Patent Attorney and Founder
Hi, I’m J.D. Houvener, your host of the Bold Today Show, where you, the inventor, entrepreneur, or business owner, get your daily dose of inspiration so you can make the world a better place. We’re in a 10-part series talking about what all of your options are when it comes down to filing a patent application, and this is option number two. As opposed to not filing a patent at all, this is filing a patent application on your own, by yourself. You know, as we’re gonna find out, that is fraught with error, fraught with issues that are gonna hold you back. I’m gonna go through each of these in turn to kind of go through, help you think through what it would mean and what kind of issues would this cause if you go to file your own application.
So, looking first off at the actual written description, the specification of an application. When you go about describing your invention as an inventor, you’re going to be thinking about what it is you’ve created. You’ve probably come up with some prototype or software app, some creations, some embodiment version of your invention that you like and you think is ready for the market. That’s probably what you’re going to talk about, and then maybe all you talk about. And that’s a problem when it comes to writing a patent. You’ve really got to explore alternative embodiments and think much, much broader about how your invention may have different applications. So, your invention, for a new tire, sure, may be a great application for a sports tire because of the way the slick is and the way the rubber hits the pavement or the way that it’s shaped. But that could certainly also have applications in an industrial setting on, say, a conveyor belt, which you might not have thought about. So, having that thought of being able to expand your invention into other applications, writing a full specification covering all those different versions, that’s the power of working with a professional.
So, by filing it on your own, you’re really limiting the scope of what your invention is going to have rights on and therefore limiting the value. Let’s talk also about your time. We talked about this yesterday, but as an inventor, as a business owner, perhaps your time is money. And so, when you spend time writing an application, you know, even if you’ve done your diligence, you’ve bought the patent-it-yourself for dummies book, and you’re following it along, you know, spending 10, 20, 30, 40 hours writing an application, doing something that you’re unfamiliar with is likely going to cause a huge hole, a huge debt in terms of how your business is moving forward. If you have employees, if you’re trying to run a business and grow a supply chain, all of that is put on pause while you write this application. It’s like filing your own taxes in a way. I’m sure you can do it, but is it the right thing for you, and are you gonna get the best benefit out of it? So, I don’t believe, I’m a strong advocate, that inventors really are not the best to be able to write their own applications. You’re not going to get the most value from the application once it gets granted as a patent. These are just a few reasons why I don’t think filing your own patent application is the right way to go. You should likely seek help from a patent professional. Bold Patents is dedicated to helping inventors with moving their patents forward. That is all we do. It’s our name, as we believe in, we want to uplift inventors, empower them to move their products into the marketplace, and so we write patents on purpose. We’re business-minded with the goal in mind to help you with your product. Give us a call.