How to protect your invention with patents?
Write down everything and keep good records. The more details you have from the very start, the better off you will be when you need to describe your invention for patent application purposes. Your description must be detailed enough so that anyone trained in the field is able to reproduce your invention based solely based on your description. To that end, you may also need to be able to draw your invention. Start by making sure the IP you are inventing doesn’t already exist. A quick Google search can give you an idea, but a more thorough Prior Art Search, performed by a patent attorney, checks all searchable literature, including inventions that are currently in the process of being filed. If you have good reasons to believe your invention potentially qualifies for a patent, but do not have the funding to launch a full application yet, consider filing a provisional patent application to obtain "patent pending" status. Own your business. If you allow your foreign business partner to register your IP, in many foreign countries, they become the “rights holder.” You need to register your own IP assets and registrations with the customs administration to block the import and export of infringing items. · Know your partners. Make sure all potential foreign business partners are qualified and reliable. Include provisions in your contracts that require the use of original and unaltered products to prevent the partners’ registration of your IP. · Ideas are not usually copied until they show potential to be successful in the market – and at this point, if someone else steals your idea, it may be too late. Make sure to maintain confidentiality when developing a new product by having people sign a non-disclosure agreement and take the necessary steps to ensure it is enforceable.
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