Patent Hawk - Helping Inventors

The way to make money is to get, if you can, a monopoly for yourself. - Aristotle

You have a great idea; an innovative practical solution. How do you get a patent for it?

The first step, without a doubt, is to have a patentability search done. You need to know that someone hasn't come up with the idea before. There can be an 18-month time lag for publishing new patent applications, and a comprehensive search would be quite expensive, so patentability searches are not guarantees of novelty.

Read about patentability searches.

Individuals can prosecute their own patent applications with the Patent Office; it's called pro se prosecution. But that's tough sledding; practically impossible without training and experience. You need a patent agent or attorney.

Patent Hawk is not a patent agent, so cannot prosecute a patent for others before the patent office. Patent Hawk is, however, a successful pro se prosecutor of his own inventions, with multiple patents granted in computer and software technologies (e.g. 7,016,942), and so is able to bring his experience to bear in appreciating your situation as an inventor. After a patentability prior art search, Patent Hawk listens to your concerns as a basis to recommend an appropriate patent agent or attorney to you.

Patent applications are supposed to be readable. An examiner not being able to easily read and understand a patent application is the kiss of death.

A patent application comprises the following material: claims, drawings, disclosure, and forms.

The claims are the business end of a patent. The value of a patent depends upon what is claimed. Patent examination is all about the claims. Drafting quality claims is the most challenging aspect of patent prosecution.

Drawings illustrate the technology. All significant aspects of the invention are supposed to be diagrammed.

The disclosure describes the technology so that someone else could practice the claimed invention. Together, the drawings and disclosure are called the specification. The disclosure comprises a background, explaining the need for the invention, a brief abstract, a summary of the invention, and a detailed description. Properly, much of the detailed description explains the drawings.

U.S. Patent Office (USPTO)

USPTO patent search (Patent Hawk uses Delphion, a more sophisticated search engine.)

Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) - the authoritative reference on patent prosecution.

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	this page: Getting a Patent Application & Prosecution Application Parts Prosecution Links email: info@ patenthawk.com Phone: 503.922.2433 (Portland)206.529.5146 (Seattle) *The Patent Prospector*(patent weblog)	The way to make money is to get, if you can, a monopoly for yourself. - Aristotle Getting a Patent You have a great idea; an innovative practical solution. How do you get a patent for it? The first step, without a doubt, is to have a patentability search done. You need to know that someone hasn't come up with the idea before. There can be an 18-month time lag for publishing new patent applications, and a comprehensive search would be quite expensive, so patentability searches are not guarantees of novelty. Read about patentability searches. Individuals can prosecute their own patent applications with the Patent Office; it's called pro se prosecution. But that's tough sledding; practically impossible without training and experience. You need a patent agent or attorney. The Application & Prosecution Patent Hawk is not a patent agent, so cannot prosecute a patent for others before the patent office. Patent Hawk is, however, a successful pro se prosecutor of his own inventions, with multiple patents granted in computer and software technologies (e.g. 7,016,942), and so is able to bring his experience to bear in appreciating your situation as an inventor. After a patentability prior art search, Patent Hawk listens to your concerns as a basis to recommend an appropriate patent agent or attorney to you. Patent applications are supposed to be readable. An examiner not being able to easily read and understand a patent application is the kiss of death. Patent Application Parts A patent application comprises the following material: claims, drawings, disclosure, and forms. The claims are the business end of a patent. The value of a patent depends upon what is claimed. Patent examination is all about the claims. Drafting quality claims is the most challenging aspect of patent prosecution. Drawings illustrate the technology. All significant aspects of the invention are supposed to be diagrammed. The disclosure describes the technology so that someone else could practice the claimed invention. Together, the drawings and disclosure are called the specification. The disclosure comprises a background, explaining the need for the invention, a brief abstract, a summary of the invention, and a detailed description. Properly, much of the detailed description explains the drawings. Patent Prosecution Links U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) USPTO patent search (Patent Hawk uses Delphion, a more sophisticated search engine.) USPTO Forms Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) - the authoritative reference on patent prosecution.
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