What is a Patent?

Answer:
A Patent is documentation, be it textual descriptions

or drawn schematics that are filed with the United States Patent Office. In general, it's a way to protect an invention from others that may want to duplicate it and profit from your hard work.

Inventions take a lot of work, you'll spend countless hours doing research and development, you'll likely invest a lot of your time and money to ensure the invention will work. The last thing you need is Joe Blow borrowing your invention and profiting from your R&D and your investment.

A Patent protects your invention. Having a live patent on a product says that if someone uses your invention you can demand they cease and desist or pay a royalty. There are live and dead patents. Live patents are currently active where dead patents are not. The process of patenting an invention is quite substantial. I would recommend hiring a Patent Attorney to draft the Patent

A Patent Application is submitted to the United States Patent Office. The Patent Application should be as specific and as detailed as possible to help ensure the liklihood the patent is granted. Include designs as well as any and all documentation that may help the USPTO in the process.

Patenting an invention can be costly. On average, a Patent Attorney can perform the necessary procedures for $5,000-$15,000 depending on the complexity of the invention.

A patent is good for up to 20 years and can be transferred or sold to a new owner.

Perform a Patent Search. Application.


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