QUESTION
How much protection to patent rights do I have with utilty non provisional patent?
Asked on Dec 03rd, 2013 on Patents - Florida
More details to this question:
I have a marvelous idea that is very simple idea that has great potential for easy cheap cost effective design. My inventive idea however is absolutely unique and not anything like it was on the market. How do I patent and protect the product idea without having to rely on great mechanical design for my product idea? In example thomas edison invented the light bulb. However many lightbulbs and lights are different. Thomas edison one idea covered many mechanical unique designs of the lightbulb. How do I patent my unique never before seen invention product idea that has never been before mechanically designed by anyone? I wanted idea protection more than mechanical design. in example the light bulb has different designs but still under patent of thomas edison. How do I protect my invention idea from other engineers who would steal my product use idea? Also to mention my invention idea has never been seen before on the market.
1 ANSWER
Intellectual Property Attorney serving Manchester, NH
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Edison is a tough example because many of his patents were on ideas that were invented in parallel or pre-dated by an inventor in Europe, Joseph Swan.
The key to preparing good claims in a utility patent is isolating the novelty of the invention in your independent claims.
All sorts of shapes, sockets, and filament materials were tried for years in making a lightbulb that would endure, with little success. Some filaments worked better than others, but all of them burned out too quickly. Some sockets were easier to use when changing the light bulb. If Edison is the first one to determine that a filament in a vaccuum will burn exponentially longer than a filament exposed to air, the independent claims should not specify the type of socket, the shape of the bulb, or the material used to make or coat the filament. It should be a filament in a bulb attached to a socket, wherein the socket and bulb form an air tight enclosure encapsulating the filament. The dependent claims should focus, at least in part, on how to attach the socket and bulb to form an air tight seal.
Answered on Dec 04th, 2013 at 9:25 AM