Product Patents and Design Registrations
Patent
“A patent protects new inventions and covers how things work, what they do, how they do it, what they are made of and how they are made. If a patent application is granted, it gives the owner the ability to take a legal action under civil law to try to stop others from making, using, importing or selling the invention without permission.” www.ipo.gov.uk
Patents are generally considered to be the best method of protecting an invention and are recognised globally. Unfortunately the process to patent an invention idea can be expensive and complex and often require a patent attorney in order to ensure they are described and detailed correctly. It is possible to patent an invention or design yourself and the Intellectual Property Office offers advice to help. Idea Reality can provide the necessary drawings and diagrams in suitable formats for your patent application or file an application for you through our recommended patent attorneys.
Design Registration
“A Registered Design grants exclusive rights in the look and appearance of your product. You can stop people making, offering, putting on the market, importing, exporting, using or stocking for those purposes, a product to which your design is applied.” www.ipo.gov.uk
Whilst a Registered Design does not give protection to the way your invention works it does protect its form and appearance. The existence of your registration may be enough to deter someone from copying your design all together and is a very cost effective way of officially registering your design. It also allows you to sell or licence your designs to somebody else to use. Idea Reality can help draw up your designs and plans in respect to officially registering your design and patent an invention idea.
Design Right
In the UK all new designs are automatically covered by Design Right. This is a UK legal protection given to unregistered designs. Design Right covers the internal and external 3 dimensional shape or configuration of an original design and lasts for 15 years (10 years from first marketing). The holder of the Design Right has exclusive use of the design for commercial purposes however if they wish to stop someone from infringing their Design Right they must be able to prove that they created the original design.
Idea Reality can help an inventor or company fully draw up their ideas and designs so that they have a record of the work for the purposes of Design Right. The simplest thing to then do is have a copy of the design documents sent to yourself (and also your solicitor for added protection) via a postal service such as Royal Mail Special Delivery in a sealed tamper-proof envelope. The official postage stamps and receipt should then prove to a court that the idea was yours first.
Design Right can only go so far to protect your IP because it has not been officially registered by the Intellectual Property Office and you must be able to prove your ownership
The journey to protecting a product idea
Protecting your idea is very important but can also be incredibly expensive and time consuming; with patents typically taking at least 4 years to complete. Therefore it’s important to understand the process, timings and cost involved to establish what is the best route for your project.
Conduct a Patent Search
Patents are only granted to inventions that are new and innovative, and provide you with the right to exclusively make, use and sell your invention for a specific period of time.
Therefore, conducting a patent search will help you to understand the current market and whether anything already exists that’s similar to your invention idea or shares similar part; helping you, as an inventor, save time and money, and successfully achieve a patent.
Should a patent search come back with anything similar to your invention idea, this will help you innovate and explore other product design options; improving mechanisms or ergonomics.
Prototype, Test and Iterate before Protecting
If you decide securing a patent is the best solution for your invention then prototype design is a crucial stage of the idea to product journey – enabling you to include all necessary details associated with the design within your product patent application.
At this stage – known as prototype development – the design is likely to change, evolve and improve considerably, rendering an early patent application obsolete.
Documenting Your Invention Idea
If you are from the UK, you will be automatically covered by Design Right as soon as you create your ideas, and you must document the process of idea to product as you go as a way of protecting your intellectual property.
Choosing between a Patent…
The cost of a patent can vary depending on the complexity of the product and the territories you apply for protection within. A patent should be written by a patent attorney and as such is a legal document. It is important that the patent application be strong and well written in order to stand up to any contest in court.
A typical simple patent in the UK will cost approx. £2000+vat for an initial application, full European patents can average £30,000, and worldwide protection only increases costs further. As your product patent application progresses, further requirements and fees must be paid to see it through to become granted. The whole process can take 4 years.
… or a Design Registration
Design registration is much cheaper than patenting and a good alternative in some cases. The difference is that a design registration protects the appearance, form and shape of a product whereas a patent protects how it works.
UK Design registrations start from £795+vat. Cost for EU registrations start from £1750. The application process of a design registration is much quicker than the one of a patent, and could be completed in less than a month.
Registration Drawings
We work with skilled patent attorneys to ensure your product invention idea is communicated effectively within a patent application or design registration. We provide professional patent and design registration drawings and illustrations, tailored to your application to ensure best value and protection.
Product Launching – Be The First To Market
There is a good argument for investing the time, effort and money you would have put into a patent application on getting your product designed, developed, and on the market before anyone else.
Establishing your product or brand as the original and best can often be of greater value than getting a patent.
Once established, the money generated from sales can be used on further developments and product design improvements, enabling the product to be properly patented and funded.
It’s important to note that, whilst your product is being sold, any competitors will be unable to patent an idea that is already existing, being sold or has been made public, but you should always ensure you can prove the idea and/or product design was originally yours.
Continuous Innovation…
Once your idea hits the market don’t just sit back. By being the first past the post and constantly developing and innovating can enable you to stay ahead of the curve. Whilst your competitor is figuring out how to compete with your product you can already be developing the next version.
Product Utility and Design Patents
Utility Patent
«A U.S. patent gives you, the inventor, the right to ‘exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling’ an invention or ‘importing’ it into the U.S.» (www.uspto.gov) «A utility patent may cover ‘any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof’.» (www.uspto.gov)
Patents are generally considered to be the best method of protecting an invention and are recognised globally. Unfortunately, the process to patent an invention idea can be expensive and complex and often require a patent attorney in order to ensure they are described and detailed correctly. It is possible to patent an invention or design yourself and the United States Patent and Trademark Office offers advice to help. Idea Reality can provide the necessary drawings and diagrams in suitable formats for your patent application or file an application for you through our recommended patent attorneys…
Design Patent
«A design patent may cover ‘any new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture’ » (www.uspto.gov)
Whilst a Design Patent does not give protection to the way your invention works it does protect its form and appearance. «Design patents should be filed when the design is what makes people buy their product or article over a competitor’s product.» (www.execedonline.law.columbia.edu).
Design Patents timings and costs are lower than the ones of a Utility Patent, and allowance rates are higher. A Design Patent can be filed on its own, or be paired with a Utility Patent. Whilst a Utility Patent use is filled through written claims, a Design Patent will use drawings of your invention. Idea Reality can help draw up your designs and plans in respect to officially registering your design and patent an invention idea.
The journey to protecting a product idea
Protecting your idea is very important but can also be incredibly expensive and time consuming; with patents typically taking at least 4 years to complete. Therefore it’s important to understand the process, timings and cost involved to establish what is the best route for your project.
Conduct a Patent Search
Patents are only granted to inventions that are new and innovative, and provide you with the right to exclusively make, use and sell your invention for a specific period of time.
Therefore, conducting a patent search will help you to understand the current market and whether anything already exists that’s similar to your invention idea or shares similar part; helping you, as an inventor, save time and money, and successfully achieve a patent.
Should a patent search come back with anything similar to your invention idea, this will help you innovate and explore other product design options; improving mechanisms or ergonomics.
Prototype, Test and Iterate before Protecting
If you decide securing a patent is the best solution for your invention then prototype design is a crucial stage of the idea to product journey – enabling you to include all necessary details associated with the design within your product patent application.
At this stage – known as prototype development – the design is likely to change, evolve and improve considerably, rendering an early patent application obsolete.
Choosing between a Utility Patent…
The cost of a patent can vary depending on the complexity of the product and the territories you apply for protection within. A patent should be written by a patent attorney and as such is a legal document. It is important that the patent application be strong and well written in order to stand up to any contest in court.
A typical Utility Patent in the US can cost over $10,000 for an initial application, including attorney’s fees, basic filing, searching and examination fees, and will involve extra maintenance fees over the 20-year validity period. Extending the patent to European and worldwide protection will only increases costs further. The whole process can take 4 years.
… or a Design Patent
Design Patents costs are lower than utility patents, mainly due to less details needed in the initial application and higher allowance rates on the first application.
A US Design Patent application can cost between $2,000 – $4,000 and doesn’t require any maintenance fees during its 15-year validity period. The application time is also shorter than the one in utility patents, with design patents usually taking 20 months to be granted. These can be a good alternative in some cases to protect the appearance, form, and shape of your product.
Registration Drawings
We work with skilled patent attorneys to ensure your product invention idea is communicated effectively within a utility or design patent application. We provide professional patent drawings and illustrations, tailored to your application to ensure best value and protection.
Product Launching – Be The First To Market
There is a good argument for investing the time, effort and money you would have put into a patent application on getting your product designed, developed, and on the market before anyone else.
Establishing your product or brand as the original and best can often be of greater value than getting a patent.
Once established, the money generated from sales can be used on further developments and product design improvements, enabling the product to be properly patented and funded.
It’s important to note that, whilst your product is being sold, any competitors will be unable to patent an idea that is already existing, being sold or has been made public, but you should always ensure you can prove the idea and/or product design was originally yours.
Continuous Innovation…
Once your idea hits the market don’t just sit back. By being the first past the post and constantly developing and innovating can enable you to stay ahead of the curve. Whilst your competitor is figuring out how to compete with your product you can already be developing the next version.
