When should I patent my invention?

Choosing the right time to patent an invention may seem like a simple decision. However, over 90% of inventors get it wrong.

For many inventors, obtaining a patent is a major milestone. However, over 90% of individual patents describe ideas in premature stages and lack technical depth.

The Phenomenon of Premature Patents

At Let’s Prototype, we use the term premature patent to refer to industrial property filings that describe inventions that have not yet been tested in an innovation lab setting. Premature patents are vague descriptions of functional principles and/or products which, although based on great ideas, are not yet ready to be properly registered.

Risks of Premature Patents

Legal risk: Ideas themselves are not actually patentable. Filing a patent is meant to be a step that follows innovation, design, and testing of a product that delivers substantial improvements. Therefore, patenting an "invention" that is still at the "idea" stage contradicts the fundamental principles of patent law.

Risk of being copied: Premature patents often fail to protect the invention effectively and may even encourage copying. The lack of technical rigor in the patent description, the evident technical gaps in these documents, and the absence of a clear understanding of the innovation cycle expose easily improvable inventions. These are often taken advantage of by those who do understand the proper steps and have the resources to act.

Future protection risks: The filing of premature patents—or more commonly, utility models—creates a precedent for an invention that is often clearly improvable. However, once improvements are achieved, patenting the enhanced invention becomes truly chaotic, as it is difficult to prove that it is substantially different from the imaginary product that was previously patented—even when the inventor is the same person.

Early-Stage Patents vs. Mature Patents

As we've seen, premature patents are industrial property filings that describe ideas with minimal testing in innovation labs. They lack a proper development environment, comparison with market alternatives, and technical analysis aimed at incorporating substantial improvements.

In contrast, well-timed patents describe inventions in industrial property filings that have undergone extensive innovation cycles. It has been proven that, through non-obvious changes, these products provide demonstrable added value.

Tools to Avoid Premature Patenting

There are two useful alternatives to avoid premature patent filing.

Temporary Industrial Secret

A temporary trade secret refers to the creation of a confidential environment protected by NDAs, sufficient to safeguard the innovation cycle. These confidentiality agreements should cover prototype manufacturers, designers, partners, collaborators, and anyone or any company involved in the innovation process.

When there are significant advances in the innovation cycle, but not enough to prove that the product is ready for patent filing, it may make sense to officially record these developments with a notary. This helps establish proof of: ownership of the invention and the dates when key milestones in the innovation cycle were achieved. 

The registration of an invention before a notary does not guarantee protection nor create any useful precedent before the patent office.

Provisional patents are confidential but official filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They are a temporary protection tool available exclusively in the United States.

When is the ideal time to file a patent?

The best time to patent an invention is after completing the R&D+i stage and having at least the first version of a functional prototype.

The R&D process of an invention is the cycle that helps define the optimal functional requirements of an invention. At the same time, it helps manage the perceived risks regarding the product’s technological future.

The first version of the functional prototype demonstrates the technical rigor of the innovation phase carried out during the R&D cycle.

provisional patents

The best time to patent an invention is when it has been physically proven to work, and when it can also be demonstrated that the product resulting from the innovation process offers clear competitive advantages over existing market alternatives.

Do you want to turn your idea into a product?

The time to bring your ideas to life is now. We accompany you throughout the entire process: from idea to product.

 

 

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