Avoid Common Patent Application Mistakes

The patent application process is far from simple or straightforward, and plenty of inventors have made mistakes that ended up costing them their patents. Even a well-researched and careful attempt to register a patent can run into unforeseen obstacles. Learning about these common patent pitfalls provides valuable lessons that can help save an inventor’s precious time, money, and rights.

Here are the most common patent filing errors:

1. Failing to First Develop the Invention

One of the most common errors that we see is that inventors do not first complete the requisite research and development into their new product idea prior to patenting it.

This would be like buying wheels for your bike before you have figured out which bike you want to buy. The likely scenario is that you will end up with the perfect bike but with a set of wheels that either don’t fit, are no longer usable, or are for a different model.

The bigger problem is that you may have also just prevented yourself from patenting the final version of your product, as any of the prior claims would impede your current claims.

Therefore, it is extremely important to complete – at the very least – the initial design and engineering portions of your development to ensure that your patent is very close to the product that eventually hits the market.

2. Selling the Product On the Market Too Early

For those pursuing a U.S. patent, the one-year rule is an important law to be aware of. This law gives inventors 12 months to file a provisional or non-provisional patent application after the first sale has been offered. Thus, if you do a small manufacturing run and decide to put an ad online offering the product for pre-sale, you have 12 months from the date you posted this advertisement on online to obtain intellectual property protection.

If a patent application is not filed one year after the first sale of the invention, any rights to the invention are forfeited, and the idea becomes common property, never to be patented by anyone. It is important to know about this U.S. law and to understand that it is, in fact, the most lenient in the world.

The rest of the world, including Canada, requires inventions to be completely novel before the first one is sold, which makes it illegal for an invention after the first sale. So, if you’re applying for a Canadian patent or you’re planning to obtain foreign patent rights, it is best to refrain from selling your invention through any means until you have submitted a thorough patent application or provisional.

3. Using the Invention Publicly

Any public use of the invention before filing a patent is subject to the same rules as selling or offering to sell the invention. Basically, don’t use your invention publicly if you plan to apply for a Canadian patent or any foreign patent rights.

4. Filing a Poor Provisional Patent Application

Many inventors make the mistake of filing improperly composed provisional patent applications. These can be rejected later on and foil an inventor’s attempt to protect their novel invention idea.

Furthermore, it is common for an inventor to assume that they have obtained a “patent pending” status just by filing a provisional patent application. This can have disastrous effects because provisional patent applications are not always accepted, nor are many of them ever upgraded to a full patent. A bad provisional patent application may be rejected, and if the inventor fails to verify this, they may further jeopardize the opportunity to obtain rights for their invention by selling it or using it publicly.

Conclusion

All of these patent mistakes are easy to avoid but have grave consequences when committed. It is important to understand and learn from them in order to avoid losing your chances at obtaining a patent altogether.

Having amassed years of experience contributing to the product development space, MAKO has developed a wide network of renowned patent attorneys. To learn more about the patent referral services we offer, click here.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!