Q: I have invented something that could almost be considered reinventing the wheel. Here is my question. If I built and used my own invention (not just a prototype), would I still have protection if I only have a provisional patent on it? I don’t want to manufacture it myself; I want to sell the idea to a manufacturer in the industry that it was targeted for. I also want to retain licensing rights to the invention.
A: The short answer is this: If you file a provisional patent but don’t follow up with a full application within one year, someone else could come along and grab the patent rights, and you could lose any opportunity to later file for the patent rights–regardless of whether you’re already using or selling the invention.
Selling or licensing the idea to a manufacturer could be a lucrative approach, but chances are that a manufacturer paying for those rights would want to know that they could be protected. If your time clock is running to file the full patent, I’d strongly suggested that you consult with a patent attorney to get clear guidance on your next steps and ways to structure a sale or license of your invention.
This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Basic Training, Intellectual Property. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
