A patent isn’t just for enforcement, it’s a legal document saying you’ve done something new.
it only says that when it is granted. Unless what he has is earth shattering and/or he has loads of cash then he’s looking at 4-5 yrs before it gets granted, and probably for a much narrower set of claims than he thinks he has invented.
It’s very very helpful in securing any investment.
Sometimes, but the op hasn’t suggested a plan to seek investment.
Have you noticed how often they ask about it on Dragons Den?
that bears little resemblance to any real investment process! Patents can be useful, but only if it covers a very wide claims. Most patents end up very narrow, so can be easily worked around. Bear in mind the inventor thought of it one evening and made it the next day in an hour. Good luck convincing the patent examiner that your solution is truely novel (genuinely new and not just a combination of existing ideas) and inventive (not obvious to someone else who sees the same problem)
It gives the investor protection against copies (it’s their money you will be spending).
no it gives a granted patent holder legal recourse if someone infringes – but in many cases you can copy without infringing by designing around the claims, or by operating entirely in a different country from the granted patents (so the expense of patents is multiplied many times to gain extensive reach), or by just ignoring the patent and waiting to see how big the op (or his investors) pockets are. If the damages don’t run to six figures a case may not be worth it.
Don’t just base this on an anecdote from Mr Crud!
and don’t just base it on the advice of patent agents who get paid by filing and arguing over patent applications for years; you can make a quick business plan on a few sheets of paper and it will soon tell you if the value is worth protecting. (To put some perspective on it, I have a patent that is over five yrs old has just got granted in the US (along with three other less exciting countries), EU still pending (along with 4 other less exciting countries) total fees to date are well over 40k. It IS worth us having this protection as it is quite broad and our technology sells for tens of thousands or more. I’ve binned three other patents over the last 20 yrs which have never brought us a penny in extra revenue.)
Contrary to what others have said licenses can be negotiated on design rights (either registered or other) copyrights on design documents, know how, trademarks etc. A patent license is theoretically easier to sell, but that’s just cos sales people are lazy and don’t understand what they are selling!
Posted 6 years ago
