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PATENT ASSISTANCE
Now more than ever today’s competitive and global business climate mandates that inventors and companies take a proactive approach to intellectual property protection (IP). To succeed, companies (and inventors) must consider protecting inventions both within the US and abroad.
Regardless of whether an invention or design is patentable, selecting a good patent agent or consulting the legal advice of a reputable patent attorney may be the most important first step an inventor or company can take.
What is a utility patent?
Contrary to popular belief, a patent IS NOT a right to produce an invention. It IS a “negative right” to prevent others from producing the same invention (i.e. a 20-year monopoly). However, preventing others from doing so may be expensive, as heavy legal fees may be required to defend this right.
Reasons to Patent
While there may be others, several common reasons to seek IP protection are:
- To discourage competitors from copying an invention
- To make it difficult or prohibitively expensive for a competitor to develop a comparable product by working around patent claims
- To establish novelty/ exclusivity of an invention which is to be sold or licensed
- As a marketing tool to promote sales of a product or a company’s reputation as an innovative enterprise
- To provide incentive and a recoverable return on investment for costly R&D, especially for industries with multiyear long development cycles such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- To establish that a product does not infringe on a competitor’s patent (This can often be done with just a patent search, a critical step in the patent process)
The Cost of a Patent
Many people do not realize that patent attorneys/ law firms can charge as much as $400 per hour for their services. In some cases this means a single patent could cost over $25,000 (not including the maintenance dues to keep it active over its life). While this might not seem expensive to a multinational corporation, for the small business and independent inventor, it can be quite a hurdle. For this reason many viable inventions are not patented, creating a lost opportunity for the inventor and/or company.
A patent agent / agency is often a lower cost option to an attorney or law firm, especially for a small company or inventor. Patent agents, except in the case of legal matters, have the same rights as an attorney to originate and prosecute patent applications. Hourly rates for patent agents are often closer to $100, a small fraction of typical patent attorney rates.
The Value of a Patent
In most situations the value of a new potential patent is an unknown. For a number of reasons, even seasoned marketing executives and product managers often fail to accurately estimate patent values. That said, if an inventor or company has confidence that the cost of a patent will be at least offset by a licensing agreement or new or incremental sales (hurdle rate), it probably makes sense to consider it.
On the upside, a patent based in new technology or cleverly solving long-standing problems can be worth millions. The missed opportunity cost of failing to patent a valuable invention can be substantial.
Confidentiality
Due to requirements dictated by the USPTO and other country-specific patent agencies, certain timely actions must be taken once an invention is conceived. Care must be taken regarding the disclosure of the invention.
At Parametric PDG, maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive client information is crucial. When appropriate or when instructed by our clients, Parametric PDG uses non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) between our client companies and 3rd parties to prevent public disclosure of any sensitive information. This helps to protect a client’s rights to pursue subsequent patent protection on their inventions.
Unlike many offshore product development resources, you can trust Parametric PDG to respect the confidentiality of your sensitive project information. We are a US-based company.
How Parametric PDG Can Help
Parametric PDG will soon offer patent services for our clients. Currently, we offer patent illustration services, which often saves our clients money in the patent application process.
Members of our staff have built strong relationships with professionals in this field. Based on a client’s needs, we can recommend an affordable patent agent or patent attorney from a reputable firm.
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