HOW PATENTS CAN HELP YOU MAKE ITJOHN MEIERPATENT AND TRADEMARK RESOURCE CENTER LIBRARIANPENN STATE UNIVERSITYMEIER@PSU.EDU @JOHNMEIER1

LEARNING OUTCOMES•Understand Intellectual Property (IP)•Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, and Trade Secrets

•Is my idea or invention patentable?•Prior art and patent searching

•Process and costs for getting a patent•Highlighting local help and free resources

I AM NOT A LAWYER

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP)•Copyright – protect an original creative work from duplication•Patents - Exclude others from making, using or selling their invention•Trademark - logo or name for a product is protected in a particular industry and geographic region•Trade secret - idea or invention protected by secrecy

MULTIPLE TYPES OF PATENTS•Utility patents - functional or structural novelty• Examples: Light bulb or the “comb-over”

•Design patents - ornamental designs• Example: An athletic shoe sole design

•Plant patents - varieties of plants• Example: Poinsettia plant named “Eckaddis”

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP)Patents?Copyright?

Trademarks?

TradeSecrets?

DURATION OF PROTECTION•Copyright = Life of the author + 70 years

•Utility patents = 20 years from filing date•Design patents = 14 years from issue date

•Trademarks = Renewed as long as product in the market

QUESTIONS ABOUT IP?•Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, Trade secrets

PATENT-ABILITYIs my idea or invention patentable?1. Utility - must be useful, or have a use2. Novelty - must be new, no “prior art”3. Non-obvious - the difference between

existing art and the invention must be sufficiently great as to warrant a patent

UTILITY

NOVELTY

http://pnwstartuplawyer.com/design-patents-illustrated/

NON-OBVIOUS

Image copyright Vincent LoTempiohttps://www.lotempiolaw.com/

PRIOR ARTPrior art is important for both novelty and non-obviousness•Previous patents•Scholarly articles and trade journals•Books•Catalogs•Websites

PATENT SEARCHINGKeyword Searching

Parking AppSpace ApplicationGarage Data

Sensor Server

PATENT SEARCH STRATEGIESClassification Searching (ex: G08G 1/0112)

CLASS G08 = signaling instrumentsSUBCLASS G08G = traffic control systemsGROUP G08G 1/00 = for road vehiclesSUBGROUP 1/0112 = “Floating car data sources for measuring and analyzing traffic movement…”

SEARCH TOOLS•U.S. PTO Website (PatFT) – limited searching http://patft.uspto.gov •Google Patents – Full text searching US and some international patentshttp://www.google.com/patents •esp@cenet – International patent searchhttp://worldwide.espacenet.com/

EXAMPLE

CLAIMS

HELP WITH PATENT SEARCHINGhttp://guides.libraries.psu.edu/patents/tutorials

PROCESS FOR GETTING A PATENT

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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET A PATENT?

Large Entity Fees- Starting at around $2000- Maintenance for 20 years $9000

Small Entity Fees- Starting at $1000 for a patent- Maintenance for 20 years $4500

Micro Entity (no more than 4 apps)- Starting as low as $500 for a

patentSubject to change frequently, only includes fees due to the USPTO

HOW MUCH CAN COST TO GET A PATENT?

• Provisional Patent Application $1600-3500• Conversion of Provisional to U.S. Patent Application

$5000-$10,000 in Attorney fees, $900 USPTO fee,possible $2500-$5000 PCT fee = $8400-$15,000 • First Office Action $2500-5000• Second Office Action $2500-5000• Drawing, Issue Fees and Publication$2000-4000• Maintenance Fee – 3.5 years $490• Maintenance Fee - 7.5 years $1240• Maintenance Fee – 11 years $2055Average cost around $20,000 with attorney fees but highly variable

FREE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU WITH PATENTS• Philadelphia Patent Pro Bono Programhttp://www.artsandbusinessphila.org/pvla/patentprobono.asp• Penn State Law IP Clinichttps://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/practice-skills/clinics/intellectual-property-clinic/ip-clinic-client-application• Patent and Trademark Resource Centerhttp://guides.libraries.psu.edu/patents• Penn State Small Business Development Centerhttp://sbdc.psu.edu/