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Patent Applications

Patent Applications

 Why Seek Patent Protection?

A granted patent creates value in your business by allowing you to:

  • Benefit exclusively from the financial rewards flowing from the commercialisation of your idea
  • Threaten and, if required, bring infringement proceedings against a copier of your idea for 20 years
  • Sell your idea for a lump sum payment
  • License your idea for royalties (and/or a lump sum payment)
  • Improve your bargaining position in negotiations with strategic partners such as manufacturers, investors, partners or licensees
  • Deter third parties from copying your idea

 Is Your Idea, Invention or Design Patentable?

Technology does not always develop in leaps and bounds and even an incremental development can attract patent protection. An idea 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 are also patentable in some jurisdictions.

 What Type Of Patent Application Should I File?

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).

 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 application is written by your patent attorney and to what extent you are able to anticipate how copiers might try to get around it. In the process of a writing your patent application, a high quality patent attorney is always asking themself:

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

A single incorrect word in a patent claim can easily create a loophole that a patent infringer can use to quite legally make something very similar or indeed the same as your product.

For example, say your idea is for a computer implemented shopping transaction system for a website that is adapted to move a product box image representing a purchase across the screen and into a shopping cart zone when a product is purchased by clicking on the product box. Here is your patent claim:

A computer for facilitating a shopping transaction, the computer comprising:
- a processor;
- a display operatively connected to the processor;
- a data input means operatively connected to the processor and adapted to receive a product selection data from a user of the computer; and
- computer readable memory operatively connected to the processor, the computer readable memory comprising computer code adapted to perform the following steps when executed on the processor:
(i) display a dynamic product pane in a first position on the display;
(ii) move the dynamic product pane across the display from the first position to a second position on the display in response to the product selection data received from the user.

  1. Will this patent claim be effective if the website is run as Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) managed over a cloud computing network? Does the claim properly cover a typical real-life implementation of the software product? Will it be effective in court?
  2. What if someone does exactly the same thing but the dynamic product pane instead of moving across the display simply appears at 5 discrete positions on the display representing an equivalent movement?

This example illustrates how even when a claim seems completely reasonable, it may be completely ineffectual in stopping a copier, if not drafted by an experienced patent attorney who understands your field of technology.

B. Will your patent application 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 application, and sometimes in your original provisional patent application – a decision that is normally made three to four years prior! That is, the quality of your provisional patent application can have a very real bearing on whether, after spending tens of thousands of dollars on applying for patents in your chosen countries, you are able to obtain patent protection.

It is important to spend the time identifying the angles that competitors may come from and covering the patent 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 in 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.

 Will Your Patent Maximise 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.

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

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

Click here to visit our Provisional Patents page to learn more about the first step in the patenting process.

Alternatively, why not organise a free patent strategy consultation with one of our patent attorneys by calling: (02) 9264 6716.

© 2012 Baxter IP Patent Attorneys | 8/210 Clarence St Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

BaxterIP is a member of INTA APAA AIPPA IPTA BaxterIP member