Tips and Strategies for your Invention

1. When inspiration hits and you come up with a brilliant idea, note it before moving further. The record of the invention should be written in ink and include the following information:

• a clear description of the idea,
• the date,
• your signature, and

The signatures of two people you trust who have “witnessed and understood” your invention and the dates they sign.

2. Make a prototype as quickly as possible to turn your concept into an actual product.

3. Keep your distance. Do not discuss your idea with anybody who is not bound by a nondisclosure agreement.

4. Maintain thorough, accurate written records, including:

• A written lab book or journal, updated as you work on your innovation, details each day you performed something and outlines your efforts to bring your invention from concept to reality (including test results, experiments, and modifications).

Note: Have two witnesses sign and date your record book, declaring that they “witnessed and comprehended” the labor you did to construct and test your innovation.

• All correspondence (including e-mails!) and receipts related to your innovation.

5. Please don’t put too much effort into your creation until you know whether or not it will sell successfully.

• According to a proposed rule of thumb, the total sales of your idea should be at least twenty times the cost of developing and patenting it.
• Include the cost of filing fees, hiring a lawyer to assist you with your patent file, and the person who develops the drawings for your invention in your cost calculation.

6. Examine whether your invention will be eligible for a patent. Please respond to the following questions:

• Is your invention novel?
• What is the prior art?
• Suppose you are improving on something that has already been patented. Is your invention a new physical feature, a combination of prior separate features, or new use of a prior feature?
• If you are improving something that has already been patented, is your invention not obvious?
• Does your invention produce a new and unexpected result?
• Does your invention fall into one of the five classes of items that may be patentable? Is it a process, machine, an “article of manufacture,” “compositions of matter,” or new use of any of those items?

7. Search for patents.

8. Create a file for your invention that contains all of the objects and information you and your lawyer will need to compile your patent application.

9. Begin researching and planning how you will promote your idea.

10. Hire an experienced patent attorney licensed by the Patent and Trademark Office who works on patents full-time.

Get Help from a Legal Professional

You’d probably rather spend your time honing your new invention or concept as an inventor. Allow a qualified business and commercial law attorney specializing in patent law to handle legal issues. A lawyer in your region can assist you in completing the necessary documents and communicating with the Patent and Trademark Office.