Establishing dates of Invention

Hello Inventors:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently abandoned their disclosure document program. For those of you that are unaware of such a program, you are not alone. Essentially it was created in response to the urban legend referred to as a poor man's patent. The poor man's patent rationale goes like this . . . The inventor documents the invention, stuffs the invention in an envelope and mails it to himself. The misconception is that the envelope establishes a valid date of invention.

This provides no protection!!

In response, the disclosure document program was developed. The disclosure document program allowed an inventor to provide the USPTO with a disclosure that would be kept for 2 years. Prior to the expiration of the 2 years, the inventor must formally incorporate the disclosure into the patent application. The program was largely unused and confusing to inventors.

So this begs the question . . . How should inventors document inventions and establish priority dates?

First, about documenting inventions. EVERY INVENTOR SHOULD HAVE AN INVENTION NOTEBOOK. Sorry for the all caps but EVERY INVENTOR SHOULD HAVE AN INVENTION NOTEBOOK. Inventors should be in the habit of documenting all ideas and inventions. For more information about Notebooks, view my previous posts on this site.

Next, establishing priority . . .

The best way to establish priority for an invention is to file a patent application.

A regular utility patent application is what most folks think of when they imagine a patent. A utility patent protects new, useful and non-obvious products and processes. A utility patent application has many formalities and should be prepared by a licensed patent attorney.

A provisional patent application can also be an effective way to establish priority. Provisional patent applications do not issue as patents themselves but function merely as priority documents for one year. A non-provisional patent application (e.g. utility, pct) must be filed within one year. Provisional patent applications do not publish. If the inventor decides to move in a new direction, the provisional patent application can be abandoned or a new provisional patent application can be filed.

For more information about different types of patent applications or information about documenting inventions contact a licensed patent attorney.

Keep Inventing!

Raymond