When is it time to file for a provisional patent?

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When is it time to file for a provisional patent?

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bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 03, 2009 4:53 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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When is it time to file for a provisional patent? I have started the inventor`s log and I have reduced the invention to practice via an initial prototype. Is it time to consider a provisional patent? Should I wait until I`m further along in the development process as to not start the 1 year clock?

Any counsel on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Clay

bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 03, 2009 5:03 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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EvanS

posts: 3

Aug 03, 2009 10:47 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Hey Clay, I`m in the same boat as you. I am a Las Vegas based e ntrepreneur. I`m developing a new product. I decided I needed to fill out a provisional patent to protect myself as I test the feasibility of my invention through the market.

I`m going to be speaking with distributors, manufactures, and re-sellers and the idea could easily be duplicated so it is imperative for me to have some type of protection in place.

You can look online for some more information. If you need anymore specific information about patents let me know.

I hope that helps. Good luck on your venture. Please follow me on twitter, or add me on linkdin

Thanks,

Evan Savar

http://twitter.com/evansavar

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/evan-savar/9/b7a/4b

bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 04, 2009 9:20 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Thanks for your reply Evan. I am definitely thinking along the same lines as you are. "Patent pending" is nice to be able to include. When did you decide to file for the provisional? Were you pretty close to a working prototype? Also, did you file your provisional patent yourself?

Good luck with yours too. Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Clay

EvanS

posts: 3

Aug 04, 2009 1:36 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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I’m still in the process. We should be sending the finished provisional patent out next week. I do have a working proto type. The file fee is $110 but when I spoke to attorneys I was getting quotes from $2500 – $6000 for the provisional. They charge you for the patent search, creating a description, and making the needed drawings. I decided to pay a talented engineer $250 for the drawing and my friend another $200 to create the description for me. I also conducted the patent search myself. If all goes well I’ll have created a provisional for under $650. I’ll keep in touch, and once I’m done if it works I’ll send you over a sample of the format I used.

Good luck.

Evan.

bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 04, 2009 1:47 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Sounds good and I would really appreciate that. It sounds like your well on your way. I wish you continued success.

Clay

rodrigo212

posts: 30

Aug 07, 2009 11:52 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Check out this recent article in the New York Times. It may help.

A Small Business Guide to Intellectual Property

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/business/smallbusiness/06guide.html?emc=eta1

bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 08, 2009 5:26 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Thanks for your reply. It`s a good article with some useful material, but it doesn`t really cover provisional patents. Is it recommended that you use a patent attorney even for a provisional?

Thanks

Clay

Ashton

posts: 25

Aug 11, 2009 7:51 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Great question. I work with a lot of start-up entrepreneurs and the patent question always comes up right away.

It`s worth discussing this with a few people if you can, and I`d recommend talking with some patent attorneys to at least hear the reasons why or when you should file a provisional. Many will try to convince you to pay them to file the full patent because, well...that`s what they make money doing. Whether their services are necessary or not, I`ll leave it to them to make the case. But there is a reason why people pay patent attorneys to carry these things out.

Writing and filing yourself can be ok too...but I would be very careful if you do this. Whatever money you save, you should make up by putting in more research work. Check out Patent it Yourself, by David Pressman. If you write the claims incorrectly, it could work against you and you might completely subvert a year of hard work and a great opportunity.

Good luck!

-------------------------

bigPhil

posts: 35

Aug 12, 2009 7:45 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Thanks for your Ashton. I am absolutely going to have a patent attorney write my full patent when we get there, but what do you think about writing your own provisional?

Thanks

Clay

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