Workshop for inventors to protect their ideas with patents

1. HOW PATENTS CAN
HELP YOU MAKE IT
JOHN MEIER
PATENT AND TRADEMARK RESOURCE CENTER
LIBRARIAN
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
MEIER@PSU.EDU @JOHNMEIER1

2. 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

3. I AM NOT A LAWYER

4. 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

5. 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”

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
(IP)
Patents?
Copyrigh
t?
Trademark
s?
Trade
Secrets?

7. 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

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

9. PATENT-ABILITY
Is my idea or invention patentable?
1. Utility - must be useful, or have a use
2. 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

10. UTILITY

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

12. NON-
OBVIOUS
Image copyright Vincent
LoTempio

13. PRIOR ART
Prior art is important for both novelty and non-
obviousness
•Previous patents
•Scholarly articles and trade journals
•Books
•Catalogs

14. PATENT SEARCHING
Keyword Searching
Parking App
Space Application
Garage Data
Sensor Server

15. PATENT SEARCH
STRATEGIES
Classification Searching (ex: G08G 1/0112)
CLASS G08 = signaling instruments
SUBCLASS G08G = traffic control systems
GROUP G08G 1/00 = for road vehicles
SUBGROUP 1/0112 = “Floating car data sources
for measuring and analyzing traffic movement…”

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

17. EXAMPLE

18. CLAIMS

19. HELP WITH PATENT
SEARCHING
http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/patents/tut
orials

20. PROCESS FOR GETTING A
PATENT

21. 21
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 patent
Subject to change frequently, only includes fees due to the USPTO

22. 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 $2055

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