How to Patent an Idea

We have a lot of clients who ask us as their attorneys specializing in patent law “How to Patent an Idea?”   It’s a great question.  Unfortunately, the answer isn’t always as simple as you would hope.  Patenting an idea involves a variety of different steps which will likely require the help of a licensed and experienced patent lawyer.

There are a number of general questions which you will want to ask your patent attorney before spending time and money on the idea of the patenting an idea.  The first is whether or not your idea qualifies as an invention.  Where you the first person to come up with this idea?  Is the idea you want to patent novel and unique?

A good patent lawyer will be able to help you understand whether or not your idea is worth patenting as an initial step.  Assuming you get over this first patent hurdle, you will then need to make sure that you were, in fact, the first person to come up with the idea and that you are not infringing on someone else’s patent.  The way a patent attorney goes about this particular aspect of patent due diligence is highly specialized.  Sometimes it involves an analysis of the patent database to see what previous patents were filed.  Sometimes, internet research is required to see if your idea has already found its way into the market.  Regardless, you don’t want to spend money and attorneys’ fees on a patent attorney in getting your patent application prepared until you have a reasonable belief that you are going to be able to make it through the patent process.

Feel free to contact one of our patent lawyers to better understand the patent process and how to patent an idea.