Patent Attorney – 8 Reasons to Hire a Patent Attorney.
Patent attorneys are expensive. So why would you want to hire one? After all patents, which are considered intellectual property, are issued by the federal government, so why can’t you just file your patent directly with the government?
You can. But only if you know the following:
1. How to determine if your idea is patentable.
2. How to do an exhaustive patent search.
3. How to determine if it has been patented before.
4. How to evaluate whether your invention idea can really make money.
5. How to write a detailed description of your invention idea.
6. The ability to create drawings that fully describe your invention visually.
7. The ability to write claims that fully protect your invention idea from infringement.
8. The knowledge to respond to the objections of the US Patent Office (or patent office of your country) to your patent application.
If you have all of the above capabilities you can indeed save money. But what if you make a mistake? Suppose that your idea is a real disruptive innovation? What if it is capable of changing whole industries? But you proceed to get a utility patent on your own. Later after you have received your patent, you discover that a competitor has found a loophole in your patent claims. Now your competitor can use your invention idea without compensation as long as he does not infringe on your other claims. Your losses are potentially millions, but you saved money on your patent application.
Could this happen if you use a patent attorney? Yes it could, but the likelihood is much smaller.
So if you lack some or all of these capabilities or you just want to make sure your patent application is correct, then you need to hire a patent attorney. This is a case of a penny saved equals $10.00 lost. Of course you need to do your due diligence. You need to know that your idea will indeed be profitable. However, if it is likely to be profitable you will really save money in the long run by hiring a patent attorney.
You can learn more about business law and how a patent attorney can make you big money here. You can also find out how to discover world class invention ideas.
