Friday, December 01, 2006

Useful resources to help support your invention idea.

Useful resources to help support your invention idea.
https://www.inventnow.org/InventNow/resources.jsp

learn as much as you can about about the patent process and intellectual property rights

If you have questions about the patent process it is strongly recommended that you seek advice from a qualified patent attorney or licensed patent agent. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) maintains a roster of both attorneys and patent agents who are registered to practice before the USPTO. Only attorneys or agents who are registered to practice before the USPTO are permitted to file and prosecute patent applications on behalf of others.

Information on Patents, Patents Pending and Provisional Patent Applications
One of the requirements for filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is that the invention must be novel. The USPTO will not consider an invention to be novel if the application for the patent is made more than one year after sale, public disclosure, use or offer of sale of the invention in the United States. In other words, an inventor has one year from the first sale or public disclosure of their invention to file a patent application. If the Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge is the first public disclosure of their invention idea and if the inventor plans to file a patent for the invention, then the inventor must file a full patent application within one year after they appear at the exposition.

Patent
A patent gives the owner of the patent the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling exactly the invention that is covered by the claims made in their patent for a limited period of time. It is up to the patent owner to actually enforce those rights.

Patent Pending
The term patent pending may be marked upon a product as soon as, but never before, the patent application is submitted to the USPTO. This term serves as a notice to others that a patent has been applied for and also serves as a warning to others that a patent on the invention may be issued shortly. It is illegal to refer to an invention as "patent pending" where no provisional patent application or regular patent application has been filed.

Provisional Patent Application
The provisional patent application provides the applicant/inventor with a date of priority or a placeholder for purposes of filing a full patent application. Just as the word "provisional" suggests, the provisional patent application is only a "temporary" application. The inventor has only 12 months from the date of filing the provisional patent application to file a full or "non-provisional" patent application. The 12-month period cannot be extended under any circumstances.

Independent inventors should fully understand that a provisional patent application will not mature into a granted patent without further submissions to the USPTO by the inventor. Some invention promotion firms misuse the provisional patent application process to mislead people into thinking they have a patent, often leaving the inventor without a patent and without a means of ever obtaining a patent.

Understand that a person whose invention is "in use" or "on sale" in the United States during the one year after the provisional patent application is filed will lose the benefit of the provisional application filing date if they fail to file a full or non-provisional patent application during that one year period. In addition, the applicant may also lose the right to ever obtain a patent for the invention.

For more information on the Provisional Patent Application, see the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm

For additional information on the patent process, Invent Now, Inc. highly encourages all entrants to at the very least, visit the following USPTO websites:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/index.htm
and
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/pacmain.html

Resources for Inventors
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Inventor Resource Page - The authoritative source on protecting your invention idea. www.uspto.gov
  • National Inventors Hall of Fame® Foundation and Invent Now®, Inc. - The co-presenter of the Modern Marvels Invent Now® Challenge and the premier organization in America dedicated to honoring and fostering creativity and invention. www.invent.org
  • United Inventors Association - This site allows you to search for local inventor associations and provides information on inventor scam groups. www.uiausa.org
  • Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) are located in virtually every state.
PTDLs are are a nationwide network of public, state and academic libraries that are designated to disseminate patent and trademark information and to support the diverse intellectual property needs of the public. By using the collections available at a PTDL and obtaining help from the trained librarians, you may be able to determine if someone else has already patented your invention idea. For a complete list of PTDLs visit http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/index.html

Glossaries
U.S. Department of State Glossary of Intellectual Property Terms
Patent Searches Databases
Provisional Patent Application (PPA) List of Registered Patent Attorneys and Agents by Geographical Area
http://des.uspto.gov/OEDCI/

Legal Resources, Patent Counsel and Non-Profits
Patent Filing and Legal Resources
National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation
  • National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation - Each year new innovators are inducted into this national foundation, which also operates other invention recognition and education programs.
  • Collegiate Inventors Competition - A nationwide program honoring inventors at the collegiate level, sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation

Activities and Programs for Kid Inventors

posted by AKA : Aztlan Agabatti @ 9:31 PM   0 comments

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