Patent invention now or make a company(LLC) first?

[Billy Tsifer]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
We are located in EU.

Description of our case:
Two enginners working on a new method and device
almost ready to patent both maybe in two patents
and willing to incorporate to start a crowdfunding
campaign

our questions are the following:

Should we do a patent first or incorporate first in a
way to protect ourselves from anything that can be
considered prior art like incorporation documents themselvess?

where should we apply for a patent ? wipo ? uspo? europe?
we will sell through the campaign worldwide

is it true that we can patent with a 90% discount at wipo if
we are citizens of a state/country with average income below 35000?

our corporation want to hold the patent rights
run the crowd-funding campaign and protect us personally in legal
and financial terms by offering limited liability. Is it ok to make an offshore llc?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
We are located in EU.

Description of our case:
Two enginners working on a new method and device
almost ready to patent both maybe in two patents
and willing to incorporate to start a crowdfunding
campaign

our questions are the following:

Should we do a patent first or incorporate first in a
way to protect ourselves from anything that can be
considered prior art like incorporation documents themselvess?

where should we apply for a patent ? wipo ? uspo? europe?
we will sell through the campaign worldwide

is it true that we can patent with a 90% discount at wipo if
we are citizens of a state/country with average income below 35000?

our corporation want to hold the patent rights
run the crowd-funding campaign and protect us personally in legal
and financial terms by offering limited liability. Is it ok to make an offshore llc?

You should speak to a patent agent or patent attorney in your area of Europe. We handle US law questions only.

Good luck.

 

[Billy Tsifer]

i took the courage to ask since in preliminary discussions most patent attorneys recommended a provisional in us
Do you agree with this opinion? Mostly because provisional is cheaper according to most

 

[quincy]

i took the courage to ask since in preliminary discussions most patent attorneys recommended a provisional in us
Do you agree with this opinion? Mostly because provisional is cheaper according to most

You need to speak to a patent agent or patent attorney in your country. What is best for you depends on the specifics.

 

[FlyingRon]

Get the PATENT now. Patents are only eligible for inventions that are "novel." The more you wait, the more chance that the novelty is going to wear off. Even if you had an LLC, you'd probably still want to get the patent issued in your name. You can always assign the rights as you see fit later.

The provisional is a great tool. It allows you to get a "filing date" for your invention that puts things on hold for up to a year while the non-provisional application is filed. Most law firms and other patent assistance people aren't the speediest bunch, so you might lose out in the six months or whatever it takes to get around to filing your non-provisional application.

Of course, you want to do this ONLY if you are certain you are going to follow it with the NPA. If the time runs out on your NPA, your invention is now disclosed and non-novel and NOBODY not you nor anybody else can patent it.

 

[quincy]

Get the PATENT now. Patents are only eligible for inventions that are "novel." The more you wait, the more chance that the novelty is going to wear off. Even if you had an LLC, you'd probably still want to get the patent issued in your name. You can always assign the rights as you see fit later.

The provisional is a great tool. It allows you to get a "filing date" for your invention that puts things on hold for up to a year while the non-provisional application is filed. Most law firms and other patent assistance people aren't the speediest bunch, so you might lose out in the six months or whatever it takes to get around to filing your non-provisional application.

Of course, you want to do this ONLY if you are certain you are going to follow it with the NPA. If the time runs out on your NPA, your invention is now disclosed and non-novel and NOBODY not you nor anybody else can patent it.

While I agree that getting the patent is primary - an LLC potentially can wait - I am not convinced filing a provisional application is the best choice for our European friend. I think a personal review by a patent agent or attorney is necessary to determine what the best course of action actually is, based on the specifics.