The Invention Patent Process
You are a budding inventor who has come up with a brilliant idea. If it is bothering you that someone else may walk away with your idea, or whether your idea is innovative at all or not, or how to get a patent for your idea or invention, some background information about invention patents would be useful for you. Firstly, invention patents are available at the US Patent office. You could visit their website to access all the information you need for obtaining an invention patent and the procedures to be followed to file a patent. You could download the information relevant to your invention and file the patent application online.
It is important to understand that everyone who has a brilliant idea can obtain patent for their ideas or inventions. In case some one else has already created your invention, or your invention happens to be an improvement of someone else’s already-patented invention, it is not possible to patent your own invention. You could do a patent search, to check whether your idea has already been patented or not.
If your invention or idea meets with all the eligibility criteria of patenting, then you are ready to file a patent. You could do this yourself, or get help for your invention from a patent agent or patent attorney, who will be your legal representative through out the process of invention patent. These attorneys or agents are easily accessible, but you have to make sure that you fall in right hands. They are expensive and you have to be ready with the fees which are needed to file a patent.
There are basically three types of invention patents: utility, design and plant. Each of these patents has different areas of applications. Along with the requisite fees, your invention patent application should include the name of the inventor, a brief description of the invention, what it does and how it does, drawings, testimonials and other relevant information about the invention. Your patent application will then be reviewed and searched again, to check whether it is unique or not. If you invention is found suitable, you might be granted a patent for your invention. In case you are not awarded with a patent, you could place your arguments and try to file it again.
After you have been awarded a patent for your invention, you could approach the Invention Development Organization (IDO) who can offer help in the marketing of your idea or invention. They also take responsibility of protecting your invention from plagiarism and theft.
For your information, there are over 350,000 patent applications which the US patent office receives every year. This will explain why it takes a while for any patent application to be processed and finally granted. You have to practice patience and hold on to your beliefs and the brilliance of your idea or invention. Chances are that you will get a patent which if marketed well, might make you a millionaire in the shortest time possible as you can see from helpful videos for inventors on YouTube as well.