Intellectual property should be thought of as an asset of your business. Even though an intellectual property right is not a “hard asset” that you can touch and move from place to place, it may have considerable value. A trademark may have a value based on the good will of your business.

A patent may have value if it can be used to prevent others from competing with you in the marketplace. For emerging companies, a patent can demonstrate to a venture funding source that you have a “lock” on a competition free technology. A copyright registration may have value because it enables you to sue someone to prevent them from copying your work of authorship and competing with you.

Trademarks become more and more valuable as your business becomes “branded” in the marketplace and your trademarks are more and more recognized as identifying your business’ goods and services.

It is important to become more aware of how your business creates and utilizes intellectual property assets. Perhaps the most obvious is your business own research and development. The products that you develop may include technology that is patentable even though the product may only be a combination of old elements. If those old elements are put together in a new, useful and non-obvious way, the resulting arrangement may be worthy of patent protection as described in this step by step guide for inventors.

Your patent program should always relate to your business strategy. As your business evolves, so should your patent portfolio. You should review your patent portfolio regularly as your products and services change. It can be helpful to watch the patents that issue to your competitors so note trends in your industry and keep you aware of R&D by others.

US patent applications are now published 18 months after they are filed. They are no longer kept secret until they are issued as patents. If a particular technology is important to your fending off competition in an important product line or service, it is worth extra thought and investment in protecting that technology. There are patenting agencies, such as InventHelp, that can help you with patents.

Thinking about your intellectual property assets should be a significant part of your business activity. Set up your business practices to bring to light creative efforts that can be protected as intellectual property and then develop and guard those assets as you would other assets. Encourage the disclosure of ideas and reward their disclosure. Make intellectual property a part of your business culture. You may find some gold in them there hills.

A U.S. Patent protects an invention only within the United States and its territories. If an invention is to be protected in other countries, a patent must be obtained in each desired country. Foreign patent protection may be obtained in one of two ways: direct filing in countries of interest or filing a patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Direct Filing

Direct filing may be appropriate if the inventor knows in exactly which countries the product will be made or sold. Attorneys or agents in those countries are retained to file the patent application in their respective countries and to handle the resulting patenting process. The efforts of the foreign attorneys are coordinated by the U.S. patent agency, such as Invent Help, or attorney.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty

A PCT patent application filing may be appropriate if the precise countries in which the product will be made or sold are unknown at the time of filing. A PCT patent application reserves the right to pursue patent protection in nearly every industrialized country in the world, and provides certain other advantages, such as a delay of up to 30 months before the final decision of where to patent must be made.

Pursuing international patent protection can be one of the costliest aspects of obtaining patent protection. There are significant upfront costs, including the cost of translating the patent application from English to the local language and of filing the patent application in the various foreign patent offices. Additionally, costs continue to accrue over the lifetime of the patent, as myriad official fees and professional service fees must be paid. Those interested in international patent protection should be sure that foreign protection is warranted, and should be prepared to sacrifice a substantial sum in the pursuit of that protection.

Preparation of International Patent Applications

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty that allows a patent applicant to file a single patent application that is recognized internationally and that, with appropriate processing, can mature into a patent in virtually every industrialized country in the world.

The PCT provides applicants with several distinct advantages, including a single international search report that indicates whether or not the invention is considered to be patentable. Additionally, a PCT application allows an applicant to wait up to 30 months before making the final decision on where in the world patent protection is desired.

Essentially, a PCT application reserves the right to pursue a patent in virtually every industrialized country in the world while delaying the onset of the heaviest costs of patenting (e.g., translation fees, filing fees) until an innovation’s value and potential market can be better appreciated. For help, you can always hire professionals like InventHelp.

A PCT application is similar in some respects to a U.S. patent application and generally contains the same type of information. However, PCT applications are different in various respects, and the procedures for filing them are quite different. After consultation with a inventor, a PCT application may be filed either as a first patent application for an innovation or, more commonly, based upon a prior U.S. patent application that has been filed.