To Patent or Not to Patent

There are several factors to be considered in deciding whether to patent an invention. First, is the invention patentable? In order to be patentable, the invention must be a useful article or method and must be new and nonobvious in view of the prior art. A patentability search, costing approximately $700, can be used to help determine whether the invention is patentable. In most cases, if the product has significant commercial value and is patentable, you will want to apply for patent protection so you can prevent others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell the invention. This usually helps keep profit margins up, which is very desirable. However, there may be situations in which you will not want to seek patent protection.

• For example, if the subject matter of the invention could be kept as a trade secret, you may want to consider keeping the invention secret and not patenting it.
  
  
• Is it worth at least $5,000 to you to have the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell the invention? There are lots of great ideas out there, but you will have to spend money to obtain patent protection, and the idea should have enough commercial value to make it worth going to the trouble and expense of getting a patent.
  
  
• Is this invention going to have commercial value for more than two years? It may take 1.5 to 2 years from the time a patent application is filed until the patent issues. If the commercial value of the invention will end before the patent issues, don't apply for a patent.