The Mother of All Inventions: Yours!

How often have you dreamed of being the heir to Post-it note dynasty? If you are on the other side of the fence and envy the inventor of the billion-dollar sticky, there are some things you need to know before you venture out into the cut-throat world of inventing.

Understanding intellectual property
Protecting your investment of time and creativity in an invention requires that you understand the key terms of intellectual property law. Germane to protecting your invention ideas are the terms "patent", "trademark" and "copyright." Copyright refers to the protection of things authored, such as writing, music, and art. In North America, the sole right to profit from these types of work lasts the author's entire natural life, plus the period after his or her death (for example, 70 years in the U.S). Trademarks are owned by businesses to protect words, names, symbols, sounds or colours of products and can be renewed indefinitely, as long as they continue to be used in business.

As an inventor, patents are your biggest priority. To hold the patent on an invention means that you have the sole right to manufacture, use, import, or sell an invention for up to 20 years (this period may vary from country to country). A patent will generally protect you only in the country in which it is awarded.

The United States, Canada and Mexico are the only places in the world that offer patent protection to the person who is "first to invent," while the rest of the world functions on a "first to patent" basis. What this means is that even if your idea is stolen and patented by another person or business, if you can prove that you had and developed the idea first, then you will be awarded the patent, despite the fact that they beat you to the punch.

In order to qualify for a patent, your invention needs to meet four basic requirements:

1. Is the idea novel or new? In other words, your invention cannot already be in use, patented, or described in a printed publication (by you or anyone else) in yours or any other country.

2. Is it useful? If your invention has no useful purpose or is not operative in your design, you cannot patent it.

3. Is it nonobvious? This means that your invention has to be sufficiently different from what has existed previously. This eliminates patents for ideas that do not significantly improve or change an existing idea.

4. Can it be "reduced to practice"? What this refers to is the description of your invention in the patent application itself. You need more than an idea to get a patent: you need laboratory workbooks, drawings, and/or even a prototype of your invention.

Protecting and promoting your investment
The first thing that you need to do when you come up with an idea is to conduct a patent search (also called a search for "prior art") to see if your idea has already been conceived of and patented by someone else. The best way to figure out how to do this is to visit the Web site of your country's patenting office for information on where to search.

On order to protect your idea and your "first to invent" rights, you need to keep careful documentation of the conception and invention of your idea. In a bound journal/log book or laboratory workbook, keep detailed and dated records of concepts, test results, and the development of your invention. Contrary to popular belief, mailing the idea to yourself is not enough proof for "first to invent" laws as they require not only the idea, but also proof of the ongoing development of the product.

Once you have developed your idea, it might be best to consult a marketing expert on the feasibility of selling your product, and a patent lawyer in order to help you understand the patenting process. At some point, you will have to meet with a manufacturing expert in order to figure out how much manufacturing will cost and how to go about it. Make sure that you have confidentiality agreements with anyone you speak to in order to protect your idea.

Making $$
The point of invention is to eventually make some money off of your hard work and ingenuity. There are three ways that you can make money off of your product. The first is to sell the idea outright. The limitations here are that if your product takes off, you will not be the one getting the big fat royalty checks. On the other hand, the liability if it bombs, and the manufacturing and marketing costs, are not your burden to carry.

If you license your invention, you are essentially giving someone else the rights to make, use and sell your product for either a flat fee or a share of the royalties (on average, a fee of about 3% for unproven inventors). Again, you do not bear the burden here of production and marketing costs.

Finally, you can shoulder all of the manufacturing, marketing, advertising, and distribution of your invention all by yourself. This requires a business mind, if not a business background, as well as an investor or ten if you are not independently wealthy. This is where experts in marketing, law and manufacturing will be very important to the success of your invention.

If you decide to go out on your own, you are going to need funding. Venture capitalists will be interested in your product only if you have the business plan to demonstrate that it is a worthy investment. Another option is finding a wealthy benefactor who believes in your project and is willing to stand behind it financially (don't hold your breath here). As another option, many government sponsored grant program exist, you just have to find them. Hook up with a local inventor's group in order to find more ideas and get sage advice from world-weary veterans.