08-21-2008, 10:24 AM
ScottyB Wrote:from what i had read it did seem like an expensive thing initially. but it seems like it could really be worth it to invest in some security for an idea that you could come back to later and develop further.
A guy I work with has like a dozen patents (really smart dude) for intellectual property (read: software and processes). Here's the conversation I had with him. Take it for what you will.
Me: you have a few patents, right?
Him: yep
Him: well, technically the companies I worked for "have" them
Me: what's the process on getting a patent for an individual, just hire a patent attorney?
Him: or you can self-submit if you're feeling up to it (the patent system was created so individuals could protect their own ideas). Otherwise there are also companies that will take care of doing the filings for you
Him: be warned though, going the lawyer route can get expensive - I know that several of the ones I filed through work cost over $50k in lawyer fees going back and forth with the PTO
Me: anything to prevent someone from just submitting without research?
Him: not really but the reviewer in the PTO will be more likely to kick it back requiring a re-filing
Him: Working with the attorneys usually involves making the scope as broad as possible (after researching prior art and other patents it may be based on) and then it will inevitably need refining to narrow the scope after the examiner gets to it in 4-5 years
Me: 4-5 years? seriously?
Him: yep
Me: damn
Him: maybe 3-4 years before they first get to it but I'm getting issued patents now that I filed for in 2002
'76 911S | '14 328xi | '17 GTI | In memoriam: '08 848, '85 944
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth