(Newswire.net — August 23, 2022) —
We are living in a great age of innovation. The number of patent applications has risen from nearly 91,000 in 1963, to over 646,000 in 2020. The world is undergoing a profound technological and economic transformation in response to the global pandemic. For innovators, there hasn’t been a similar period of profound change in a generation. Protecting those inventions and seeing them through to the market, is critical to translating concepts to profits. Here’s how.
Create a Center of Creativity
In developing an invention, innovators need to truly understand the nature of creativity. Creativity, basically, is about bringing together disparate ideas. Looking at existing solutions is an important way of developing an invention.
Creativity thrives where people are allowed to experiment. Where cultures and ideas intersect, creativity abounds. So within the organization, you have to give your people the space and freedom to experiment. Difference is essential to creativity. Uniformity is the death of creativity.
Difference is not just about ideas, it’s about domains. For instance, the world’s greatest investment firm, Renaissance Technologies, is run by a mathematician, and is filled with people from different fields. Challenge the organization by bringing in people from areas that are not traditionally directly relevant to your field.
If you can bring together people with different ideas, from different cultures and different domains, and give them the freedom to experiment, then you will be able to become a constantly creative firm.
Businesses have to overcome their own conservatism and create more forward-thinking in their businesses.
This will allow the business to look at existing solutions as ways to further develop their inventions, or even to come up with new inventions.
Stand on the Shoulders of Giants
Sir Isaac Newton said the reason that he was able to discover gravity and the laws of motion was because he stood on the “shoulders of giants”.
You need to find mentors and experts who will help you to deliver on your goals and execute your strategy. For many inventors navigating through the patent system or the process of delivering an invention to market, can be very daunting. The processes require expertise that inventors typically do not have.
Some entrepreneurs try and do everything, and be their own patent lawyer, or marketing expert, for example. That is a road to perdition. What you need is to do your research to find the best experts you can, who will guide you through the process. For example, many patent lawyers work largely when you need them in court, but when you need someone out of court, you will have to get a completely different lawyer.
You need to find experts you can trust. You don’t just want someone who will advise you on what you need to patent, and how, but someone who will talk to you about your overall strategy and how patents fit into that, and how the patent can be used to create shareholder value. This will help turn your business from a once-off inventor to a center of creativity with a portfolio of patents. So although it is more expensive to speak to a patent lawyer as opposed to just filing a patent application online, it is worth it to be able to see further.
Another area where you will need help is with protecting your assets, getting the best tax treatment and operating in the best state for your needs. The most popular business structures are sole proprietorship, C corporation, S corporation, and partnership. Limited liability company (LLC) is permitted under state statute. Each business structure has its own tax and legal implications and once again, you will need a lawyer to help you navigate through these options.
You will want to separate your personal assets from your business ones, and so, operating as a sole proprietor is generally not advisable. LLCs are very popular with entrepreneurs because of their flexible structure and low regulatory requirements. You can learn more about them here. Your business lawyer or accountant will be able to advise you not just on the best business structure for you, but on the best domicile for your business. For instance, some states do not charge any corporate tax. Some states are particularly good for certain industries because of specific laws, or because you can tap into a larger pool of people in the same industry.
Have a Watertight Patent Application
Although patent lawyers are a vital element in getting your invention to market, ultimately, it’s on you to be an active participant in the process. When writing the patent application, you have to make specific claims about what your product does and what others must do to avoid patent infringement. You have to be as detailed as possible to delineate your product, even those things that did not work but which you tried to do with your product. The more specific you can be, the stronger your claims. Specificity also prevents someone from exploiting your generality and recreating your product by making a few changes and being able to say it is a completely new product.
File Continuations
Patents aren’t a once-off filing that you can forget about once you are done. Rather, they are rights that should be built on top of. For instance, you can file continuations on your original patent, allowing you to build off of the original product and try and achieve those things you first said you tried to do when you first applied for the patent. A continuation basically allows you to expand the scope of your original patent by adding more claims.
Patents are essentially to protect the integrity of your work. Without a patent, your invention has zero economic value, because anyone can create it, patent it, and earn money from it. An invention without a patent doesn’t appear on a balance sheet and in practicality, is a very vulnerable source of revenue.
As the world evolves, the possibilities of your invention may expand. Continuations are important for ensuring that in a new period in the future, you are able to explore the possibilities of your inventions. Failures today may be the seeds for success tomorrow, so you really have to make many and very specific claims.