First, evaluate whether or not you need one. Then check for existing patent landmines during the early stages of product development.
BusinessWeek:
Intellectual property law is notoriously confusing. That’s because there are 3 main types of intellectual property protection and a swirl of myths surrounding each (see Whose Idea Is It Anyway?). The United States Patent & Trademark Office - USPTO offers a good primer on the differences between patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
A patent is the grant of a property right to an inventor by the USPTO-typically for 20 years from the date of application. A patent gives the holder the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention in the U.S. So the idea becomes like a piece of land, and patenting the idea before someone else does is like buying that land.
U.S. patent law allows an individual or business to patent ‘any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.’ This means new products, methods, or steps to perform a task.
While the vast majority of patents are improvements, you still have to be making something new-not something that already exists. But it’s acceptable to combine mixtures of existing ingredients and chemical compounds to create something new.
For inventors and founders of startups, whose future is tied to the success and failure of a new invention, or an improvement to an existing invention, a patent can be a company’s most valuable asset. It provides you protection from a competitor duplicating your ideas. For example, if you invent a new type of zipper that every dress designer wants to use, you are entitled to collect a royalty on every garment that ends up with your design.
A ‘Waste of Time?’ Read on…
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