Quote:
Originally Posted by sjaguar13  What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
I am thinking about filing a patent, but was wondering if I should do a provisional or non-provisional patent. If I just get patent pending, am I still protected if I release the product I am patenting (so someone else doesn't clone it) or am I not supposed to publicly release it and just start working on the real patent application?
If I apply for a patent and it takes 18 to 24 months to get reviewed, can I release the product with "Patent Applied For" and still be protected, or should I wait until I actually get the patent?
I guess my main question is, if I want to release a patentable product now, what should I do so that I am still protected, but I don't have to wait before releasing the product? |
The simple answer is, you don't have any protection until you are actually granted a patent. Until a patent issues, you have no "rights" that you can enforce against someone else.
If you have filed for a patent, and marked your product with the phrase "patent pending," there are some limited circumstances that may allow you to recover damages from infringement that occured prior to the issue date of a patent -- but until a patent actually issues, you cannot file suit against someone, or otherwise enforce a patent.
Other than this narrow exception, the term "patent pending" is of no legal significance.
10-12-2009, 08:31 AM
Linear Mode
