Anyone get a Patent?

[cnelk]

Anyone ever get a patent?

Ive designed and made an ATV/UTV attachment that is pretty useful
I showed the final product to a couple close friends and they suggested I get a patent.

But, I have no idea where or how to start that process.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[hunt1up]

We file for patents every now and again at our family manufacturing business. We only pursue them when we think they're pretty ironclad. I'd probably call around to some lawyers in your area and see who specializes in patents or who they can refer you to that does. It might be cheaper to have a lawyer do a patent search for "prior art" to see if something similar was ever patented, rather than you filing for a patent and it getting denied for the same reason. But you'll need to verify those costs with someone that knows better than me.

I'd say as a ballpark it costs probably $10,000 to get a patent done. But it could be more or less depending on the complexity and time taken. More importantly, we've always been told "Don't bother with a patent if you don't have the means to defend it."

Maybe a laywer on here can weigh in. My opinion is purely based on our experiences and I'm sure it can vary widely.

 

[LCsmith]

In addition to what was mentioned above. You will need to file for a provisional patent first, followed by a non-provisional which will be reviewed by the patent office to confirm its legitimacy as well as whether there is prior art already in the market or previously patented. I am a design engineer and we have a patent attorney that handles most of the details when it comes to filing a patent for our designs.

Do you plan to manufacture the design? As @hunt1up said, it takes a lot of muscle (lawyers and money) to defend patents.

Provisional Application for Patent

Guide to a provisional patent application, which allows you to file without a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art) statement.

www.uspto.gov

 

[Team4LongGun]

Many years ago I started with a patent attorney. They have insight that was both realistic and valuable.
This should cost hundreds for a consultation and you will learn the process, costs involved, and get a professional opinion on how good your idea is.
This is much cheaper than going all in blind so to speak where good or bad idea aside, it will run you thousands.
The most important thing you will learn from patent attorney is-has someone already done it? Is your idea/design actually unique? Is it covered under someone else’s patent?
A lot of times just because there is not a product on the market like your idea, doesn’t mean it’s not patented already.

 

[hunt1up]

Many years ago I started with a patent attorney. They have insight that was both realistic and valuable.
This should cost hundreds for a consultation and you will learn the process, costs involved, and get a professional opinion on how good your idea is.
This is much cheaper than going all in blind so to speak where good or bad idea aside, it will run you thousands.
The most important thing you will learn from patent attorney is-has someone already done it? Is your idea/design actually unique? Is it covered under someone else’s patent?
A lot of times just because there is not a product on the market like your idea, doesn’t mean it’s not patented already.

Very true. Our lawyers have done patent searches and come back with prior art from old patents from the 1950s for things that never went to market that John Smith thought up in his garage.

 

[chaser_2332]

Disclaimer —no personal experience—

But i have had friends that have went through the process and at the end of the day just feel they wasted a ton of money.

 

[bozeman]

Heed the advice, if you cant defend it, dont get it. I went down this road about 2.5 years ago.

 

[Poser]

No experience with patents but lots of experience with trademarks and copyright law. Patents are much more complicated and should only be handled by a lawyer.

 

[SoCalHunter]

No experience with patents but lots of experience with trademarks and copyright law. Patents are much more complicated and should only be handled by a lawyer.

Only use a patent lawyer.

 

[Dos Perros]

You don't need to do a provisional patent first.

I agree on the points on being willing to defend your patent. My take: be first to market, have good marketing, a strong value proposition, best-in-class customer service, and sell sell sell.

Edited to add: if there is any significant market size for your product, China will 100% copy it, patent or not. You should consider if you'd rather spend your time money and emotion fighting infringement, or otherwise improving your business.

 

[jKsled]

It's a lot of money for a framed certificate. Chinese company stole the concept & ran with it. We were a small biz at the time with ~40 employees, end of the day it wasn't worth the money to defend it.

My advice is make it a business and be first to market...

 

[Billy Goat]

Just slap patent pending on it.

Then send cease and desist letters.

 

[Sherman]

Take it to Shark Tank.

 

[cnelk]

I don’t think China would be interested in producing this. The freight would be too much.

It isn’t a plastic GPS a holder or something. It’s more of an implement attachment

 

[Laramie]

I don’t think China would be interested in producing this. The freight would be too much.

It isn’t a plastic GPS a holder or something. It’s more of an implement attachment

If you need a manufacturer in the Midwest, would be glad to discuss possibilities. We are located in Nebraska. We have some experience with patents, both defending and initiating them and have a good patent attorney that we work with. Glad to sign an NDA if you want to discuss possibilities. Our website is breeza.com if you want to check us out. Send a PM if interested.

 

[Rock-o]

A past employer of mine patented several tools (software) that I (or my colleagues and I) developed. But I had little to do with it other than documentation that our lawyers needed.

We then kept our ideas more private though we turned a couple ideas into Open Source projects... we got in some hot water. Lawyers got involved. We prevailed.

[Redacted] Fortune 500 companies.

 

[Kevin_t]

Get a patent attorney you are comfortable with. Poorly written patents are not worth anything.

 

[Phaseolus]

I’ve had several pvp’s, Plant Variety Patents, over the years. Your invention must be iron-clad different than anything else.

 

[Cowbell]

Friends of mine developed a pretty cool ag product with a patent and it is now widely used and highly thought of. And they are yet to make a dime due to litigation costs defending the patent. They wish they would have never pursued a patent to begin with.

 

[wapitibob]

I invented a shoot thru system back before I went to work for a bow mfg. Got mostly thru the process with Coleman lawyers when marketing decided nobody would shoot an arrow between the cables and scrapped it. 10 years later Jim Despart did a similar thing and sold it to Martin.

The latest was an adjustable load lifter system for the Mystery Ranch Nice frame. Did the provisional patent thing then decided I wouldn't make enough off it and let it go. Oneiros ended up patenting the same thing a few years later. MR ended up making changes from their original and created their "pop up" version.