Success as an inventorisn’t something that comes easy. Even if you’re talented and have all the creative ideas in the world, there are countless obstacles to overcome along the way. Most of which come as unwelcome surprises to the uninitiated.
The biggest mistake of all being that of expecting an easy ride – there’s no such thing. Whatever you come up with, you’ll need to put in the necessary time and effort to make a success of it.
So to help newcomers to the whole thing along the way, here’s a brief rundown of five comment errors to avoid that could prove costly:
Selling Your Invention
Most inventors ultimately seek to sell their inventions for profit. The problem being that unless you patent it beforehand, you’re basically handing out blueprints for anyone who wants to rip-off your idea. Moreover, offering your invention for sale before a patent application is filed will likely prevent you from patenting it.Hence, you need to ensure that you file a patent application for your invention before it goes on sale.
Publicly Using It
Even if you don’t sell it, displaying your inventionpublicly carries the same risk. Competitorssee it, they identify the value in it and they might just beat you to the punch. In addition, public use of your invention before the patent application is filed may also prevent you from patenting it, both in the US and abroad.
Poor Patent Applications
Penning a successful patent application is never easy. In fact, it can be one of the biggest challenges of all for those who go it alone. If you have neither the funds nor the intention to bring in a legal expert to help, you’ll at least need a solid suite of patent proofreading software. If not, you’re doomed to make the kinds of minor mistakes that can add up to major issues. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly the first time…period.
Inadequate Search Processes
Last but not least, the last thing you want to do is waste your time attempting to patent something that already exists. Hence, time and effort need to be invested in full-scale search processes. Again, the right software can be hugely helpful with these kinds of things, speeding up the process and increasing the power and accuracy of your search processes. Consider searching for your invention online using numerous free patent databases, such as USPTO, EPO, and Google Patents.
