Student Awards - Protect your invention through patenting
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Many inventors think that the first thing they must do about their invention is to file a patent application. In fact this often turns out to be a mistaken approach.
Cruickshanks (patent agents and a sponsor of the Student Enterprise Awards) advise that before any attempt is made to commercialise a project and file a patent application, you must analyse exactly what you are trying to do and how you intend achieving the desired result. You must give some thought to how the invention is to be developed and commercialised. In the course of the technical and commercial development, a patent application may well be appropriate. The timing of it will however be dependent on what is planned technically and commercially. It will not necessarily be the first thing to do.
The filing of a patent application must be treated as a project in its own right. It is too easy to file a patent application, disclose the invention, and then ask, what do I intend doing?
In any project there are certain major questions that have to be asked and until they have been asked there should be no attempt made to proceed any further. Cruickshanks are suggesting that you will not be able to answer all the questions initially but you must at least raise them and make some attempt to answer them.
Once a patent application has been filed, one has in effect only twelve months before serious decisions have to be taken about the precise definition of what one is trying to protect and in particular the number of countries in which one wishes to obtain patent protection. Such decisions involve a substantial expenditure. Twelve months may seem like a long time. In pursuing the development and commercialisation of an invention however, an inventor usually has to involve other people. The timescale by which things happen is not therefore totally within the inventor's control.
Many inventors who rush into filing a patent application find that this twelve month deadline arises before they are ready. It is the factor that causes probably the biggest problem for users of the patent system. It is very important therefore not to rush into filing a patent application before you are certain that you need to do so.
It is important to treat the filing of a patent application and the obtaining of granted patents as a commercial matter and not just something that is done because you have some technology that you believe is of importance.
Obtaining granted patents in a number of countries is a process that takes several years and costs several tens of thousands of euro. Unless the invention is particularly innovative technically and/or is showing considerable commercial potential, these costs may not be a good investment. At the same time, it should be noted that there are various recent developments which greatly reduce the initial patent filing costs.
You must think of a patent not just as a means of protection of a monopoly but as an asset and business tool in its own right. It may allow you to obtain royalty income through licensing of manufacturing/selling rights if you are not in a position to commercialise the invention fully yourself. Such income from a patent may be exempt from income tax under current legislation.
If you have any further queries you should consult your college Industrial Liaison Officer or a patent agent prior to making any disclosure of an invention. As part of the Student Enterprise Awards Cruickshanks, 1 Holles Street, Dublin 2 are prepared, free of charge, to consider inventions submitted to them. You may find this advantageous.
Patent information can also be found on the nibusinessinfo.co.uk website. Find information on how to get patent protection for your business on the nibusinessinfo.co.uk..
You can also get patent advice from Invest NI's Technical Advisory Unit.
Contact
Martin McAteer
T: 028 9069 8825