Let’s start with a simple understanding. If you have even the slightest suspicion that you want to patent a product, you need to hire and get legal advice from a patent lawyer or a patent agent. This blog is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer or your agent. I am not providing you with any legal advice, representation, or counsel. You and I have no attorney-client relationship. The purpose of this blog is to introduce you to the vocabulary that you will need when you got to a patent attorney and ask him to help you patent your product.
A lot of people want to know how to patent something. They’ve got some idea for a product that they think would change the world and they want to protect that idea, usually from being stolen by a large, evil corporation.
You patent something by filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and convincing the patent office to issue a United States Patent on the application. That sounds pretty simple, until you have to actually get it done. Honestly, the most easy answer to the question of “how to patent something” is to hire a patent lawyer to prepare, file and prosecute a patent application for you. You might be wondering, “why do I need a lawyer when all that he’s doing is filling out some form?” It’s really not that simple.
In answer to the question of how to patent something, the first thing that you need is a patent application. This is a document that is typically somewhere between 20 and 50 pages long and has between 5 and 10 diagrams. The document does two things. First, it explains in detailed technical terms how to make and use the invention. Second, it provides a precise legal explanation of what the invention is. Now, if writing a 50-page document sounds like something that you would never want to do for yourself, the answer to “How to patent something” is to hire a patent lawyer.
After you send your application to the patent office, usually, in fact, a couple of years after you send your application, your lawyer will carry out a series of long written arguments as to whether you deserve a patent and what it should say. This process of arguing may take a couple of years. If arguing with a federal civil servant, in writing, for a couple of years, sounds like it’s not much fun, then the answer to, “how to patent something” is to hire a patent lawyer.
So, the answer to “how do I patent something?” is “hire a patent lawyer. The patent process is complex and time consuming. Doing it right requires a lot of training and experience.
Remember: This blog is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer or your agent. I am not providing you with any legal advice, representation, or counsel.