Paul W Mikus Patents

 

Paul W Mikus to discuss the details of this process and help readers avoid some common pitfalls in the process. As the country continues the rebound from the Corona Virus, many people who have been displaced from their jobs are looking to get into business for themselves. Some even being their own business. The US patent office has seen a recent uptick in patent applications. Paul Mikus Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search

The USPTO receives over 600,000 patent applications per year but only about half are approved. Any advice to avoid making rookie mistakes in the application process?

A few key points to be clear on to avoid rookie mistakes. How is your invention unique or different from what exists today? Have your done a patent search at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search to see if your idea is already covered? Your idea does not have to be patented by someone else, it can be simply disclosed. That means your idea is no longer unique or different. So the rookie mistake to avoid here is understand what is unique about your idea and check to see if anyone else has had it before.

Finally, you’ll need to rescue the idea to something you can teach others to do. So if you have an idea but don’t describe how to do it, that becomes challenging for the patent office to determine if you actually discovered something. The best way to test this is to build it, and provide test data for your invention.

How much research into uniqueness do you do before deciding to file the patent?

I spend a lot of time searching other patents and websites to see if my idea has already been disclosed. Filing a patent requires having an idea or invention that is uniquely yours. So I do weeks and months or research reading patents. Each patent can be hundreds of pages long, so this takes time. Google has made searching for prior art, the disclosure of your idea much more efficient, but plan on spending time and doing the work.

Is this something the average person can do on their own or do you recommend and attorney?

Anyone can file a patent, especially if they start with just describing the idea and why it unique. We call that a patent disclosure. If you file that it gives you a year protection on the idea before you have to convert it to a formal application. I use that time to both protect an idea and see if I can progress it to a prototype or product. The idea is just the start pf the journey. You need to move the idea to action. You’ll tend to discover more about the idea and how to improve as you go.

Over the years, many patent submission companies have popped up offering to patent your idea and bring it to market. Are any of these companies worth the fees they charge? (Feel free to leave this blank if you are unfamiliar)

I have seen other use these types of service. I’m a purist entrepreneur, so I think you should try to do as much as you can to move your idea to product without handing it over to others. I suppose using a firm that can provide services could be helpful, but I think you miss a lot of the journey and the experience of seeing your odea come to life.

How much on average should a person expect to spend to get an idea patented?

Patents can be expensive. A patent disclosure can be filed for very little money. Converting the patent disclosure to application can take thousands and should be done by a patent attorney. Once the patents are examined and issued the total costs can be in the tens of thousands. Last, patents have fees by country and they are usually annual or periodic fees.

The way I think of patents is to work through the whole business first, then decide if the idea has commercial value. Simple test for this is would I pay for it and how much. If the answer is positive, test that with people you know. If the idea solves and problem and has a market, patenting it may be value to protect it

How old were you when you filed your first patent application?

I was in my mid twenties, which feels like a life time ago

Many people dream of inventing something and enjoying a “get rich quick” scenario. Is this commonplace in the real world?

The idea of getting rich quick is commonplace, the reality is very rare. It takes years and a lot of hard work, investment and risk to make an idea worth a lot of money. I think this is really underappreciated. Even those that seem to be “overnight success” have usually been doing it for years in the background.

Are there companies that provide financing opportunities for ideas yet to be patented?

Not that Im aware of. Companies want products or prototypes close to be able to be sold and issued patents, which can take years from your filing

Is it easier to accomplish getting your idea to market while working full time and dedicating a few hours a week to you venture or do most successful inventors do this full time?

Most entrepreneurs I know are constantly incubating ideas and developing and testing them while working on main commercial ventures of full time jobs.

If you do invent something while working on a project for an employer, who get credit?

The inventor gets the inventorship credit, their name appears on the patent. If a company sponsored it or has an assignment agreement, they get the rights to the patent but not the credit for inventing it.