Q: Hello, I would like to enquire if using a specific type of solid fuel in a piston engine is uniquely patentable?

A: This is a public forum and not the place to share your innovative concepts. I encourage you to share the nuances of your idea only with a patent attorney that you are interviewing to hire. The attorney-client privilege attaches early so you can share confidential information to interview attorneys.

Thus, the attorney will ask you for a high level description before you share any secrets. It should be enough to say a piston engine using solid fuel to see if there are conflicts.

If it would be non-obvious to use that specific fuel in a piston engine or if you have to modify the engine to use that fuel, then it is very possible that this idea is patentable. To have a better understanding, one would need to look at the relevant prior art to see how much the prior art suggests what you did.

I hope that this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

A: A patent attorney will do a patentability search for you to make sure that there is no relevant literature ( patents or other publications) that would prevent you from obtaining a patent. On your system. If no relevant prior art is found, the attorney will prepare and file your patent application.

For your own protection, you should disclose your idea solely to your attorney and not disclose it in a public forum. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Liliana Di Nola-Baron

A: Keeping your idea confidential is crucial – because certain disclosures may exclude you from obtaining a patent. Also, a patentability search can be performed. Finally, with a thorough work up, it can be determined if part of your invention is patentable – even if another part is already known or obvious.

This answer includes generalizations and there are many caveats. This answer does not form an attorney client relationship. Consider hiring an attorney to analyze the specific facts to your situation.