Registering a patent for invención invention product
Complete guide to registering a patent. Before investing your money in patents, it's your duty to get informed. We make it easy for you!
If you meet these criteria, you can file a patent
Any innovative product can be patented, as long as it brings non-obvious transformations that represent a real improvement over what currently exists.
Got an idea but don't know where to start?
We offer a free 1-hour consultation to answer all your patent questions.
The great myth about patent registration. We'll tell you all about it with a practical example.
It's not true that evolutionary innovation on existing products can't be patented.
- Ball-serving machines already existed.
- Tubes for collecting balls already existed.
- Motorized wheels already existed.
In contrast, we patented an electromechanical system for launching balls on a paddle or tennis court because it transforms what already exists and, importantly, provides real value to players:
- They no longer need to carry balls in their pockets while playing.
- They no longer have to transport a machine for training sessions.
2 absolute truths about filing invention patents or utility patents.
- Registering a patent is the safest way to protect the intellectual property of your idea.
- Registering a patent is the only method that triggers a rigorous examination process.
The rest of the cheap methods to protect an idea come with a catch.
Want to know how much patent registration can cost?
The best time to patent a product
Over 90% of inventors fail by registering the patent too early.
Why?
- You’ll leave out key aspects of your invention from the patent.
- You’ll give ideas to competitors without having fully developed your invention.
- You doom the innovation cycle.
Guide to filing your patent at the right time
The downsides of patents
The weakness of a patent
Even if you have technical skills, developing an invention is a process, not a single step. In each phase, you'll gain insights that will lead to: product changes, design improvements, geometry optimization, part reduction, and more…
Patents cannot be edited. If you register the patent before creating the product, you will almost certainly leave out important elements from the protection.
Clues for the competition
The rush to register a patent is often justified by the fear of being copied.
If you haven’t matured your product, by patenting it, you’ll be sharing your idea with other inventors and companies that have the time and money to find improvement alternatives that can invalidate your protection.
A threat to innovation
Demanding that a lab or an product development company manufacture a patent is nonsense!
Patents describe the innovative results of a creative cycle.
Demanding the fabrication of a patent for an unvalidated product means dooming the very cycle that would make the invention competitive.
Approval likelihood
As a result of the level of rigor with which an Invention Patent is reviewed, there is a 48% chance of approval versus an 88% chance for Utility Models. It's like being an engineer who graduated from the best University in the world, or getting the same degree from a school where they hand out grades for free. The best companies will compete to hire the best students, and the best patent acquisition funds will compete for high-interest Patents, not Utility Models.
Precio de las patentes
Patents are between 2 and 3 times more expensive than Utility Models. This price is justified by the difference in the actual official application fees at the Patent Office, but also by the professional fees charged by those who prepare the invention specifications.
Advantages of registering a patent
Exclusivity
The Invention Patent guarantees the exclusive exploitation of an invention for 20 years. This means that during that period, the inventor can sell their patent to a third party, partially assign the exploitation rights of the patent and collect fixed or variable commissions for its exploitation, or simply take charge of selling their products with a protection that ensures the competition stays away for 20 years.
Posibilidad de venta del Invento
Inventors should include the future possibilities for monetizing the invention in their invention protection analysis. In this regard, there are far greater chances that a company or investor will be interested in buying an Invention Patent than a Utility Model or other alternative invention protection method.
Rigor en el exámen de aprobación
The existence of the substantive examination for an invention patent should be valued as a positive. When a Patent of an Invention is approved, an examiner accredited by the Patent and Trademark Office certifies that the initiative is innovative and improves upon any prior registration. Therefore, this professional examiner and the Patent Office itself are responsible for their decision to grant the Patent to the Inventor. In the case of the Utility Model, there is no rigorous examination, which is why nearly identical registrations can be found in the same Patent and Trademark Office.
What types of inventions can be patented?
To register a patent, it’s not true that you need a major discovery about something that doesn’t exist.
Those are arguments from Utility Model salespeople who will hardly help you go far.
To register a patent, your invention only needs to meet two requirements:
- Include a non-obvious transformation.
- This improvement must represent a real enhancement.
Patentable Inventions | Non-Patentable Inventions |
Innovative Appliances Industrial Machines Everyday Objects Sports Equipment Medical devices Innovative Furniture | Books, plays, musical works, or any artistic work. Business Models Games Instructions Medical Treatments Mathematical Models Software Products and Mobile Applications |
Guide to selling a patent for a new product
01. It's not easy
02. It's not free
03. It's not fast
04. It's not accidental
Strategy for selling a patent. Value Growth
If the goal is to file a patent in order to sell it, you need a 'Value Growth' strategy.
- Registering a patent to sell products exclusively means you need to evaluate whether it will be a great business for you.
- Registering a patent to sell the idea means you must prove that, in addition to being a great business for you, it’s also a great business for investors or patent buyers.
What do you need to do to sell a patent?
The value of a patent is inversely proportional to the risk of the invention, so as the inventor meets the fundamental MILESTONES or challenges of the process, the patent will achieve a higher selling value.
From our experience, before proposing the sale of a patent, it is essential to have manufactured a functional prototype and gone through the product optimization process, through the production of a pre-series (replicas of the prototype for commercial testing).
Where should I file a patent to sell the idea?
Criteria | Spain Patentes | |
Duration | 20 Years | 20 Years |
Market Size | 48 M | 332 M |
Purchasing capacity (Average Income x Family) | 16.814 € | $ 70.784 |
Taxes | 1200 € | $ 400 + $1200 (opcional respuesta rápida) |
Between 7000€ and 15000€ | Entre $ 10.000 y $15.000 | |
Approval likelihood | 48% | 55% |
Ease of internationalization | + | + |
Posibilidad de venta de patente | LOW | HIGH |
Private investors Market | LOW | HIGH |
Grant Time | 18 - 24 M | 6 - 12 M |
Tips for choosing the best place to file a patent
The decision on which is the best country to register a patent also has a significant impact on the value of a patent. If the inventor's strategy is to create an invention to then sell it, it is crucial to choose the country to establish the patent carefully.
Below, we provide some arguments that might help you make your decision:
Valor del Mercado
A patent grants the exclusive right to exploit the invention in the countries where it is officially registered. The value of a market depends not only on the number of potential buyers but also on the society’s economic capacity to purchase. In this regard, the United States is considered one of the most valuable markets in the world. Therefore, patents for inventions in the United States are usually more valuable than patents in other countries.
Legal certainty of patents
The legal certainty in the field of patents refers to the effectiveness of the legal procedures available to block any attempt to infringe a patent. In this regard, the United States, in order to maintain its status as one of the countries with the highest number of patents in the world, has a highly effective mechanism to protect inventors, which includes its legal framework as well as its Customs and Border Protection services.
Patent-focused investor market
The success of an invention is often influenced by the amount of financial resources the inventor has to move it forward. In this regard, the United States has created and continues to maintain the strongest ecosystem of private investors in the world. Therefore, it is much more likely to attract capital in this market to promote a new invention or sell a patent. Without a doubt, due to the legal certainty associated with the U.S. market, these investors are far more likely to choose a U.S. patent over a patent from other countries.
Patent dispute management
Inventors often forget that when they are granted a patent title, as exciting as that moment may be, it is not the end but the beginning of the process. During the development of an invention, conflicts related to the patent may arise.
Patent grant timelines.
Another factor to consider is the patent grant timeline. Although it is a less critical factor, some countries offer priority examination methods that ensure a resolution in less than 10 months.
The importance of patent registration for the inventor and for society
For the Inventor: Without a doubt, the exclusive transfer of commercial exploitation rights of an invention, is the main motivation why an inventor publishes his invention and reveals its details or operating principles. From the granting of a Patent, the inventor has several options or Business Models to form a strategy that allows make the invention profitable.
For society: The main objective of a patent isto motivate inventors to document and publish their discoveries and advances, so that science can maintain a accelerated pace of evolution. It is no secret that based on an invention other initiatives are developed and, together, they improve the life of society in general.
La cesión exclusiva de derechos de explotación de un invento, a su inventor, es la herramienta o mecanismo de motivación principal para que los Inventors publiquen sus invenciones y las exploten en exclusiva durante 20 años.
Frequently asked questions about Invention Patents
How to sell a patent?
To sell a patent, it is essential to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of an invention. technical feasibility is demonstrated with a basic engineering project, where the details that will allow the invention works. It is very positive that the inventor has a functional prototype that demonstrates the veracity of the engineering project. The economic viability of the invention is demonstrated with the documentation associated with the functional prototype, as well as the defense of closeness between the prototype and the industrial methods of manufacturing an invention. That the patented product has a certain track record in the market multiplies the sale value of a patent.
Who can sell a patent?
Patents can be sold through a negotiation process that may be directed by the inventor himself. Normally, patents are not sold by chance, but rather, the inventor creates an approach strategy and product improvement that can be very interesting for the product portfolio of an industry leader. Although there are advisors specialized in the sale of patents, you must be very careful, since most of the companies and professionals who advertise Such services are limited to writing to company directors on Linkedin without having a real strategy. Offer your invention not appropriatelyto leaders in the industry, or in very early stages, may affect the future value of the patent.
¿Cómo obtener inversión para patentar una idea?
The truth is that earning the trust of investors in very early stages , it is unlikely and also counterproductive. It could substantially affect the value of the patent. Even offering the participation of investors in very early stages can be a limitation for the future of the project. To finance a patent, you must raise investment in your closest environment and without using methods of diffusion of the idea or invention.
What is a patent dispute?
Un conflicto de patente sucede cuando una empresa o particular, comienza el proceso de comercialización de productos que afectan de forma parcial o total las reivindicaciones de innovación de una patente. Recientemente conocimos y documentamos un caso que quizás pueda aclararte dudas sobre conflictos de patentes. USA es uno de los países con mayor movimiento de defensa y conflictos de patentes y a la vez, uno de los mercados donde más se venden y compran patentes.
How much does it cost to register a patent?
El precio de obtener una Patente está entre los 7.000€ y los 12.000€. El precio de una patente está determinado por las tasas oficiales, así como los honorarios de los asesores de la propiedad intelectual. A su vez, los honorarios de los asesores de la propiedad intelectual, están condicionados por la industria o sector dónde pretendes innovar y el volumen de información a procesar para el estudio de antecedentes. También se tienen en cuenta, los detalles asociados a la complejidad del invento en cuestión. En los casos donde el inventor cuente con un proyecto de ingeniería básica o con el prototipo funcional documentado, es posible que el precio de la patente sea menor.
Patents Vs Industrial Design
La patent y el Industrial Design, son métodos de protección de inventos reconocidos en todas las oficinas de Patentes y Marcas del Mundo , a diferencia del Utility Model. En el caso de las patentes, se protegen las reivindicaciones de innovación que permiten que el invento funcione y a la vez, son innovadoras o diferentes. En el caso del Industrial Design, se protege solamente, la estética del producto y sus detalles asociados al diseño del producto o apariencia.
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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