Has anyone ever patented something?

[ebtek]

Anyone have experience going through a patent process?

I have an idea that i want to patent and license to the toy industry.

How much does it cost and how long does it take?

can i search existing patents myself? in order to cut down on the lawyer's time for having them do it? and if so, where do i check?

looking to patent in Canada and the US. unless it's not too much more, i'd probably not patent world-wide, only to cut down on costs. but on the flip side, do most major toy companies have a presence world wide? and can they find a way around a NA patent?

 

[atinmich]

I have some patents that I have submitted at my company. You can go to uspto.gov and poke around the site and see if you can find any similar work.

Most likely, you will need to find a patent attorney to do a search for you and to review whether or not your idea is patenable.

It can take some time to have a patent issued. Because this all worked through patent attorneys for me I dont know all the details. We just disclosed our ideas and the pa wrote it all and submitted on our behalf. I'm sure you can probably try to do this on your own but beware that you could just spin your wheels working through the government "system"

Wish I could give you more details but at least it's a start.

Good luck.

 

[RatCat]

Check out inventnet.com and look around. Follow link to the forum and search for discussions on toy inventions. This one of the best invention info sites going.

 

[ebtek]

thanks atinmich.

while a person might be able to do it themselves, i agree something as important as a patent is best handled by a professional. not only would it likely take me a lot longer to do the process myself, i would want to make sure the patent is tight as hell, and not easily circumvented.

i remember an episode of dragons den someone patented a pot with a lid that twists so it's held in place, and a hole on the side so you can pour the water out. the dragons thought it was a great idea until it was learned that one of the big cooking companies created and patented a pot with a lid that twists and is held in place, and has holes in the LID so you can pour the water out....

 

[ebtek]

thanks guys. ill check out those sites.

what am i looking at, ballpark, in terms of getting the patent search, and patten done? 5k?

 

[bizzykehl]

we were looking into doing it ourselves a few years ago and its about $1500 without an attorney... the patent office is legally obliged to help you every step of the way.. but obviously youll want a lawyer to look over everything.

 

[phillian]

@ebtek if you have some specific questions w/r/t the patenting process, let me know. I used to be an IP Paralegal for a few of the big 6 law firms - specifically filing and helping to prosecute patent applications before the USPTO.

I can't answer anything regarding substantive issues like claim writing, but I can answer just about anything pertaining to the process, timeline, paperwork that needs to be filed, etc.

Same for trademark and copyright applications.
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In general, the timeline for a patent will vary. The USPTO search (http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html) is a little rudimentary and difficult to navigate if you aren't familiar with the search fields, but it is comprehensive. Alternatively, look at http://www.google.com/patents and http://www.freepatentsonline.com for a search in your Art field.

If you are attempting to patent a game you'll want to differentiate if you are patenting a method of making/ playing the game or a simple design for what it will look like. Design patents are faster to issue but may not cover what you need. If you are unsure, this is something to ask an attorney. (I know quite a few, PM me for names numbers. I know one off the top of my head that will give you a lot of info for free over the phone because he's a great guy but a terrible businessman).

Current patent application filing fees are here: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee2009september15.htm This is not inclusive of attorney preparation, filing, and maintenance fees. This will vary according to your subject matter, complexity of the patent, and the attorney time involved.

Patent timelines will vary by art group. If you are doing something tech related you will be looking at 3-6 years from the filing of the nonprovisional patent application. Design is probably in the 2-3 year time frame. Maybe less if you get lucky.

Regardless, once you apply for an application you have legal protections from that day (your priority date).

Hard to give you much more info without specifics, but this should be a start.

 

[seous]

I've patented mah dick. It's slogan is "EEEKKKK!", because when the ladies see it, they know all hope is lost.

On a more serious note, no, I have not patented anything. I've thought of patenting a Photoshop-like software I made. Could've been huge, but PS CS4 came out the same year and I knew the software would be overshadowed by it. So I just sold it and the rights to some Australian dude who apparently died a month after I gave it to him. Maybe I'll tweak it, patent it, and release it in a few years.