Common Misconceptions Explained

1. Patent it yourself and cut-out the high cost of patent attorneys. Actually laws say you can. However you will most likely have a worthless piece of paper when granted. Filing a permanent patent application "pro per" almost guarantees it. The success rate of pro per patents is less than 1%, and probably far less. Responsible companies are not interested in licensing, partnering or developing innovations with poor patent protection. Your best strategy is to start with a provisional patent application, then later on have your attorney write the claims and file the permanent one. This defers most of your costs until later.

2. File the permanent patent application - forget about the provisional application - "since they are 'iffy' and not tested in court". These are generally the words of either a patent attorney or agent or who wants you to get your checkbook out now and spend money now. Provisional applications are almost always the best first step to take and are proven.

3) You can't patent a new feature on an existing product. Oh yes you can! Improvement patents are the most common type of patent being granted today! In addition, if you patent an improvement to any existing product, regardless of whos is marketing it, they can't use it without your permission. This gives an inventor the ability to patent a concept that may be licensed to and exploited by a multi-billion dollar company.