Contact Us:

Phone: +61 2 9264 6716
Email: mail@BaxterIP.com.au

 

Testmonials:

"I contacted Baxter IP following a previous fruitless, lengthy and expensive experience with one of the large specialist IP firms in a previous business.

I have now engaged Chris from Baxter IP for two projects, one simple, and one complex. In both cases Chris has demonstrated his talent for rapidly gaining a depth of subject understanding and a grasp of the important issues prior to producing and lodging highly regarded patent documents.

I have no hesitation in recommending Baxter IP."

Bruce Johansson
GreenPlug

 

"We recently engaged Baxter IP to manage and direct our Intellectual Property needs. We found Chris to be very responsive, committed and diligent in his approach to providing us with direction to matters that became urgent. Chris demonstrated that he could offer creative solutions to solve problems and meet some very tight deadlines. To achieve this it is evident that Chris has valuable skills and knowledge that can only be gained through extensive experience. Chris is currently preparing a global strategic direction for the Popcake suite of products. Chris comprehended future issues, and there are numerous conflicting factors, and reported these to Board of Directors without ambiguity and clear future corporate direction."

Marek Szymanski
Managing Director
www.popcake.com

 
  

You are here » Patent

Patents

How can I stop a third party from copying my new idea?  A patent can allow you to:

1. Protect your idea from being copied for 20 years

2. Sell or license your idea

However, in practice, it's not that simple... here are the two most important questions:

1. Will Your Patent Work?

Whether a patent will be truly effective in keeping competitors away from your idea depends, amongst other things, on how well your patent is written and to what extent you are able to anticipate how copiers might try to get around it. For example:

1. Are your claims broad enough to cover ways that copiers might try to replicate your idea?

Any undue limitations in your claims can provide loop holes that infringers can use to quite legally make something very similar to your product.

2. Will your patent come out of examination, particularly in the United States and Europe, in a state in which it can still be used to block copiers?

A common misconception is that patent claims do not change. During examination, patent claims normally have to be changed to differentiate over what has been done before, known as the "prior art". Some changes may be of little consequence while others may render your patent completely ineffective. The catch is that the types of changes you are allowed to make will depend on what information has been included in your patent specification - a decision that is normally made a number of years prior!

As you can see, it is critically important to spend the time identifying the angles that competitors may come from and covering the idea as thoroughly as possible in the first place. The risk of spending significant amounts of money on patenting your idea, only to be side-stepped by a clever copier at the last moment needs to be mitigated as much as possible. At Baxter IP, we pride ourselves on thinking through your protection carefully and insightfully from the earliest stages and in preparing detailed, high quality patent specifications geared for success both in Australia and internationally.

2. Will Your Patent Improve Licensing Profits?

The difference between successful licensing and licensing failure can come down to a few words in your patent application. The first key to licensing is realising that every prospective licencee is also a prospective copier. If the licencee can find a loophole in your claims and if there is no other incentive for them to obtain a licence to your technology - why would they? The second key is in understanding how your patent claims correlate to the present and future commercial products and/or services of your prospective licencee(s). There are a number of other important licensing-related patenting strategies that we implement for our clients.

Our unique combination of intellectual property and commercialisation experience (see People) means that we can prepare your patent application to improve profits in licensing or sale negotiations.

Dr John Baxter, our senior commercialisation advisor provides insight into commercially successful patent strategy in the article, "Patent - protect your intellectual property" , posted on the Powerhouse Museum website.

What do I need to obtain a patent?

Technology does not always develop in leaps and bounds and even an incremental development can attract patent protection. An invention is generally patentable if it is either a product or a process that is new and if it would not be obvious to someone skilled in the art.

The scope of patentable subject matter extends much further than merely machines and pharmaceuticals. For example, consumer devices, business methods, teaching programs, software and web-based applications may also be patentable.

How do I know if my idea is new?

We offer several patent searching services to provide you with an indication of whether your idea is new.

What are the steps involved in obtaining a patent?

Filing a provisional patent application is normally the first stage in the patent application process and represents a cost-effective way to lay claim to your idea. As explained above, our competitive edge lies in our ability to cost-effectively prepare detailed, international-standard provisional patent applications that align with your overall business strategy (e.g. licensing).

Click here to visit our Provisional Patent Application page to learn more about this subject.