March 2013 brings a monumental change to patent law when the Leahey-Smith Act goes into effect. The U.S. will switch from a First to Invent system to a First Inventor to File basis. The Technology Ventures Conference on Protecting and Commercializing Your Intellectual Assets, sponsored by the UTPA Small Business Development Center and the UTPA Office of Innovation & Intellectual Property, examined that change, the biggest patent shakeup in 60 years, and commercializing a patent.
Jacquelyn Michel, now the the Driector of TEchnology Transfer at the University of TExas at San Antonio and until recently at UTPA, discussed technology commercialization and patents with conference speaker and attorney David Clark.
Patent attorney David Clark explained that a successful patent must be useful, innovative and non-obvious. He recommended first doing a thorough Google search to see if your idea exists anywhere. If your product, process, design or composition appears unique, the first step is to file for a provisional?patent. ?It puts a mark in time for you,? he said. This gets you on record as the First Inventor to File.
Next step is the nonprovisional, which gets you ?applied for? status. ?It could be three to five years before the patent is issued.?
Clark described several most important steps in preparing your technology for its introduction to investors and the marketplace. Start with a detailed description of the problem your new technology solves and do it in simple-to-understand, non-jargon language. The description of the product itself?should point out its features and their functions along with the benefits of those functions. As the management team works through describing the product features and benefits, they should discover their marketing message. You should also have a strategy to protect the intellectual property and be able to articulate what development stage your product has reached.
Investors, Clark said, look at four areas when researching a potential investment: the technology itself; the management team; the market for the product or process; and the financials.
Clark has all his clients read the book ?Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks for Dummies.?
?If the patent is that important to your business, don?t do this yourself. See a patent lawyer.?
On the issue of discussing your new idea, Clark said don?t do it. Before you disclose your idea to independent contractors, you must get them to sign non-disclosure agreement.
Henry Oh, Driector of TMAC, exchanged information with UTPA chemistry professor Dr. Frank Dean, who is planning to start trials on a diabetes drug.
?If you are showing people your secret sauce, you want to protect it.? Nevertheless, he noted that professors presenting papers at conferences are among the biggest transgressors. The upcoming First to File process is going to require even greater caution. Canada switched to a FIF system 25 years ago and reportedly has seen a decrease in independent inventors filing for patents while those filed by large corporations have increased.
Clark pointed out the long-term outlook that inventors and their investors must take. ?Most management teams I deal with, no one is getting paid. They are all in it for a piece of the action. They are all risk-takers, No one is looking for a W-2.?
Potential growth ?The sky is the limit when you are the first to market. People buy things because they are new and will pay exorbitant prices,? said engineer Kathy Wiggin, who is director of Manufacturing Operations of FibeRio Technology.
For more of this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the December edition of Valley Business Report, on news stands now, or visit the ?Current & Past Issues? tab on this Web site.
Source: http://www.valleybusinessreport.com/recent-news/get-legal-protection-for-your-ideas/
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