Q: Can you patent a mixture of a raw material and synthetic material?
I have an invention I am working on that combines two materials. One being a natural raw material and another that is a synthetic material. The product has a specific function and structure but the materials together have never been used in any application. The synthetic material I know is patented. If i want to patent my product, should I also patent the material mixture it is made out of to create another product to manufacture?
A:
The short answer is that if what you have is a valuable idea, that you patent it from each viable angle to make it more difficult for someone to design around your idea.
Having claims of different scopes of the product, the material in the product, the method of making the product, and perhaps even the method of using the product may all be options. There may be yet other options that a patent attorney would suggest after you discuss your product in detail.
It sounds like you need to have a detailed discussion with a patent attorney with the right technical background and that has your trust.
You may streamline the conversation with the patent attorney if you do some searching to see how other people have described using a similar product. Here is a link to my slides on patent searching so you can look for yourself.
http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching
I hope this helps.
Kevin E Flynn
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