I give people advice about patents for a living. Ask me questions and I will give you advice for free

>they unironically believe this

Top kek

fuck off, there are a million arguments about IP reform and you are picking the two that are wrong

made me chuckle 10/10

It's conceivable, but not likely. Without at least a license to practice patent law (which requires a stem degree as well) it's unlikely you'd amass the knowhow let alone the capital.

I'm interested in your clients, or rather the types of ideas you usually get presented with - do you specialize in any particular industry?

Are there certain genre of ideas/IP which are virtually pointless to patent that you see coming in again and again and again?

Is it possible to patent a process? Like in private education - let's say I invent a new type of Martial Arts or maybe a language acquisition system: can you only copyright the textbooks and other written material and register the name of the system as a trademark, or can you actually patent the techniques?

What about in photography, can you patent a certain photo-chemical process which produces a distinct or vastly superior image? Or do you need to have a physical machine you've designed, and you patent the machine or not the process.

>Sorry if I sound like a fucking idiot, but the only way to fight abject ignorance is to ask questions.

Thanks in advance!

I used to work for a non profit company. I was hired to fine tune a broken web product. I made that shit hum (page loads boosted from 30 seconds to 10 milliseconds), boosted content by 5000% and added a social collaboration feature.

Then I quit to go work for IBM and a few months later the non profit went bankrupt.

The non profit is completely bankrupted and nobody is using the Web product any more, or any other app similar to the Web product.

Honestly I think this Web product could have been revolutionary. But the organization treated it like some cutesy add on to a shitty blog that they put all their heart and soul in (even though the Web product logged more activity than the shitty blog)

It's been over 5 years. I want to recreate the Web product. Put my own spin on it. 501(c)3 that fucker, get some accolades then pivot the functional infrastructure to a for profit model.

Keep the non profit side going. Because it's good for marketing and gives me the warm fuzzies.

But you know, have a parallel for profit business using the same data/product model except for a for profit purpose.

The original owner is some big shot lobbyist in DC. I'm sure he patented the original web product. I mean. Probably. Who knows though. But this was over 5 years ago. And I could totally refactor to be arguably different.

I really wanna do this.

***
What's up patent bro?

Should I steal the intellectual property? Get rich and famous?

Back after a night's rest.

I work mostly with small inventors, I don't have a specialization per se but a lot of my guys are in fitness or child care equipment.

Thanks to Alice most software patents are useless, you can patent a GUI but unless someone's an idiot they can find a way around your patent.

In terms of the process, this is a complicated issue and you should read: scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/alice-corporation-pty-ltd-v-cls-bank-international/ (That's the alice i mentioned earlier) but I can tell you a martial arts technique is not patentable in any way.

You could patent a chemical photo process, but it would be more likely to succeed as a patent and be a strong patent if that process works in conjunction with unique machinery or equipment.

While I can't be sure without a lot of very specific details, my instincts tell me that there probably is not significant IP that would stop you from recreating it. Honestly though your best bet is to just call the guy and ask, worst case scenario you find out he has a patent and avoid a lawsuit, best case scenario maybe he'd be interested in partnering with you.

Well I am a small inventor myself and yes I know for a fact I would not have been able to pursue my invention without protecting it. The moment I took it to any company they'd just knock it off, so why would I bother? Even if I brought it to market myself, my competitors with better infrastructure could undercut me on cost.

See if you can find it here:

>patft.uspto.gov/

You can also pay a patent lawyer to do a feasibility search for like ~1k (USD) and he can tell you if you would be infringing at all.

Not sure if you're making this up or not, because it sounds like the same kind of fake garbage software that forms the basis for that Silicon Valley show.

How do you protect an idea while seeking assistance in producing the prototype or schematic required to successfully obtain a patent?

I want to patent a thing, of which there is a similar but not identical patent, that could be of great household use, but I don't have the scientific knowledge required to make a functioning schematic in the necessary detail.

You're in a tricky spot. If there's a pre existing patent with decent similarity to yours, then you need to be very careful about the language you use in your provisional patent.

What I would recommend is that you go to a lawyer or consultant. You can show them the "prior art" you've found, then show them your own idea and how it's different. Ask them to perform a "prior art search" and once you've gotten the results the two of you can strategize about how to format your patent so you don't have issues.

Unfortunately I can't give you many more details without knowing the specifics. I would warn you though that in your situation you should not proceed without at the least a prior art search to make sure you don't end up working your way around the patent you know about, just to have another one come up later and totally screw your plan up.

For an amateur searcher I would recommend using google patents instead as it will also get you international results with a decent translation.

I got a question might be a bit dumb, but basically this engineering company patented a chemical extraction process, now obviously i cant go around offering to set up this process for people as a business but can i use the process for myself? Because it would save a lot of time money in my business. I didn't think it'd be possible to patent basic chemical reactions, i wouldn't use their exact specific process but the same chemicals.

Your idea of the future seems very similar to the movie Pinocchio 3000

If I create something and openly distribute the CAD files, would that nullify any other attempted patent claims?

Depends on what the process is, but probably not. If you're making money off of it odds are it's infringing on their patent.

Not necessarily you can do something called a "public disclosure" but dude a provisional patent is $65 just get basic protection before you release them.

Are Strikeforce (SFOR) patent trolls?
I heard they successfully sued Microsoft, but that's about all I know.
Coincidentally (or not) they were up 56% today.

Back again

Without doing a lot of research I couldn't tell you. Even if they have a bunch of patents but don't produce products it's entirely possible they make licensing deals or are just shitty at following through on an idea.

Well, thanks anyway.
I figured some of these companies are such trolls that they might be well known for it.

How much does it cost to patent something, and how technical does the document need to be?
I've had an idea for a while but I need money for the R&D to get the specifics sorted to production grade.

stfu faggot

In terms of cost it depends on a number of factors including whether you want to go international and how many appeals/continuations it takes. Minimum is 5 grand. The provisional can be non-technical, but you should make it as technical as possible or you may do more harm than good. The non-provisional you will need a lawyer for.

I'm a consultant not a lawyer, it's entirely possible they're well known among litigators. Since I only help with filing and not litigating patents, that's a whole different world.