By: Shimrit Tzur-David
Anyone who has led a technology company or been in the startup scene will tell you that most startups share a number of challenges. Key among them is the need to prove to investors and potential customers that what the company offers is unique and that barriers to entry exist that preclude anyone else from encroaching on their idea or market. As a co-founder and CTO, I have been involved in numerous pitches and discussions, both with investors and with customers, where we have had to demonstrate how our technology, approach and business model are unique. Based on this experience, I have come to appreciate the value of a patent.
If you go the patent route, it’s important to do it properly from the outset. Filing a poor patent, even a provisional one (more on this later), can end up costing so much that sometimes it’s worse than filing no patent at all.
Jumping In
If you’ve invented a solution to a problem that differentiates you from the competition or provides a competitive advantage, seriously consider filing a patent application before making your solution available to the public. In many countries, public disclosure prior to filing a patent application can make it more difficult to obtain or enforce a patent.
There are three main types of patent applications: the provisional, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and filing a full patent application directly in the country of your choice (usually the U.S., but often in Europe or China). Filing any of these applications allows you to mark your product as patent pending. A provisional application never gets examined and never matures into a patent, but it acts as a placeholder and gives you a one-year grace period to file a PCT or a full patent application that will date back to when you filed the provisional.
Provisional applications are generally recommended for technology that is still under development and technology that a company wants to test commercially before investing significant resources in obtaining patent protection. Most startups file a provisional application first. It testifies to the fact that your company filed the specific patent for a certain technology, which is critical in light of the U.S. patent system switching from a first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file system in 2013. While the requirements for filing a provisional patent are less stringent than those for a full patent, it’s best to file as robust an application as possible. If you do decide to file a provisional application, do it as early as possible so you avoid being locked out by someone else who files first.
Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/07/09/what-every-startup-should-know-before-filing-a-patent/#598b022ac3ed
