27 December 2005

Should You apply for a Patent for Your Invention?

Many inventors regard it as a "given" that they should apply for a patent for a new invention. There are certainly many inventions for which patent protection is indispensable. But there are also a great many more for which it is irrelevant. As Peter Bissell and Graham Barker point out in the Business of Invention, only a very small proportion of patented inventions cover their costs let alone make money. The cost of patenting, as I pointed out on a few days ago, is massive. As I have said here and elsewhere, the cost of enforcement is even greater.

In my article, "Should you apply for a Patent for Your Invention" I suggest some criteria for deciding whether or not to apply for a patent for an invention. If you do decide you need a patent, I have linked to two other articles, "Tips for Inventors" and "Applying for Patents" to guide you further.

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