Newsday.com:
So you figure you’re sitting on the next big thing and want to protect your new product or invention. Before you make a mad dash to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, consider this:
It takes, on average, 31 1/2 months from the date of application for a patent to be issued, and it can cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees to get through the tedious process.
Still think it’s worth it?
Well, it could be if you’ve done your homework and found that getting the protection fits in with your core business strategy, patent and legal experts say.
‘You have to have a very clear picture of what you are going to do with a patent,’ says Betty Tufariello, founder of Mount Sinai-based IntellectuLaw, an intellectual-property law firm. ‘Patents are not cheap, and it takes time and dedication.’
But the rewards can be great, she says, particularly if you’re doing business in a competitive field. ‘A patent gives you the right to prevent others from making, using or selling an invention,’ Tufariello says.
Of course, you’re entitled to that privilege only for a limited period of time, typically 20 years. And you must apply for patent protection in the US within 1 year from the date on which you ‘publicly use, publish or offer to sell the invention,’ notes Elizabeth Richter, a partner at the law firm of Collard & Roe in Roslyn.
To be sure, not everything is patentable. ‘It has to be novel and non-obvious,’ says Richter, meaning it can’t be an obvious combination of known items or a slightly altered version of an existing product. More.
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