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In This Issue
Featured Article
When You Can't Patent It.
Prototypes and Demonstrators
Information for Marketers
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 Newsletter - August  2014
 
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When you Can't Patent an Invention

what to do 

You can't always patent an invention.  One common circumstance I encounter often is when someone comes to me who has already either publicly disclosed their invention by writing or speaking about it or setting up a website.  Another situation is when the invention has been offered for sale.  If you do either of those two things before you file a patent application you cannot get a patent,   you have put your invention into the public domain often without knowing it.  Still there are things you can do to protect your invention from copycats.

 

You Can:

  • Use another form of protection such as a trademark, copyright or trade secret-
  • Add a new patentable feature to your existing invention.
  • Sometimes you can use a loophole in the patent law and claim your disclosure or offering for sale was testing an incomplete prototype.

Often another form of protection is actually more appropriate.  That is true for example in the case of clothing which is more often protected by a designer label than by a patent.  People who buy clothing can seldom tell by the design who the designer was.  They always look for the label to tell them that the outfit is the genuine article.   For that reason clothing manufacturers vigorously defend their labels but not their designs which are more often than not copied by low cost manufacturers.


 

The value of a label is built up over time.  It doesn't just occur because you apply for a trademark, but you must own the trademark if you wish to build up a brand that uses it.


 

Copyrights are easy to get but mostly apply to copies of works of art such as paintings, literature or music.  One exception is computer software.  Software is often both patented and copyrighted.  The implementation of the software invention is often patented by patenting a flowchart and the actual software code is copyrighted. Sometimes hidden non functional lines of code are added to the software to  show at a later point that  it  had been copied.


 

Trade Secrets are useful if the  invention is hard to reverse engineer.  The formula for Coca Cola has remained a trade secret for over 100 years.   However that is often not the case as most inventions  are easily reverse engineered.


 

Lastly,  you can improve an existing invention and patent the improvement.  This is particularly useful if you have been selling or disclosing the invention for some time.  There are always things you might have wanted to do to make it work better.  If those things are not known they are potential patentable improvements.  You might also compare your invention to the competition and see where you might be able to develop an advantage with an improvement.  Then you can patent that.


 So even if you have disclosed or offered your invention for sale there are strategies you can follow to get protection from it being copied.  You just need to pick the right one.


 For more help on this problem please contact us.  Just use the information below.


 

email  rblazey@businessmetamorphosis.com 

or  give us a call at  (585) 520-3539  

 

Prototypes and Demonstrators

ITTr Logo
The old patent laws used to require an inventor to produce a working prototype for the patent office.  You can find old pictures of inventors sitting in the office with their inventions on their laps.

That is no longer necessary.  Because of the "constructive reduction to practice" rules, you no longer need produce a demonstration to get a patent.

However,  there is still a very important reason to produce a working model or samples.   When you want to sell or license your patent the buyer often wants to see touch and test your invention before he or she will consider buying it.

We have lost many potential sales because prototypes and samples were either lost or were never made in the first place.

There are many ways to get prototypes made.  There are companies that specialize in just this kind of work,  or you can make the prototype yourself.  This is a good strategy when all  you need is a few versions of the invention to show people.  However when you need to hand out samples the problem becomes more difficult.

Even if the anticipated price per sample is low in volume production usually there are often very high upfront costs.  Some costs include   tooling such as molds or to buy the minimum quantities that overseas manufacturers and direct sales channels such as QVC often demand

The advent of 3D printing has made it easier to get prototypes made. However there are disadvantages with 3D printing such as a very high unit cost and a limited selection of materials that can be printed using this method.  If you can work with a Nylon sample you may be OK.  If you need something else you may or may not be out of luck.

While 3D printing has been used to make samples from a wide variety of materials there are all sorts of caveats for using special materials.  Its best to consult a 3D printing company for advice if you are thinking of using that process.

Chemical inventions create problems of their own.  Not only must the inventor supply samples but often Health and Safety information as well.  If the invention uses common starting materials this information may be available, but if the compound is unique,  the costs of preparing Health and Safety information about it may be high and must be borne by the inventor.

For more information write to rblazey@ittrifecta.com or call (585) 520-3539

Will it Sell
The Marketing Question
Penguin Logo
In the Three Circle Model method of new product development.  The Operations question is "Will it Work", The financial question is "Will it make Money and the Marketing Question is "Will it Sell.  The 3 Circle methodology teaches that all three questions must be answered positively  in order for there to be a viable business.

The marketing question is one of the most important ones and one of the most difficult to answer.  The field of Market Research is a large one that libraries have been written upon.  I'm not going to attempt to summarize that whole field.

However for small and startup companies there are simple ways to collect information that are not difficult to employ and which can be extremely helpful in proving the value of a product to investors and other potential patrons of a new business.

There are also pitfalls to be avoided such is the dreaded "Chinese Toothbrush Fallacy".  Small companies cannot afford the marketing departments to run focus groups and expensive surveys yet there are lots of free resources that can be accessed and there are groups like Penguin who will run small targeted studies for reasonable prices.

The most effective research methods depend on making as much use of the free and low cost resources as possible.  However, since  most inventors are not expert enough in market research to do all the needed work themselves even when drawing upon free resources.  That is where organizations like Penguin can be extremely helpful. We can get you started with free resources and then fill in the blanks.

Please contact us by email
to rblazey rochester.rr.com or visit our website at www.rochesterpenguingroup.com
We appreciate your responses to our newsletters.  Please send us your comments.  We are always interested in what you want to know.
 
Sincerely,
 

Richard Blazey
Business Metamorphosis LLC
Disclaimers 

 
Please realize that this newsletter contains only our opinions on patent matters.  We are not authorized to give legal advice.  If you are seeking such advice please contact an attorney.
 

 

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