Inventioneers Quote of the Day

"America's technological and economic strength is the result of its tremendous ingenuity."

- Jon Dudas, President, FIRST; former Director of the USPTO

Inventioneers Get Support from NH Commissioner of Education

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We are excited about the support for our Patent Scholarship from the NH Department of Education (DOE).

Inventioneers Quote of the Day

"Older people sit down and ask, 'What is it?' but the boy [or girl] asks, 'What can I do with it?'."

- Steve Jobs

Inventioneers Explain Patentability Test #3 - Practical Utility

Okay, if you're a kid, you are wondering, "What is practical utility?"  Before we learned all about patents, we wondered the same thing!

In the simplest terms it means "usefulness". Your invention must have "real-world use".   What's interesting is that the invention must be useful at the time of the patent application.  Even if some other technology comes

Inventioneers' Quote of the Day

"A patent, or invention, is any assemblage of technologies or ideas that you can put together that nobody put together that way before.  That's how the patent office defines it.  That's an invention."

- Dean Kamen

Overview of the Inventioneers Patent Scholarship Program

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The Inventioneers Patent Scholarship - How It Works

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Inventioneers' Quote of the Day

"People should think things out fresh and not just accept conventional terms and the conventional way of doing things."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

How Can You Protect Your Inventions?

Inventioneers Expand "Obviousness" Tip

Who decides what ideas are "obvious"?  Well, it could be the USPTO and/or the courts.  This is an interesting sticking point.  One problem is what's called a "hindsight bias".  Wow, that sounds complicated.  Well, all it means is that after someone explains an idea to you, guess what, it seems obvious!  BUT, was it obvious before it was explained to you?  Which came first, the chicken or the egg.  Here this dilemma explained in a journal article:

Is Your Invention "Non-Obvious"?

The second patentability test requires that your invention must be "non-obvious".  This test requires a high degree of objectivity which is not always easy for an inventor. The official explanation for non-obviousness is that "a person having ordinary skill in the art"* would not be able to easily figure out the same solution your invention presents.

*a fictional person who is considered to have the normal skills and knowledge in a particular technical field, without being a genius (Wikipedia)

The following explanation might help you understand this test.  Check out this example of an invention that failed the "obviousness" test:

Inventioneers' Quote of the Day

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves." 

- Thomas Edison

Important Update: Deadline Extended

Some exciting developments are brewing with the Inventioneers Patent Scholarship program.  As a result, we have extended our deadline to May 15th 2012.

Those of you who have already submitted your applications will not be affected by any changes to the  ready, set, PATENT! Award process.  Stay tuned!!!

1888 Velocipede Patent Figure

Is Your Invention Novel?

As we mentioned before, it is important to research your idea to see if another inventor has had the same idea.  To be patentable, your idea must pass the first patent test:  it must be novel.

As you learn more about patents, you'll see the words "prior art" linked to patentability.  Prior art is any information made available publicly before you came up with the idea for your invention.  That's why researching your solution is a key step before you pursue a patent.  If you find parts of your idea already mentioned on the web, in magazines, papers, etc., that is prior art and those parts of your invention will not pass patentability test #1.

Next tip:
What is a priority date?

Inventioneers Patent Scholarship Sponsor Has New Name

While the values and focus of Attorney Vern Maine's firm have not changed, the organization has changed its name for the new year.  To read more about the company, click here.