3 ms·

I hadn't considered a patent at all. Will definitely think about it, although i suspect it could get complicated with respect to my current institution.

GianFabien 5y ago
It's not filing a patent that is the issue. If granted, you will need to defend it. Often deep-pocketed firms willfully abuse patents knowing that the patent holder can't afford the legal costs of defending it. As an individual, in most cases, you are better off being the co-holder of a patent together with a substantial entity who can better protect your mutual interests.
- staticautomatic 5y ago
  This is silly and false. If there’s a good case that someone is willfully infringing your patent, lawyers will happily take the case on contingency.
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    Some details. I've often seen patent applications, particularly provisional patent applications, as an "ace in the hole" for real and potential commercial disputes. If you are afraid you might get screwed the patent gives you a weapon to screw back. Your university might be able to force you to assign the patent to the university and I wouldn't worry about it. If you are filing your first patent and not (initially) putting the name of any big organization on it you can get 1/2 or 1/4 off the filing fee. I got 1/2 off the last time I filed one I spent a day gathering together my notes and I paid $65. A real patent is going to cost you somewhere in the low $1000s. The PPA starts the clock and gives you 1 year to file a real application which is enough time if you're serious. It also will keep anybody else from filing a patent. You could go to the technology transfer office at your uni but I don't reccommend it because (1) the folks involved know some aspects of the subject very well but they are clueless in others, so they might not have good judgement about "is this worth filing a patent for?" and (2) they are going to spend more money determining if it is worth filing a patent than you are going to spend on filing fees. You are better off begging forgiveness than asking permission I think, particularly if your first step is filing the provisional patent. Even if you are forced to assign the patent to your uni, you are much better off getting into a commercial dispute over something valuable than you are not having anything valuable to begin with. Nolo press has some very good books on patent law that tell you all you need to know to file patents. Go get one from the library.

GianFabien 5y ago

It's not filing a patent that is the issue. If granted, you will need to defend it. Often deep-pocketed firms willfully abuse patents knowing that the patent holder can't afford the legal costs of defending it. As an individual, in most cases, you are better off being the co-holder of a patent together with a substantial entity who can better protect your mutual interests.

staticautomatic 5y ago
This is silly and false. If there’s a good case that someone is willfully infringing your patent, lawyers will happily take the case on contingency.
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  Some details. I've often seen patent applications, particularly provisional patent applications, as an "ace in the hole" for real and potential commercial disputes. If you are afraid you might get screwed the patent gives you a weapon to screw back. Your university might be able to force you to assign the patent to the university and I wouldn't worry about it. If you are filing your first patent and not (initially) putting the name of any big organization on it you can get 1/2 or 1/4 off the filing fee. I got 1/2 off the last time I filed one I spent a day gathering together my notes and I paid $65. A real patent is going to cost you somewhere in the low $1000s. The PPA starts the clock and gives you 1 year to file a real application which is enough time if you're serious. It also will keep anybody else from filing a patent. You could go to the technology transfer office at your uni but I don't reccommend it because (1) the folks involved know some aspects of the subject very well but they are clueless in others, so they might not have good judgement about "is this worth filing a patent for?" and (2) they are going to spend more money determining if it is worth filing a patent than you are going to spend on filing fees. You are better off begging forgiveness than asking permission I think, particularly if your first step is filing the provisional patent. Even if you are forced to assign the patent to your uni, you are much better off getting into a commercial dispute over something valuable than you are not having anything valuable to begin with. Nolo press has some very good books on patent law that tell you all you need to know to file patents. Go get one from the library.