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Florida Law Firm > Patent Law
Patent Law
What is a Patent?
A patent is the grant of a property right to the inventor. A patent gives an inventor
or business the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling products
which are protected by the patent. As such, patents can be a remarkably valuable business tool.
Different Types of Patents
The two most common types of patents available in the United States are "utility patents"
and "design patents". Design patents protect the appearance or styling of a particular
product (e.g., the shape of a lamp) and utility patents protect the functional aspects
(e.g., a more efficient light bulb). Design patents are effective for 14 years and utility
patents are effective for 20 years.
What Kinds of Ideas are Patentable?
Inventions relating to machines, electronics, compositions of matter, and all types of
processes are all considered eligible for patent protection. Internet, computer and software
inventions are also potentially patentable and represent a growing trend in patent application filing.
In order to be entitled to patent protection, an invention must be new, useful and not-obvious.
Many people mistakenly believe that minor improvements to existing products or slight changes in
design to improve performance, for example, are not patentable. This is not correct.
These "improvement" types of inventions are the most common, particularly in mature industries.
The best way to determine whether patent protection may be available is to perform a search of existing
patents. An experienced patent attorney can be helpful in performing such a search and evaluating
the references which are discovered.
How Are Patents Used to Increase Profits and Market Share?
Patent rights can be quite valuable, particularly if they give a business exclusive rights to sell a
successful product. However, patents can also provide your company with a competitive edge when it
comes to manufacturing operations and numerous other less obvious areas. For example, consider the
case where a patented process allows a manufacturer to produce or distribute its product at a cost
which is even marginally less than its competitors. Such a patent may translate directly to increased
profits or an improvement in market share based on a decreased selling price.
Alternatively, patents may be licensed so that others may receive the benefits of the invention.
In such instances, a fee is typically charged for use of a patented idea. For many businesses
(and some universities) the profits generated as a result of patent licensing represent a key
component of their overall revenue stream.
Patents May be Used Defensively
Patents may also be used as a defensive weapon in business. This usually occurs when a company
is accused of infringing someone else's patent. In such cases, competing businesses often find
it useful to each agree to permit the other to use their patent technology. Without a patent
portfolio of its own, a company accused of patent infringement may find itself shut out of
a market entirely by it competitors.
Avoiding Loss of Patent Rights
If a company believes that it may have an invention which is eligible for patent protection,
appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that valuable patent rights are not lost. For example,
an inventor may be precluded from obtaining a patent for an invention if a patent application is
not filed in a timely fashion. In order to preserve U.S. patent rights, a patent application must
be filed within one year of the first offer of sale or non-confidential disclosure of the invention.
The laws of many foreign countries are even more restrictive in this regard, often requiring that
a patent application before any non-confidential disclosure.
With these considerations in mind, most patent attorneys recommend that an invention be maintained
in confidence until a patent application is filed or an affirmative decision is made not to file
such an application.
Does Your Company Have the Proper Agreement in Place?
A patent is owned by the individual inventor unless there exists some agreement to the contrary.
Care should be taken to ensure that engineering personnel in your company have executed appropriate
agreements to assign their ownership rights in any inventions they develop.
Identifying Your Company's Inventions
Identifying inventions which are patentable is an ongoing process which requires regular evaluation of
inventors' disclosures by experienced patent counsel. Such disclosures need to be encouraged and discussed
among marketing, manufacturing and technical personnel. It is not uncommon for employee inventors to fail
to recognize the business potential of their ideas.
In order to encourage such inventors to focus on such matters, some companies offer monetary bonuses for
invention disclosures and successfully issued patents. Other companies rely upon regular intellectual
property audits by patent counsel to identify potential patents. Such audits often involve a visit to
the company by experienced patent counsel and are useful as they can provide a fresh perspective for
identifying valuable inventions that may otherwise be overlooked.
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