Patent Pending Archives - Inventors Digest

How to Get a Patent at the EPO

by Gene Quinn | Sep 30, 2020 | Patent Pending

Here are eight tips for applicants filing at the European Patent Office who hope to get a strategically reasonable set of patent claims with a streamlined patent application approval process.

Patenting on a Budget

by Gene Quinn | Jul 31, 2020 | Patent Pending

The road to invention riches may or may not include obtaining a patent, although at least filing a provisional patent application can be and usually is a wise first step.

Going From Idea to Invention

by Gene Quinn | Mar 31, 2020 | Patent Pending

Every patent application starts with an invention, and every invention starts with an idea. Although ideas are not patentable, there will be a point when the idea you are working on comes so into focus with enough detail that it will cross the idea/invention boundary.

The Law and Patent Drawings

by Gene Quinn | Jan 28, 2020 | Patent Pending

U.S. patent law requires a patent applicant to furnish at least one patent drawing (sometimes referred to as a patent illustration) of the invention whenever the invention is capable of illustration by way of a drawing.

Don’t Forget the Nuts and Bolts

by Gene Quinn | Sep 30, 2019 | Patent Pending

The inventor of a new and useful invention is always in the best position to describe it. The problem lies with the reality that most inventors don’t understand what needs to be described in order to satisfy U.S. patentability requirements. What is relevant to patentability—and almost universally ignored by do-it-yourself inventors—is how the invention is different compared to the prior art on a structural, mechanical level.

Patenting and Justified Paranoia

by Gene Quinn | Jul 26, 2019 | Patent Pending

When you have an idea that has been sufficiently formulated and described in a provisional patent application, you may even be able to license that invention idea without having received a patent. This all falls apart if you tell others about your invention or otherwise disclose your invention before a patent application is filed.