More and more companies, entrepreneurs and inventors recognise the value of good patent protection. Yet many still don’t apply for it, and cost is often the reason. Applying for a patent properly and keeping it in force can be expensive. You can’t avoid these costs, but you can keep them down. Here are four ways to prepare.
1. Use the Problem Solution Approach
A patent application involves a lot of research. Your product must be novel and inventive to be patentable. To check this, we analyse the existing technology. You can help a lot here.
The problem-solution approach is a simple step-by-step plan. It helps you set out clearly what your product adds and what makes it stand out. It also includes researching existing technologies properly.
Your patent attorney will still do their own research, but your groundwork saves them time, and saves you money.
Read more about the problem-solution approach.
2. Never write the application yourself
Writing patent applications is the core of a patent attorney’s work. The wording is what makes an application, and therefore a patent, good or bad. It is a legal document, written to protect your product and competitive edge as strongly as possible. It isn’t elegant, but it works. Its hard-to-read sentences all serve a legal purpose.
Still, many people try writing it themselves. They often include things that should be left out, and leave out things that should be in. Rewriting such a draft takes an attorney at least as long as starting from scratch. So save yourself the trouble and leave it to your patent attorney.
If you want to file a quick first version yourself to secure an early filing date, agree that with your patent attorney first.
3. Focus your attention on drawings
While you should leave the wording to your patent attorney, you may well be able to handle the drawings yourself. You may already have them. But like the application itself, patent drawings must meet strict requirements. So before you start, ask your patent attorney which drawings you need and what rules they must follow.
4. Be concrete in terms of your wishes
Patents come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes a whole business depends on one or two technologies. You’ll want them protected as strongly, and for as long, as possible.
We often take a different approach to that kind of patent than to one for a small change to your production process. Applications for smaller improvements are usually quicker and cheaper to draft. The countries you need protection in also affect the cost.
So think carefully about what you want from a patent, and be clear about it with your patent attorney. That way, you get an application that is cost-effective and fits your patent strategy.
