LawSci's Trade Secret and Patent Rights Page

|Air-conditioning Repair| |240Z Engine Rebuild|

BioPatentSm Intellectual Property Services

Patent Protection

by Gary L. Baker, Patent Attorney

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, gives the Congress the power to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”. The Congress has devised a system to promote science by motivating inventors to make their secrets public. In exchange for a patent guaranteeing a 20 year right to exclude others from practicing an invention, the inventor must disclose the entire invention to the public. To be granted a patent, the invention must be new and not an obvious idea or a new and nonobvious modification (improvement) to an old idea. The scope of the patent protection is limited to the scope of the invention disclosed to the public in the patent application.

The invention must be new in order to qualify for patent protection. Before an inventor applies for a patent, a novelty search should be made to check the public domain for patents or publications (prior art) that may show another person conceived the invention first. Should prior art be discovered in the novelty search, the invention may not qualify for patent protection. Even if the idea is not entirely new, an inventor can obtain a patent for improvements on the old idea. A patent holder can proctice the improvement without interference if the original invention was not protected by an enfocrible patent. If the original invention is currently protected by a patent, the improvement generally can not be practiced without a license from the of the original patent holder.

Patent protection may be denied if prior art is discovered which is too similar to the invention. The invention is not patentable if the difference between the invention and prior art would have been obvious at the time of conception to a person having ordinary skill in the field of the invention.

An inventor can lose the right to a patent a new and non obvious invention if a mistake is made in the patent application. Successful administration (prosecution) of a patent application requires timely, honest and complete disclosure of the invention to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). If an invention is sold or used in public, a patent application must be filed within 12 months or the opportunity will be lost. If the essence of an invention is published, even in a speech to a small group, a patent application must be filed within 12 months. There is not a 12 month grace period for filing in Europe and Japan once the invention has been sold or published. If an application contains any deceitful expressions, such as intentionally misnaming the inventor, the PTO can render all related patent claims unenforceable. The inventor has a duty to disclose the “best mode” of practicing the invention at the time of filing the application. Failure to do so invalidates the patent.

During prosecution of a patent application, the PTO is required to keep the invention secret. The inventor may employ trade secret protection until the patent is issued or in case the patent is rejected. When the patent is granted, the invention will no longer be a secret - the invention will be published in the PTO Gazette. All for the better! The world is on notice that the inventor has exclusive rights to the intellectual property. If anyone else wants to use the invention, they can be required to pay licensing fees and royalties. But that’s another web page.

For helpful links to Intellectual Property laws and regulations click Here.

If you have ideas or inventions that should be protected with trade secret law or patent rights, contact BioPatent Intellectual Property Services for inexpensive personal service. Please see my background and low rates for service.

Talk to Me About Protection of Your Ideas At: Baker@BioPatent.com

Return to BioPatent Home: Return

BioPatent IP Protection Page Visited Times