To get the most benefit from a patent, you need a business plan for making money from it. If only a few people will buy your invention, the cost of getting and keeping a granted patent could be more than the money you will make.
You also need to ensure you have the finances available to defend it against copying.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) can’t help you enforce your patent. It is your responsibility to do this and ensure it is properly protected. Any legal action you take will need to be started by and funded by you.
IP BASICS: Should I get a patent?
Not all patents have a financial value
Not all patents are equal because some protect inventions that are completely unique, whereas most cover incremental changes to inventions that already exist. As explained in the patent guide, this makes it hard to assign a financial value to an individual patent.
What is clear however is that not all patents have a financial value. So, you need to be sure that the potential for making a profit outweighs the time, effort and money it takes to get and maintain a patent. You also need to make sure that the protection a patent offers would help prevent copying in the markets you are interested in.
Don’t try to patent an invention that isn’t new
Before wasting large amounts of time and money, search patent databases and the internet. This will help you decide if someone else has already made your invention.
It is also possible that after the grant of a patent, some proof may be found that shows your invention was already known (known as ‘prior art’). If this happens, your patent will be invalid.
Speak to an Intellectual Property (IP) professional
Your chances of obtaining a useful patent are much greater if you use a patent attorney. They will use their specialist skills to draft the application properly.
The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) can help you locate an attorney in your area.
As with most legal assistance, patent attorneys charge for their services. However, many provide the first consultation free of charge.
CIPA also hold regular IP clinics at locations around the UK. These give you the chance to receive free basic advice from a patent attorney.
Other ways of protecting your invention
The IPO will publish your patent application 18 months after you file it if all formal requirements have been met. But, it can take several years before a patent is granted.
In this time others may find ways to work around your patent or launch a similar product. So, you should consider whether other types of IP protection may be better.
You could be the first to take your product to market, and build a strong brand through a registered trade mark. This is a faster, cheaper process and easier to enforce.
If the invention’s appearance (rather than how it works) is important, then a registered design may be more appropriate.
Even if you can patent your invention, keeping a trade secret via confidentiality agreements can sometimes be a better strategy.
The benefit of a trade secret is that it can exist for as long as the information remains confidential, whereas a patent has a limited life span.
This is a good strategy if the product is difficult to reverse engineer (difficult to find out exactly how it is manufactured).
If your product has a short market life, you could keep it secret whilst developing it. You can then launch with a strong marketing strategy and brand. Others could copy your invention, but:
- you will be the brand leader
- if the market life is short, you may already be moving on to your next product, staying one step ahead of the competition
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/before-you-apply-for-a-patent
Content Reproduced verbatim from the Website of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) as permitted under their Terms of Use.