Posts Tagged ‘new product’

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What to expect from the patent process.

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

It is quite imperative for inventors and companies that bring out new products to be able to protect their inventions. His is why they need the services of patent firms that specialize in providing patent and application protection as this helps them in protecting their intellectual property from pilferage.

Getting a patent is not a very simple process as it could be quite long drawn out (as we learned by patenting our universal drink holder). There are quite a few process and procedural steps where the patent application is scrutinized by the patent examiner and clarifications sought from the inventor. The process starts with the inventor making an application for a patent, and the application as well as the invention being scrutinized to ascertain as to which part of the invention can be patented. If the patent application and the invention stands up to scrutiny, a patent is granted for a pre-defined period of time.

There are all kinds of inventions that are of varied scope. Some inventions do nothing more than add a concept to the vast body of concepts that exist from earlier. Take for instance a car video game. There could be a host of ideas and features like the car being turbo boosted or even damage to the car in the event of collisions. To this, if you add the novelty of showing how the racer is progressing on a race track map, this idea of racer display on the map could well be patented. Those who are still not prepared to file for a full fledged patent can file a ‘provisional patent application’. The advantage of patents is that these can catapult young inventors to global fame and name, not to mention the monetary benefits that accrue from it.

When filing for a patent application, it makes sense to submit formal drawings of the invention. These drawings help in projecting the image of the invention in all its distinctiveness and uniqueness. These drawings are prepared by trained draftsmen, who have long years of experience in this field. Once the idea of the invention has been conceived, design patents are prepared, which are an aesthetic representation of the form of the invention in question. The tenure of design patents is generally 14 years.

There are other kinds of patents which are of the nature of utility patents. These patents are able to protect the use of machines, medicines, components and computers in addition to ingredients which add to the utility of the invention. These patents are handed out for novel machines or even processes and are distinct from design patents that are appropriate for inventors of new manufactured articles. The concept of provisional utility patents is rather rare and not apt at an elementary level.

Manufacturers also have a great utility for patents because they invest huge sums and need to protect the uniqueness of their invention. The idea behind giving a 17 year manufacturing patent is to reward innovativeness as it is beneficial to consumers. While unrestricted monopoly is not beneficial, the idea of a 17 years patent seems to be a kind of middle path. Inventions that come prior to an invention are know as ‘prior art’. The way to get a patent on your invention is to prove that your innovation is quite distinctive and is a significant improvement on the prior art.

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What is implied by “the patent process”?

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Inventors need patent firms that can give them application and patent protection services. Having a patent law firm with experienced attorneys on your side can help you prevent others from using your intellectual property.

The patent process is generally very long. During this period, the application generally travels back and forth between the applicant and the patent examiner until both sides agree as to which part of the invention is worthy of a patent. The patent process generally involves filing a patent application and undergoing examination at the patent office. If examination is successful, a patent is granted and is enforceable for a limited term thereafter.

Inventions come in all shapes and sizes, and if your widget does nothing more than add one novel concept to a mountain of old concepts, that novel concept may just be patentable. So, for example, if your video game is an automobile racing game, you might use familiar concepts such as turbo boosting your car, damaging your car when collisions occur, and displaying a racer’s progress on a map of the race track, but at one point, displaying the racers was a novel idea, and perhaps patentable. Inventions which, if handled wisely, may fetch young and enthusiastic start-up entrepreneurs great success in terms of financial and global fame. Inventors not ready to file a full patent application are encouraged to file a “provisional patent application”. The provisional application provides more benefits and protections to inventors than the disclosure document.

Design applications require formal drawings (like of cup holders) when filed since the look of the invention as shown in the drawings is the basis of the application. A draftsman with many years experience in preparing formal patent drawings is usually available for this service to clients. Design patents (these patents are concerned with the aesthetic appearance of the invention) must be generally within one year of the idea’s conception. Design patents of this type tend to have a term of 14 years.

Utility patents, on the other hand, are applied for when the invention you wish to protect has a use such as a machine, ingredients, medicines, computers, etc. A provisional utility patent application is less common and not something you need to understand at an introductory level. Utility patents are granted for inventions such as new processes or machines. Not to be confused with design patents which are granted to inventors of new designs for articles that are manufactured.

Invention protection is important to manufacturers too. The manufacturer has the biggest investment at risk and they’ll take whatever steps are necessary to protect it. Inventiveness is good for consumers, monopoly power is bad for consumers, and we reward inventiveness by granting 17 years of monopoly power. It’s someone’s idea of a compromise between too little and too much. Inventions that come before your invention are referred to as “prior art”. The differences between your invention and the prior art need to be explained and defended in order for a patent to be granted.

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What to do with that next great idea.

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

The scope of new products in the contemporary world is seemingly unending. A lot of companies and people look at getting data from other people who are a repository of information as well as ideas. It is possible to look at getting new product ideas based on exposing, recombining and surfacing data, with the internet being a fast and vast new medium of sharing and utilizing the data in a manner that helps cultivate new innovations.

Companies generally have a well set manner for laying out new product innovation. Ideas get sent from the business manager to the strategic committee that conducts the preliminary feasibility test after which regular reviews by the engineering team is conducted to make progress on the project.

The inputs from the developer or the development team are quite important as new product development is a tough task. It needs conversion of complex ideas into practical products which means that applied research is used as the input with development being the throughput and the finished marketable product being the output. Developers also take into account the kind of costs that are required to bring the product into fruition.

Past research is an indicator of what has already been done and not necessarily of what is needed for the future. It is also possible to use computer aided design (CAD) to visualize the product and also propel it towards better execution and implementation. Research teams can help, as they do a good job in predicting trends that will become big in future. They also test out ideas or concepts so that one may be able to access the chances of a product succeeding.

Some people are fast to take on and use new products. These people are called early adopters. There are others who take a little more time to adopt it and are known as the early majority. The late majority are those who are averse to risk, while there are the laggards that are quite resistant to change. These laggards may even take on products that have become the norm and quite well entrenched in the market.

You can use market research to ascertain the demand for a product and the kind of price that would be acceptable. A prototype may also be used to visualize the product (which we had made numberous times with our drink holder). Market research helps in factoring in the trends in the market too.

It is always better to make a product in the early life style stage of a product to maximize the potential of the product. Product design takes into account engineering, style and cost constraints too. Patents involve legal hassles that need to be factored in also.

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