An invention is generally defined as a new and innovative solution in response to a technical problem. This invention may refer to the creation of a completely new device, product, method or process.
The importance of patent
To protect only the idea of a product, it is necessary to patent it.
The patent is the only instrument that guarantees protection for the idea and the product it contains.
Once the patent has been filed, it belongs to the product and to the person who invented it.
If you design an innovative product, it is important that it remains unique, and that it is protected.
Can you patent an idea without a prototype?
The prototype is very useful in the experimentation phase of an invention, but it is not absolutely necessary for the patent application. the question contains a description of the object with illustrative drawings.
It happens that when an object is patented without having first realized a prototype, one realizes much later, when it must be produced, that changes must be made to the initial project.
Patent process explained for:
Italy
The procedure for the granting of the Italian patent begins with the filing of an application concerning a single invention.Following the filing of the application, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office, through the European Patent Office, carries out a prior search and then proceeds directly to a patentability examination to verify whether the patent application meets the legal requirements.
At this phase, the patent applicant can submit comments to the examiner’s possible objections, and make changes that do not have to extend the content of the original application.
If the requirements for the patent are good, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office grants the patent. The Italian patent has a duration of twenty years, and starting from the fifth year after filing, it is subject to the payment of annual maintenance fees, up to the expiry date.
USA
To start the Patent Application in the USA it is necessary to apply a law firm specialized in patents and authorized to work at the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).
The application for a Provisional Patent is made to USPTO, which lasts one year from the date of the application and gives the possibility to use the Patent Pending mark. To submit an application for Provisional Patent it is necessary that the Customer send the law firm drawings, technical documents, workflows and all the material necessary to describe the characteristics to “protect” of the product; after, there is a year to present the final application. The process engages the Client and the law firm in the detailed construction of the patent application. The process can last even 5-6 years.
The right path
Youbiquo could be your advisor , a company with years of experience in the field of inventions, it help companies to understand the difficult field of innovation and new products.
With its experts, it guides companies towards the right choice and analyzes the right processes to adopt, to take a right path.
