Why Businesses Confide in Patent Lawyers or Attorneys

It’s not easy to stay ahead of the competition when you’re a business owner. If you want to keep your product safe from copycats, patent lawyers at How to Use Houston Patent Lawyers to Help You Succeed as a Tech Entrepreneur can help.

About Patents

Intellectual property, in particular unique inventions and product designs, is protected from being stolen by competitors with the use of patents. They’re registered with federal government offices, such as the USPTO in the United States.

A patent has two main components:

-The invention which is usually a new product or process; it’s also called “the claimed subject matter.” This refers to what’s not available on the market yet – something no one else can copy! This could be an idea for how much better your water bottle should be than the rest.

-The claims then come into play when defining exactly what aspects of this product need protection—like its design features like size, shape, color etc.

There are so many interesting and creative inventions that have come from the human mind. Patents help protect these ideas by giving inventors legal rights to their invention for a certain number of years, providing them with an opportunity to profit off their idea before it is stolen or reproduced without permission. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is a very old government agency, having existed since 1836.

Why Use a Patent?

Patents can legally protect your idea for up to 20 years; during that period, you can also financially benefit from creating partnerships of licensing your patents. The costs associated with patents vary based on the type of invention or design in question; consult Patent Lawyers when looking to obtain one for yourself!

Real Business Patent Examples

Henry Ford used his patent for mass production when he made cars affordable by using an assembly line, where workers moved parts from one station to another on a conveyor belt or other device. The assembly line allowed all the workers to manufacture the product simultaneously rather than individually.

Apple’s “slide to unlock” feature on iOS devices is a special convenience feature, and they even made it a part of their brand by patenting it; they have an advantage over competitors who tried to copy it because they have an exclusive right to it.

When Google came to the market in the late 90’s, it was the most effective search engine of the time, driven by a patented “popularity algorithm” called PageRank. A core part of how a website is positioned in a search is PageRank.

The Two Main Patent Applications

An inventor can file a “provisional patent application” (available since March 16, 2013), which allows them to establish an early filing date with the USPTO. This type of application is only good for 12 months, and cannot grant you a fully registered patent that lasts forever.

After 12 months have passed, you can go through the “non-provisional patent application” and register a regular patent.

Special Factors to Consider During Patent Applications

If you don’t do the proper research before patenting your invention, it can be a costly mistake. All of this information can be found at the U.S Patent andTrademark Office website. If you attempt to patent an idea or invention that is already patented by someone else, a patent lawyer from Patents will be able to give you expert advice.

There might be existing intellectual property rights that prevent others from legally developing inventions like yours, so you’ll want to look for them.