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Design Patents & Utility Patents - Learn the Differences Between Design and Utility Patents

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For more information about design and utility patents, check out my blog post: http://www.inventorslc.com/design-patents-vs-utility-patents/

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Assemble Your Display Board
Make sure it is:

Easy to understand

Visually appealing

Answers the following questions:

1. Would the intended audience want it?

2. Does it really work?

3. Is it affordable?

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Promote Your Invention
Create your business cards

Includes your name, school contact information, product name, and headline suggestive of product benefit

Create a promotional brochure

Clearly explains the problem being solved

Clearly explains the product promise

Provides clear proof of the promise

Easy to understand the target audience

Includes your name, company name, product name, and school contact information

Create an advertisement

Should publicize the innovation

Should express the problem, promise, and proof of the invention

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Step Seven        Organize Your Display Board 

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Step Seven        Organize Your Display Board 

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How to Choose Which Type of Graph to Use?
When to Use . . .
. . . a Line graph.
Line graphs are used to track changes over short and long periods of time. When smaller changes exist, line graphs are better to use than bar graphs. Line graphs can also be used to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.
. . . a Pie Chart.
Pie charts are best to use when you are trying to compare parts of a whole. They do not show changes over time.
. . . a Bar Graph.
Bar graphs are used to compare things between different groups or to track changes over time. However, when trying to measure change over time, bar graphs are best when the changes are larger.
. . . an Area Graph.
Area graphs are very similar to line graphs. They can be used to track changes over time for one or more groups. Area graphs are good to use when you are tracking the changes in two or more related groups that make up one whole category (for example public and private groups).
. . . an X-Y Plot.
X-Y plots are used to determine relationships between the two different things. The x-axis is used to measure one event (or variable) and the y-axis is used to measure the other. If both variables increase at the same time, they have a positive relationship. If one variable decreases while the other increases, they have a negative relationship. Sometimes the variables don't follow any pattern and have no relationship.
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How Do I Choose Which Type of Graph to Use?-NCES Kids' Zone

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When to Use . . . . . . a Line graph. Line graphs are used to track changes over short and long periods of time. When smaller changes exist, line graphs are better to use than bar graphs. Line graphs can also be used to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.

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Conduct a survey and create graphs.

Document your survey in your Inventor's Notebook

Complete the Financial Worksheet.

Survey people in your target audience to determine:

Find out if the person fits your survey. Then, ask:

Do you feel that the product solves the problem?

Would you purchase the product?

How much would you pay for the product (give options of pricing based on financial worksheet)?

Analyze your results and create graphs.

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Build a model or prototype of your invention.

Document your process in your Inventor's Notebook, including design changes.

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Chapter 1: What is Intellectual Property? | Lemelson-MIT Program

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A formula, pattern, manufacturing process, method of doing business, or technical know-how that gives its holder a competitive advantage. Trade secrets cover a wide spectrum of information, including chemical compounds, machine patterns, customer lists and software. No federal law protecting trade secrets exists; legal definitions vary from state to state so inventors should make careful note of the requirements depending on the location.

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In order to get a patent or trademark or to register a copyright in America, inventors, creators, and artists must apply through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Virginia; in general, patents are only effective in the country for which they are granted.

Ever since the first U.S. patent was granted in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia for " making pot and pearl ashes"-a cleaning formula used in soapmaking-over eight million patents have been registered in at the USPTO.

A patent gives an inventor the right to exclude all others from making, using, importing, selling, or offering to sell the invention for up to 20 years without the inventor's permission-however, a patent is not required to sell a product or process, it simply protects these inventions from being stolen. This gives the inventor the opportunity to produce and market the invention himself, or license others to do so, and to make a profit.

However, a patent does not guarantee monetary success by itself. An inventor gets paid by either selling the invention or by licensing or selling (assigning) the patent rights to someone else. Not all inventions are commercially successful, and in fact, the invention may actually cost the inventor more money than he or she makes unless a strong business and marketing plan is created.

Patent Requirements

One of the most-often overlooked requirements for submitting a successful patent is the cost associated, which can be very high for some people.

Although fees for the patent application, issue, and maintenance are reduced by 50 percent when the applicant is a small business or individual inventor, you can expect to pay the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office a minimum of about $4,000 over the life of the patent.

A patent may be obtained for any new, useful, unobvious invention, though it generally cannot be obtained for the laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas; a new mineral or a new plant found in the wild; inventions useful solely in the utilization of special nuclear material or atomic energy for weapons; a machine that is not useful; printed matter; or human beings.

There are specific requirements for all patent applications. An application must include a specification, including a description and claim(s); an oath or declaration identifying the applicant(s) believing to be the original inventor(s); a drawing when necessary; and the filing fee. Prior to 1870, a model of the invention was required as well, but today, a model is almost never required.

Naming an invention-another requirement of submitting a patent-actually involves developing at least two names: the generic name and the brand name or trademark. For example, Pepsi® and Coke® are brand names; cola or soda is the generic or product name. Big Mac® and Whopper® are brand names; hamburger is the generic or product name. Nike® and Reebok® are brand names; sneaker or athletic shoe are generic or product names.

Time is another factor of patent requests. In general, it takes the 6,500 employees of the USPTO upwards of 22 months to process and approve a patent application, and oftentimes this time can be longer since many first drafts of patents are rejected and need to be sent back with corrections.

There are no age restrictions on applying for a patent, but only the true inventor is entitled to a patent, and the youngest person to be granted a patent is a four-year-old girl from Houston, Texas, for an aid for grasping round knobs.

Proving an Original Invention

Another requirement of all applications for patents is that the product or process being patented must be unique in that no other similar inventions have been patented before it.

When the Patent and Trademark Office receives two patent applications for the same inventions, the cases go into an interference proceeding. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences then determines the first inventor who thus may be entitled to a patent based on the information provided by the inventors, which is why it is so important for inventors to keep good records.

Inventors can make a search of patents already granted, textbooks, journals, and other publications to be sure that someone else has not already invented their idea. They can also hire someone to do it for them or may do this themselves at the Public Search Room of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, on the PTO web page on the Internet, or at one of the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries across the country.

Similarly, with trademarks, the USPTO determines whether there is a conflict between two marks by evaluating whether consumers would be likely to confuse the goods or services of one party with those of the other party as a result of the use of the marks at issue by both parties.

Patent Pending and the Risk of Not Having a Patent

Patent Pending is a phrase that often appears on manufactured items. It means that someone has applied for a patent on an invention that is contained in the manufactured item and serves as a warning that a patent may issue that would cover the item and that copiers should be careful because they might infringe if the patent issues.

Once the patent is approved, the patent owner will stop using the phrase "patent pending" and start using a phrase such as "covered by U.S. Patent Number XXXXXXX." Applying the patent pending phrase to an item when no patent application has been made can result in a fine from the USPTO.

Although you do not need to have a patent to sell an invention in the United States, you run the risk of someone stealing your idea and marketing themselves if you do not get one. In some cases, you could keep your invention a secret like the Coca-Cola Company keeps the formula for Coke a secret, which is called a trade secret, but otherwise, without a patent, you run a risk of someone else copying your invention with no rewards to you as the inventor.

If you do have a patent and think someone has infringed on your patent rights, then you can sue that person or company in federal court and get reparations for profits lost as well as claim their profits from selling your patented product or process.

Renewing or Removing Patents

You can't renew a patent after it expires. However, patents may be extended by a special act of Congress and under certain circumstances, certain pharmaceutical patents may be extended to make up the time lost during the Food and Drug Administration's approval process. After the patent expires, the inventor loses exclusive rights to the invention.

An inventor probably wouldn't want to lose patent rights on a product. However, a patent may be lost if determined to be invalid by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. For example, as a result of a reexamination proceeding or if the patentee fails to pay the required maintenance fees the patent may be lost; a court may also determine that a patent invalid.

In any case, each employee at the Patent and Trademark Office takes an oath of office to uphold the laws of the United States and are prohibited from applying for patents themselves, so you can be sure to trust these individuals with your new invention-no matter how great or stealable you may think it is!

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

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In order to get a patent or trademark or to register a copyright in America, inventors, creators, and artists must apply through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Virginia; in general, patents are only effective in the country for which they are granted. Ever since the first U.S.

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Gather Information and Complete Patent Search
Complete a patent search

Answer these questions in your notebook:
1. Is my idea practical?
2. Can it be easily made?
3. Is it as simple as possible?
4. Is it safe?
5. Will it cost too much to make or use?
6. Is my idea really new?
7. Will it withstand use, or will it break easily?
8. Is my idea similar to something else?
9. Will people really use my invention? (survey 20 people of all age ranges)

Complete a Google Patent Search to find similar inventions

Document your search in your Inventor's Notebook

Determine if your invention requires a utility or design patent

Complete a Mock Patent Application

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Generate Ideas

Brain Storm Ideas that could solve problems that have been identified.

Ask yourself, Is your idea......

1.  Meaningfully unique?

2. Solve a problem?

3. Reasonably priced?

4. Are you passionate about it?

5. Problematic or too complicated in any way?

Complete a concept page in your Inventors notebook to help you brainstorm your ideas.

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Share this infographic on your site!

Embed this infographic on your site!

The People Behind the Way We Live

Do you know how the inventions you use every day really came to be?

Air travel

1903
Orville and Wilbur Wright conduct first sustained flight.

1927
Charles A. Lindbergh completes first solo, nonstop trans-Atlantic flight.

1933
A modern airliner, Boeing 247, flies for the first time.

1939
Germany's Heinkel 178 is the first fully jet-propelled aircraft to fly.

1949
World's first commercial jet airliner, the DH 106 Comet, takes its first flight.

1957
The Boeing 707 offers a new level of comfort and safety.

Electricity

1570
William Gilbert coins the term "electricus" to describe the electric effect of amber and magnetic effect of lodestone.

1752
Benjamin Franklin completes his famous "kite string/key" experiments.

1791
Luigi Galvani is able to show electrical activity in living tissue, including muscle and nerve.

1826
Georg Simon Ohm makes the mathematic connections among current, voltage and resistance in physics law bearing his name.

1888
Nikola Tesla invents an AC motor and polyphase power transmission system, revolutionizing industry and commerce.

1800s
Inventors like Thomas Edison, J.W. Star and Joseph Swan work simultaneously (though certainly independently) on pursuing patents on light bulbs that could be used in homes and businesses. Edison eventually gains a huge consumer base by also inventing a system to run his type of light bulb.

Indoor plumbing

1596
Sir John Harrington develops the first flush toilet. It was never widely adopted because it had no running water supply attached to it.

1775
Alexander Cumming invents an S-shaped trap that uses standing water (to seal the outlet of the bowl and keeping foul air from escaping) and uses a sliding valve.

1880s
Thomas Crapper invents a siphon system for emptying the septic cistern, solving leak problems common with earlier systems.

Food processing

1809
Nicolas Appert invents a vacuum bottling technique that helps supply food for French troops.

1818
Peter Durand introduces the tin-plated can in the U.S.

1832
John Deere invents the steel plough, allowing farmers to produce more crops.

1871
Louis Pasteur develops a method that dramatically improves the safety of food, allowing for longer preservation.

1892
Refrigeration starts to become popular in food processing.

1920s
Technology for refrigeration expands to homes, allowing people to store foods for long periods in their homes.

Computers & the Internet

1941
Konrad Zuse creates the Z3, the first fully operational programmable electromechanical computer.

1946
The massive ENIAC1 is unveiled; it takes up about 1,000 square feet of space.

1958
Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce develop the integrated circuit, paving the way for the microprocessor technology.

1960
J.C.R. Licklider, an American computer scientist, puts forth the idea for a network of computers in a 1960 research paper.

Early 1970s
ARPANET, funded through a Defense Department initiative, lays the groundwork for massive networking, the first inklings of the Internet in the early.

1971
Kenbak-1, the first personal computer, goes on sale for $750. Designed by John V. Blankenbaker, eventually only 40 machines are sold before the company goes out of business.

1973
Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf create the transmission control protocol (TCP) that controls how data moves around the Internet in 1973. Both men have been called fathers of the Internet.

1976
Steve Wozniak develops the Apple I.

1979
Atari introduces the 400 and 800 computers.

1984
Apple releases the Macintosh, the first successful mouse-driven user interface.

1989
Tim Berners-Lee proposes a hypertext system that will run across the Internet on different operating systems. This essentially is the World Wide Web.

1992
The Internet Society (ISOC) is launched; use of WWW becomes hugely popular. Companies like Netscape are founded.

Potato chips

1853
Chef George Crum, frustrated with a fussy customer, fries up thin strips of potato; what he intends as a thumb in the eye to a picky eater is really the first potato chip.

March 14
National Potato Chip Day

No. 1
Chips are Americans' favorite snack food; we consume about 1.2 billion pounds each year as a nation

Sour cream & onion and barbecue
The two most popular flavors in the U.S.

Cellphones

1971
AT&T submits a concept for cellular communication to the Federal Communications Commission.

1973
Martin Cooper makes the first analog mobile phone call using a blocky handset.

1979
A cellular network (1G) is launched in Japan.

1991
A second-generation network is launched in Finland.

1993
The first person-to-person SMS is sent.

Personal entertainment

1979
Sony introduces the first version of its iconic Walkman personal music device.

1984
The proliferation of CDs spurs the need for portable CD players.

1987
German researches begin work on a file format for digitizing audio.

1997
Kane Kramer, a British developer, creates an MP3 player called MPMan Player. Rio launches a version of an MP3 player later that year.

2001
Apple and Steve Jobs introduce iTunes and the iPod.

2007
Apple's iPod Touch gives listeners the ability to connect to the Internet from the device, download apps, send emails and download music. Several other companies launch similar devices.

Cars

1885
Karl Benz builds an automobile powered by his own four-stroke engine design. His invention was the first vehicle that could reasonably be called a modern automobile.

1888
Benz starts selling his vehicles.

1893
Brothers Charles and Frank Duryea test the first-ever American gasoline-powered automobile.

1909
Four-wheel brakes are introduced in Scotland.

1926
Safety glass makes becomes standard equipment in Rickenbacker vehicles.

1927
The last year Ford's Model-T is produced; in its nearly 20-year run, the Model-T revolutionized automobiles.

1956
Ford, Chrysler and GM offer seat belts as options.

1958
Volvo introduces the padded dashboard.

1974
Ford introduces airbags.

1998
Dual airbags become standard equipment on all new passenger cars.

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Share this infographic on your site! Embed this infographic on your site! Do you know how the inventions you use every day really came to be? 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright conduct first sustained flight. 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh completes first solo, nonstop trans-Atlantic flight.

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Identify the Problem

Identify 3 areas of interest

research problems in those areas

Interview at least 3 people regarding problems in the areas of inters.

Observe other people doing tasks (cleaning, cooking, working, studying, playing, competing in sports.