This will save you time and money by preventing you from wasting your time and money on an innovation that may be difficult to patent. This is because prior patents with identical concepts may exist, which could result in your patent application being rejected.
Since provisional patents aren’t published, you can’t look for them online. As the applications still do not have any patent rights, they are only used to obtain a priority filing date for a patent application. Moreover, reading it wouldn’t do you much good since the patent hasn’t yet gone through the whole patent process.
Before filing your own patent application, check for issued or ongoing patents to determine if anything related to your invention is in the public domain or is currently protected by patent law. You should also look through the paperwork and drawings of previous patents to see if any concepts are comparable.
Importance of Searching
Searching aren’t mandatory, and they usually provide insufficient results, but doing your research and filling out your patent information correctly is crucial. Since you can only get a patent for a brand-new, one-of-a-kind innovation, you’ll need to do some study to be sure you’ve come up with something unique.
If you discover a patent that is identical to your idea, don’t try to file a patent application. Your application will be rejected, and you will have wasted both time and money.
Most people come across patents that are similar to their ideas but differ in one or two ways. If that’s the case, you can still file it, but you’ll need to explain the discrepancies. In fact, most new patents are minor enhancements on previous inventions, so don’t be disheartened by similarities.
Why Should You Consider a Provisional Patent?
The application is only made available to the public under a few circumstances. You can access the patent on Public PAIR if a nonprovisional patent is filed that claims priority over the provisional patent form and the nonprovisional application is either published or granted. Even so, to read the application, enter the nonprovisional application serial number and look under “continuity data.”
Be careful to look out for the global system in addition to Public PAIR and Google Patent for patents. You can also look for your concept in non-patent materials like journals and other documents to determine if it’s previously been done.
What Can You Expect From a Provisional Patent?
Due to the impossibility of conducting a patent search, you’ll have to limit to current or pending patents. Patent applications are usually published 18 months after the patent application and this determines the earliest priority date. This is the kind of patent data you’ll have access to.
Mistakes to Avoid
- When you fill out application incorrectly, it could come back to harm you.
- It’s likely that you’ll be advised there’s no such thing as an innovation or that your idea will be stolen.
- That’s why you should do as much research as possible to avoid being a victim of criminals.
- Be aware of persons that advertise courses and methods for filing a application on the web.
- These courses are not only deceptive, but they may also risk your potential patent.
Don’t forget to include everything in your application. You’ll need to include the following:
- Photographs, sketches, and text describing your invention and how it works.
- Information on how the concept will be implemented.
- Any known competitors.
Conclusion
Even if you conduct your own search, you should consider hiring a lawyer to help you with it and filing process. They may assist you in ensuring that your idea is fully protected and that you are not infringing on the patent rights of others.
Unless you hire a patent professional, such as a patent agent or lawyer, there’s a chance you could end up losing time, money, or even your idea.
