Filing A Patent Application
Filing a Utility Patent Application
Generally, the government will grant you a utility patent when you can show that you have developed something new, useful, and non-obvious.
The standard for showing something new is pretty straight forward- that is, that the exact idea has not been developed before. Thus, if you have a new device, and there is nothing like it in the market, then you have something that is novel or new.
Your new device, process, or composition must be useful for some purpose. This is also a fairly straight forward standard that requires any reasonable utility. So long as you have a reasonable utility for your device, process, or composition, this standard will be met.
Perhaps the toughest element to overcome is the non-obviousness requirement. This standard requires that your novel idea is not merely an obvious variation of something that has been disclosed before. This is why it is critical that you perform a prior art search prior to submitting a patent application. Not only do you want to be sure that there are no existing documents describing your idea (that it has been done before) but you also want to make sure that others have not developed ideas so closely related to your idea that you will be precluded from obtaining patent protection due to an obviousness rejection. This is why we always recommend performing a prior art search- typically you can perform a prior art search on your own, but we always advice that you have a patent attorney perform one as well.
Filing a Design Patent Application
As with a utility patent, a design patent will be granted when you can show you have an ornamental design that is new and non-obvious. Notice that utility is not a requirement since a design patent cannot be primarily functional but rather protects the look of a product or ornamental characteristics.
When you visit our office for a free consultation, our patent attorneys will help you decide whether patent protection makes sense in your case, and whether you should seek protection under a utility patent or design patent.
Bring your idea to us, and during the free initial consultation, we can discuss whether your idea may be protected as a patent. If you do have a patentable idea, we can then discuss whether it makes sense for you to seek procurement.