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.

In the process of patenting a product, dates and deadlines can be critically important. This can kill you. It can mean that you don’t get a patent or your patent on your product is not enforceable if you miss a deadline.

The first reason that dates and deadlines are important in patenting a product is that the patent system tends to recognize the first inventor and it’s easier to prove that you are the first inventor if you filed the patent application first. I realize that it is possible for the second filer to be the first inventor, but it is always easier if you filed before the other guy.

The second reason that dates are critical is that the United States Patent and Trademark Office can decide, if you miss a deadline, that your application to patent your product has gone abandoned, and they can refuse to let you patent your product. In the process of patenting a product, there are all sorts of dates and deadlines. They range from deadlines to pay fees to deadlines to respond to correspondence from the USPTO. You need to be aware of these dates and make sure that they are handled.

There are fees during the process of patenting a product. There are also maintenance fees after you have your patent. You need to pay these fees in a timely fashion, or all of the time and expense that you have invested in patenting your product can vaporize.

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.