It is said, in philosophical circles at least, that there is no such thing as original thought. Whether or not this is true is up for debate. Although many great inventions come into being year after year following a patent application; there are numerous cases where one inventor has been pipped to the post by another after what can only described as a simultaneous bloom of identical ideas. In fact, the incarnation of the most widespread communication device, the telephone, is a perfect example of such a happening. Incidents such as these are why anyone with a patentable idea should employ the services of a Patent Attorney. To understand what to expect from a Patent Attorney, one must first understand what a patent is and why a person submits a patent application.
A patent offers protection of intellectual and creative rights of an invention. For an invention to qualify for patent protection it has to be novel and useful; therefore the idea must not exist anywhere else in the world in physicality or as an idea within a publication. Obviously, ensuring that an idea or object has not already been protected by a patent, or indeed be in a process where a patent is pending is a hard task, and that is when it is time to call in a Patent Attorney.
The job of a Patent Attorney is to ensure that an inventor's idea is not in breach of anyone else's intellectual property rights and at the same time, to gain suitable protection for their client's intellectual and creative rights in the process. As mentioned earlier, at any one time a number of people could be working on an idea which is essentially the same; whether that is for a product or process that has the potential to be useful in the distant future, or something that could be put into place immediately; and only one person or company can claim rights for the idea or artefact to be released.
The penalty for breaching someone else's creative or intellectual rights can be harsh, but so can seeing a lifetime's worth of research become obsolete because a patent wasn't applied for. An application doesn't necessarily grant the inventor the right to manufacture or use the idea or product in question, but it does prevent other parties from putting the item under protection into production. Protection is not indefinite, and depending on the nature of the rights, a finite limit will be placed on the patent.
A Patent Attorney will ensure that an item remains protected, and will have the skills to enforce the rights of the patentee through the courts of law. Any infringement upon the rights of another person's intellectual or creative property can bring with it a large penalty unless a compromise can be reached privately through the services of a Patent Attorney. It is not uncommon for patentees to come to some sort of arrangement with those who may have breached the terms of the patent protection and grant a licence to manufacture the product.
The patentee will request that royalties are paid in lieu of dropping infringement charges, and many large companies opt to cross licence similar products to increase their hold within a particular industry or market. In a world where technology is growing at an exponential rate, applying for and attaining a patent is essential if a person or company wants to stay ahead of the competition. By utilising the services of a Patent Attorney, one can be sure that efforts are neither wasted nor plundered by protecting the creative output of the great thinkers of our times.
Author Resource:-
Dom Donaldson is a legal expert.
Find out more about using a Patent Attorney and the legal services that are on offer from Sandersons
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