As an entrepreneur, you may be thinking about protecting your business idea with patents. In this lesson, we'll talk about what you should keep in mind if you're considering patent protection for your business idea. First, we'll talk about what you should document when coming up with your invention. Next, we'll talk about critical deadlines that impact whether patent protection will be available to you. Thirdly, we'll explore what triggers a public disclosure of your invention so that you can understand ways to avoid losing the ability to obtain a patent. First, what to document? Whatever you're thinking about your invention or considering obtaining patent protection for an idea that we've come up with, you want to be sure to keep very detailed records of your invention. Now the US now has a first to file system, so getting your application filed first is going to dictate whether you obtain the patent or not. Most of the rest of the world has always been a first to file system. The US is now catching up with the rest of the world. But in terms of documenting what you have, even though it's first to file, it's still very important to document when you can see the viewer invention, the circumstances around that conception, and how you reduced your invention to practice, describing in detail, as much detail as possible, how you came up with your invention and how it should work. As you can see from this famous Alexander Graham Bell depiction from 1876, you can even include drawings that help illuminate how the invention is supposed to work. Deadlines. We call these bar dates in patent law because if you miss these deadlines, you are barred from obtaining patent protection. The rules are different in the US and internationally, so let's step through them individually. In the US, your patent application must be filed one year after you offer your invention for sale or there's some public use in the US of your invention, or if your invention is described in a printed publication anywhere in the world. The one-year clock starts in the US. Now, internationally, it's different. Your patent application must be filed before your invention is placed in the public domain. Before any public disclosure of your invention, your patent application must be filed. What triggers public disclosure? Here are a few very common triggers of public disclosure. There's a public demonstration of the invention. For example, at a trade show, if you sell or offer to sell your invention, that would be considered a public disclosure. Any attempt to commercialize the invention would constitute a public disclosure or if your invention is described in a printed publication that's available publicly, that would count as a public disclosure. How does this play out in practice? Let's use the trade show for an example. You're an entrepreneur. You take your invention to a trade show to demonstrate to those in the trade your invention. That's an easy one. That would definitely count as a public disclosure. In the US, from the date that you disclose at the trade show, you have one year to file your patent application or you'll lose the ability to get a patent in the US. If you're thinking that you want patent protection internationally, before you demonstrate your invention at the trade show, you should get your international patent application filed because internationally, that public disclosure at the trade show will bar patent protection if there's no patent application already on file. Now, let's use a more nuanced example here, sticking with the trade show. Let's say you're an entrepreneur and you've invented this specialized computer chip that improves the processing speed of a computer. You are at a trade show and you're using a computer using the chip to demonstrate some other software. Attendees at the trade show, they don't see the chip. They have no idea that the chip is running in the background. All they see is this other software that you're demonstrating at the trade show. This could also count as a public disclosure, even though the public is not aware of the specialized chip that's running on the computer. This is sometimes called secret public use. The chip is being used publicly even though it's a secret. Now, you may ask, how can someone ever find out that the chip was being used at the trade show? How could that work against me? It is true that secret public use is very hard to prove, but if it ever is proven, you'll lose the ability to gain patent protection. Keep in mind that before you use or sell or demonstrate your invention anywhere publicly, you want to make sure that you have your patent application on file. Let's go through some best practices. First, you should make sure that you file your patent application before any public disclosure and the list of public disclosures; print publications, demos, offering to sell your invention or selling it, any attempt to commercialize. Before any of that, get your patent application on file. Another best practice is to make sure you document all of your confidentiality arrangements. For example, if you're demonstrating your invention to a potential investor or a potential business partner, you may want to have a confidentiality agreement in place. These are sometimes called non-disclosure agreements. They essentially require the parties that had agreement to maintain the confidentiality of what's disclosed during the meeting. This will allow you to avoid a public disclosure because it's subject to this non-disclosure confidentiality agreement. Another best practice is to ensure that everyone who knows about your invention, everyone who is privy to the inner workings of your conception and reduction to practice, are all bound by confidentiality and your employees, vendors, and other business partners who you may be working with. To sum it up, keep detailed records of when you conceived of your invention and the activities that led to you reducing that invention to practice. Understand and remember the critical deadlines because those deadlines may prevent you from obtaining patent protection if they're not followed. Then finally, avoid activities that could jeopardize patent protection. For example, public disclosures and trade shows or describing your invention in a printed publication that's available publicly or offering to sell, or attempting to commercialize your invention.
