in the market no matter how many imitators you had, then maybe patents aren’t for you.

In a nutshell, a patent search helps you not waste your development and investment dollars. The first step in the patenting process is to have a professional patentability search completed to determine if your invention is patentable. For example, a search might reveal pre-existing patents or “prior art” that would prevent you from obtaining a patent on the product in whole or in part.

Without knowing this at the outset, an ill-prepared business or individual, may waste time and resources into developing a product, later to realize that it use an already existing patent or is not capable of patent protection as seen on this post – How to patent a product with InventHelp.

A search can also benefit you by acquiring the knowledge gained before you. Indeed, the patent law system itself was created for the purposes of encouraging creativity and improving on what has come before. In exchange for the inventor making public the information regarding the useful invention, the government provides the owner a limited monopoly whereas he/she can exclude others from making, using and selling the patented invention.

Thus a patent search may actually save time and money by allowing a business to benefit from the teachings of past patents, whereby allowing the business to concentrate instead on its efforts to improve on a current pre-existing technology, instead of re-inventing it.

Lastly, in order to maximize the results of the patent search, the author recommends proper review by a patent attorney who can discern the specific nuances of the search and provide an objective opinion as to the results. For more information please refer to this article – How to patent something with InventHelp.