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Improvement on existing patents

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Liza217

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? DC

For a fee, I had hired a company to conduct a patent search to see if my two products were patentable. In their opinion, my "invention is not patentable since the relevant features of my invention are disclosed in the patents developed by the search". Upon closer examination, none of the previous patents/drawings were exactly like mine. To go ahead and 'try' to not only patent my ideas, but eventually to manufacture and sell....would I need to hire a patent attorney to contact these inventors and acquire a license or agreement or??? Since I don't see any of these products in the market, can I assume that these patents have not been manufactured....for obvious reasons of lack of budget?? Any thoughts...suggestions if I would like to pursue mine further?? I appreciate your feedback, thank you!
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? DC

For a fee, I had hired a company to conduct a patent search to see if my two products were patentable. In their opinion, my "invention is not patentable since the relevant features of my invention are disclosed in the patents developed by the search". Upon closer examination, none of the previous patents/drawings were exactly like mine. To go ahead and 'try' to not only patent my ideas, but eventually to manufacture and sell....would I need to hire a patent attorney to contact these inventors and acquire a license or agreement or??? Since I don't see any of these products in the market, can I assume that these patents have not been manufactured....for obvious reasons of lack of budget?? Any thoughts...suggestions if I would like to pursue mine further?? I appreciate your feedback, thank you!
There are two separate issues here -- obtaining a patent, and manufacturing and selling your product -- and the two issues are not really related.

With respect to the first issue, obtaining a patent. If your invention is in fact a novel improvement over existing art, then you may be able to obtain a patent. You do not need anyone's permission to obtain a patent -- you file, and if you can prove to the patent office that you meet the requirements to obtain a patent, you will get one.

Note, however, that patents are generally broader than they look -- so just because your inventions is not "exactly" like other patents, it doesn't mean that your improvement is novel. The underlying patents may well be broad enough to cover your improvement. You may wany to sit down with a local patent agent or attorney who can review your invention and the prior art you have located and help you decide whether you can or cannot protect your invention.

With respect to the second issue, manufacturing and selling your product. You do not need a patent to make or sell a product -- but if your product "embodies" other patents (as it almost certainly will if it is an improvement on other patented products or methods), you will need a license from the patent holders, or face a lawsuit. This is true whether or not you obtain a patent on your own invention, or whether or not your own invention is separately patentable. Even if you have a patent on your invention, if your invention also embodies another patent, you may be infringing.

To put it simply, if a three-legged stool is covered by a patent, and you invent a three-legged stool with a back, and obtain a patent, you still need a license from the patent owner of the three-legged stool patent, because your "improved" stool incorporates a regular (but patented) three-legged stool.

EDIT: A patent attorney will be able to help you determine what licenses you might need, and can help you negotiate said licenses. A patent agent can help you obtain a patent, but cannot help you with the licensing issues unless he or she is also an attorney.
 

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