Each creative mind must be celebrated in our society. However, sometimes creative ideas can be stolen. Because of this, patenting your ideas is an excellent step in ensuring that no one can use your inventions or sell them without your permission.
If they do, patent attorneys Greenberg & Lieberman agree that you can take legal action against the infringer. But how exactly do you patent an invention? And why should you do it? Let’s find out!
Applying For a Patent in the U.S.
Suppose you invent a new type of machine, medicine, or any other tangible thing. In that case, you have the right to be supported by the law as the sole creator of the item and benefit from it financially. In order for your invention to be accepted and gain a patent, it must be something new, original, and not a mere modification of something that already exists.
Your invention will go through a series of checks to determine its authenticity. For the most part, you can receive a patent in about 25.5 months from the date of the application. It all depends on the complexity of your invention and in what category it falls.
The United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) takes care of patenting applications and granting rights. However, you should contact an intellectual property lawyer if you want additional help succeeding with your new invention.
These lawyers are creative people’s best friends since they protect their ideas, advise them, and help them enforce their rights. Whenever someone uses your invention without permission for their own profit, your intellectual property lawyers will deal with them and hold them liable if need be.
Why You Should Protect Your Ideas
Our society has seen many creators rewarded for their outside-the-box thinking. However, each creator has their competitors, and it’s easy for them to steal your idea and make a profit before you can do something about it unless you patented that idea, have a copyright, or own the trademark rights.
If you don’t have any intellectual property rights for your invention, you will never be credited for inventing it in the first place. Why invest hundreds of hours and money in making something unique just for someone to steal your idea and make a lot of money from it?
You won’t be able to take any legal action against that party if you don’t have a patent for your invention or another type of intellectual property right. The frustration of dealing with a thief is bad enough, but seeing that person flaunt your idea as if it’s their own for their own profit is nothing short of infuriating.
However, once you have patented your idea, it’s another story. Though competitors or thieves can still steal your idea, you have the law on your side now. You have proof that you are the inventor and hold all the rights and can stop the other party from using your invention, and you might also collect damages as well.