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Protect Your Intellectual Property With USPTO Trademark
from:Deb St. George, on Patents and Trademarks in your Patent and Trademark Guide From Agritrax.com
In the rough and tumble business world some generate original ideas and convert them into business opportunities while some others take the unscrupulous way of copying and exploiting other's efforts. The former not only loses business, there is likely loss of reputation too.
Many have lost their rights just because they had not taken the precaution of protecting their intellectual property rights by registering their invention with a patent. Laws to protect such rights have been enacted including mechanisms to implement the laws. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the entity that will ensure that protection is given to those who seek it.
Any one seeking such protection should have his invention registered with the USPTO with a patent. The process however is complex and time consuming. The laws are of a special nature requiring the services of specialized lawyers.
A patents lawyer will assist you in understanding the complex laws and enable you to navigate the various processes to be gone through to obtain a patent. As long as you have proof that you are the inventor in the form of blueprints and prototypes, you can hire a patents lawyer to do the rest for you.
The lawyer will fill in all the forms required to be submitted, help in organizing all the other documents and submit them to the USPTO for approval. The examiners at the USPTO will then scrutinize all the submissions, conduct a search to ensure that no one else already has a patent for the same product and determine whether the application merits consideration for registration.
You will personally have to demonstrate your invention to the USPTO. If it works and satisfies them for scientific and technical parameters, you will move to the next step in the process. This is to undergo an examination called the “United States Patent and Registration Office registration examination” which covers all the procedures and the regulations.
If you are confident that you can go through all the step-by-step processes at the USPTO, you can do so without hiring a lawyer. If you do, it is called “filing a patent pro se”. For those who are ignorant, it is not advisable to file pro se. The process is complex, time consuming and tough to go through.
The process is also quite expensive. Attorney fees alone could go upwards of US $20,000, and that is only part of the total. You have to get the finances organized before you start the process. You also have to become capable of handling all the examinations that you will be subjected to by the USPTO.
If you are convinced that it will be worthwhile patenting your invention, calling on a patents lawyer will be a good starting place. He will explain the process, likely expenses, time frame and all other pertinent information to help you decide.
If you are confident that your invention will be a commercial success, a patent will ensure that others do not exploit your efforts by copying and marketing it.
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