March 2020

Never having paid any interest to the field of patency, one would never know that there are so many steps in getting an idea patented. Due to the reason that there are so many steps of patency there are also many different jobs that go with these steps. There is a job for every different step in the process when you decide to patent an idea. First let’s understand the word patent.

Should you have a unique invention idea that no one else in the world has thought of or rather has invented and you are sure is going to work, you need to make this idea your own.

Patenting an idea means that you are lawfully making this idea your and preventing anybody else stealing your idea. As has already been said there are a number of steps that one needs to follow in order to patent an idea. The first step is drawing up an image of your idea. This image is known as a patent figure. There are individuals that specialize in draughting up patent figures. These individuals are aware of the requirements of the patent process and will know exactly what needs to be displayed in your drawing.

After you have completed you patent figure, you need to then submit the figure to the patent office. The patent office will then assign an examiner who will then inspect your patent figure. The examiner looks at every aspect of this figure and then decides if the figure and the idea is worth patenting. These examiners are qualified to make engineering decisions to determine if you design or idea will work as written in https://southfloridareporter.com/how-inventhelp-can-assist-with-new-invention-ideas/ article.

These examiners have different analysts who work with them to understand the different components of the idea. Each analyst has a different expertise that qualifies them to make different decisions on whether certain elements of the idea will work or will not work. These analysts then help the legal department of lawyers that deal with patent law to understand why or why not the idea will be successful and if it should receive a patent or not.

The PTO maintains a library of documents for the public to preview. Although a search by an applicant is not required under the law, it is very useful to locate relevant prior art prior to spending a significant sum in preparing and filing an application.

The prior art located in a search helps an applicant to build a stronger case of patentability before the PTO.

A search is typically conducted by a professional, known as “Searcher”, who is familiar with the PTO’s system of classification. The entire PTO is divided in 3 major categories: electrical, chemical and mechanical as stated in https://www.canyon-news.com/how-inventhelp-can-assist-you-as-a-new-inventor/106365 article.

All of the technologies, covered by more than 6 million issued patents, are divided into more than 436 classes, that are further sub-divided into over 200,000 subclasses. Conducting a good and thorough search is an art and skill which is acquired over several years of experience.

Although searching can be done by accessing the PTO’s website www.uspto.gov, users should be aware of the limitations of the on-line records, for example, not including foreign documents.

The user may review some foreign documents by visiting www.delphion.com, but the U.S. documents in this database only cover the period of 1971-present.

A search by the PTO Examiner, however, covers all documents in the PTO library, from the 1st patent issued in 1790 to present.

A search, not only covers the entire available records at the PTO, but is conducted by professionals, such as InventHelp, who have years of experience and know how to review complex patent-related documents.

Patents

For an invention, a patent is an allowance giving property rights to the inventor for a limited period of time, to exclude or prohibit other stakeholders from remaking the invention, using it or trading with it for a profit.

The office of patent and trademark in the U.S. determines whether or not a patent should be given or granted for each case and application. However, enforcement is usually up to the holder of the patent to safeguard his or her intellectual property rights if this office does grant the patent as explained on https://www.macobserver.com/why-turn-to-inventhelp-with-your-tech-invention-idea/.

A new patent generally has a limited lifespan. For instance, in the United States a patent can only be held for no more than 20 years from the date of application.

For some special cases the duration can be longer or shorter, but one important aspect about patents is that they are only enforceable within the territories of the country which they were granted or have a special treaty with the country where the patent was issued regarding patents.

Trademarks also Service Marks

Trademarks are symbols, names or words which are used in commercial activities to distinguish goods made by one manufacturer from those made by another. They are also used to indicate who made them or the source of such goods.

Service Marks are essentially the same as Trademarks, the only difference being that they represent services rather than goods as you can read from https://azbigmedia.com/business/why-new-inventors-turn-to-inventhelp-for-support/ post.

Trademarks contain rights that can be utilized to prevent other people from using similar marks on their goods or services, but unlike patents cannot prevent them from making or selling the said goods or offer the same services using a different mark. Trademarks and Service Marks used in foreign trade can be registered with patent offices.

An infringement opinion is performed for an entirely different purpose: That is, to determine whether the invention will infringe a currently valid patent. While an infringement opinion may be rendered for a product to be made, used, offered for sale, sold, or imported into the United States, it may also be made based on patents of a particular foreign country.

However for the sake of determining whether an invention would result in infringement under United States laws, only United States patents must be reviewed. As a cautionary measure, published patent applications may also be reviewed, as these may later result in patents that could be infringed.

An infringement opinion maybe related to reviewing an invention versus a particular patent that is known to exist.

This will typically occur when someone is threatened by a competitor who is asserting that they have a patent on the invention, or where an inventor wishes to know whether the practice of their invention would infringe upon specific known patent or patents.

Alternately, a broad infringement opinion often called a “clearance opinion” may be rendered in which a general search is made to locate all patents related to the subject invention and then the subject invention is subsequently compared to the claims of those patents found.

Product Clearance Opinion

A particular type of opinion is rendered to determine non-infringement of patents related to a particular new product that may be under consideration for introduction to the marketplace. Such opinions are typically quite costly (but far less costly than payment of damages for infringement) are usually undertaken only by well-established companies. The company will usually know its main competitors and will often be very aware of new patents and publications issued to those competitors.

Accordingly, the product clearance opinion may be restricted to such a group of patents. Ultimately, a broad search may be made to determine any apparently valid patents or publications that could potentially lead to infringement actions against the company.

Field Search

Occasionally, an inventor wishes to know generally the scope of patents related to his invention. An inventor may wish to identify deficiencies in the current patent literature, identifying opportunities for an improvement. In such case, a general field search may be made to merely obtaining related patents without an associated opinion.

Such searches are useful to the inventor in the formative stages to guide the inventive process. Accordingly, the inventor may order a general field search to identify a variety of patents related to the subject invention as explained on https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/gotconcept/the-next-big-thing-in-invention/.

Foreign Searches

In order to locate references such as patents and published patent applications as part of a foreign search, it is typically necessary to utilize the services of foreign search firms who are familiar with the procedures of their particular countries.

With the invention of plastics and plastic injection molding, the plastic industry is able to mass produce products quickly and inexpensively. For us older generation the movie “The Graduate” had us realize the importance of the plastic industry. Because of injection molding, plastic can be made into almost any shape for almost any type of use. The first custom plastic parts made from injection molding were buttons we use for our clothes, hair combs and collar stays. Items could be mass produced very inexpensively.

Injection molding has kept up with the latest technologies, along with the raw materials used. There are many different types of plastics that can be used for injection molding. Such as thermoplastics like nylon, polyethylene, polystyrene and resins are used in injection molding. A quick description of plastic injection molding – plastic molding uses an injection machine that melts the plastic then injects it into the mold, there is a great variety of products that are made with this process. Think of all the household goods we use that are manufactured with this process. Some plastic materials are stronger than steel and weigh less. People buy so many things because plastic injection molding is economical and very efficient. So many things are made from this process, either personal, for business, leisure or for their home. It has created many markets and business, the only real disadvantage to injection molding is the start up cost of designing and making of the mold.

Plastic injection molding manufactures make more than just household products. Parts that are made from plastic injection moldings are in automobiles, air travel, communication devices, furniture, research, construction and the list goes on.

ISO, which stands for International Organization for Standardization began in 1946 to set a standard for international businesses. When a plastic injection molding manufacture has the ISO 9001 label this means the manufacturer is following a set of international standards for its management and manufacturing as verification of good quality management practices. Part of being an ISO manufacturer is to let your customers know that you follow quality control processes that produce quality products.