Columbus, OH asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for Ohio

Q: How can I get my ideas patent to sell on the market I all ready have a lot of prototypes.

If the product has items they use all ready patent by someone else

1 Lawyer Answer
Kevin E. Flynn
PREMIUM
Kevin E. Flynn
Answered
  • Patents Lawyer
  • Pittsboro, NC

A: First it is important that you do NOT have any public use of your invention or prototypes. There is a razor thin exception for necessary testing but you should consult with a patent attorney before engaging in any public testing.

Second it is important that you do not have any sale of the device outside of a Non-Disclosure Agreement. A public sale ruins your option for a patent in the US and most other places. There is some small risk that a non-public sale ruins your options in the US so if you want to be careful, do not make any sales at all until you have a patent application on file.

Third, ideally you avoid any public disclosures of your idea (such as on a website). This starts a one year clock in the US but ruins your options in many other countries.

I suggest that you do some preliminary patent searching using tips found here -- http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching .

I suggest that you gather your thoughts by creating a rough draft of a provisional patent application using the tips found here http://bit.ly/Provisional_GBU .

Then I suggest you find competent patent counsel to help you navigate through this system.

I hope this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

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