A patent is the granting of a property right by a sovereign authority to an inventor. This grant provides the inventor exclusive rights to the patented process, design, or invention for a designated period in exchange for a comprehensive disclosure of the invention. They are a form of incorporeal right. A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention and it is only right that businesses, especially small enterprises should have their products patented.
You can seek a patent when you start to launch your product. The advantage of seeking patent protection is that you can stop others from competing against you when you get your patent. If your sales are robust, then it is most likely that you would be motivated to stop your competitors.
Another advantage of seeking patent protection is that your patent application establishes your priority date. Also, it becomes prior art against others that might seek patent protection for the same invention.
On the other hand, you can launch your product and wait to file a patent application. You can actually test market your product before filing a patent application under US patent laws and you have one year to test market your product or service before you have to file the patent application.
The benefit of this action is that you have actual market data about your product or service. Plus, you don’t have to waste your money on legal fees getting a patent application filed. You can wait till you know that the market data shows that the expenses of getting a patent are worth it.
Previously, when the United States followed the first to invent rule, patent attorneys advised clients that they could wait to file a patent application. Many startups did wait one year until they could sell enough units to justify the expenses of the patent.
Having your product patented can help you protect it. A patent can help you safeguard your invention and in most cases, the protection can last for up to 20 years.
