Your company has developed a really cool new item. Should you apply for a patent, and should you trademark the item's name? Thus numerous various other things in life, company, marital relationship and also sports, it depends.
Patent a New Product? Of all, you can not in fact "patent" a product or solution. You can just patent the innovation that went into producing that product and services. Requesting as well as getting a patent has numerous benefits.
Understand, however, that the United States Patent Office concerns licenses; they do not apply them. If a business infringes on your license, you will certainly have to safeguard your patent with civil litigation.
2. Extra Revenue: You can accredit your patent to other organizations. While it possibly does not make sense to certify your license to a direct rival, you might accredit it to firms in various other industries as well as create a wonderful profits stream. If the product that uses the innovation is not producing the preferred sales or earnings for your service, you could after that accredit the patent - and even sell the patent - to create income from it.
3. Better Safe than Sorry: If you do NOT obtain a patent, and also two or three years later on you discover that a business is utilizing your technology to generate a service or product, you may be sorry for not patenting the modern technology when you had the chance to do so.
If the patent attorney or patent representative believes your innovation can be patented, he will assist you with the patent application procedure. A patent attorney is a lawyer who specializes in what's called "patent prosecution," the procedure of using for and obtaining a patent. To find a patent agent or patent attorney, use our complimentary Patent Agent as well as Patent Attorney Referral Service.
Securing Your Innovation: As quickly as you have actually applied for a license, you need to make use of the term "Patent Pending" in your sales literature as well as description of the product. Doing so will essentially note your lawn, and also it might dissuade competitors from replicating your item.
Hallmark a New Product? Just as you can not patent an item - you can just patent the innovation behind the product you can not trademark a product: You can just trademark the name (or brand) of the item. If your brand-new item has a distinct name to recognize it, you ought to definitely make an application for a trademark if for no other factor than to avoid rivals from puzzling customers as well as stealing sales from you by using the same or a comparable item recognition for their completing product.
If you merely call your brand-new product the Model FHJ-604, then no trademark is truly required. If, nevertheless, you've created a name that new ideas for inventions is unique as well as unforgettable, (the Die Hard ® battery from Sears is a good example), you ought to definitely secure your new and also cutting-edge item identification.
Talk to a hallmark attorney, and also if he thinks your brand name or item name can be trademarked, make an application for the trademark. When the US Patent and Trademark Office concerns you a hallmark, InventHelp Commercials it will be a registered trademark, so you will certainly after that put a " ® "after the brand.
License versus Trademark: While both licenses and hallmarks are provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, they are truly unassociated. An item's technology can be patented while the product's name is not trademarked. Or the item name can be trademarked while the product's modern technology is not patented. Sears applied for a trademark for "Die Hard" however there are no licenses connected to the battery. Regardless of the picture developed by the brand, there is nothing special, innovative or special concerning a Die Hard ® battery. 3M declared a trademark for "Post-it" as well as also patented the modern technology behind the product.
If your item uses an one-of-a-kind modern technology, patenting your invention makes sense. If you thought of a valuable name for your new product, trademarking the name makes sense. However both issues should be taken into consideration independently.
It is worth a few hundred dollars to have a license attorney or patent representative look at your development as well as identify if it is worth applying for a license. If the patent lawyer or license agent believes your development can be patented, he will assist you through the license application process. A patent attorney is a lawyer that specializes in what's called "license prosecution," the process of applying for as well as getting a license. To find a patent agent or patent attorney, use our cost-free Patent Agent and also Patent Attorney Referral Service.
Patent versus Trademark: While both licenses and also hallmarks are released by the US Patent as well as Trademark Office, they are truly unconnected.