Understanding the Benefits of Patent Pending Technology
Patent pending technology is actually a product that has a patent application which has been filed and is under review. Until the patent application is approved, manufacturers could use the basic concepts behind your technology or product. Also, patent pending technologies don’t have the patent infringement protection for owners and for inventors. But the designation will give any potential infringers or competitors a warning with their seizure liability, injunction or damage. Another thing is that patent pending is called patent applied for and it is usually abbreviated to as pat, pending or spend on products. Anyone who has a provisional patent application or pending non provisional application could call their invention patent pending.
USPTO or the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes pending patent applications in 18 months on the filing date. In some cases, the application is being kept private until the patent will be issued and the patent pending designation is replaced by a patent number. In the U.S, the fraudulent use of patent-related designation such as a patent pending label could in fact lead to fines that could reach hundreds of dollars. Because individual product items are considered to be separate offenses, a fraudulent use can in fact result to bigger fines. Also, the laws on other countries are similar.
Patent pending actually means that you have filed for a patent application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You will also get a patent pending serial number in alerting people that you have applied for a patent for your invention. When another company or another individual copy your invention while the patent application is still pending, you actually can’t sue them on infringement until the patent has been issued.
Before the USPTO or the United States Patent and Trademark Office will grant a patent, they are going to conduct an art search and will examine the application for patentability. Also, this will give feedback to inventors and accepts on revisions when necessary. On other countries, the inventor could acquire a patent fast after filing their application. If ever a company or another person have come up with the same invention without the use of any of your information, USPTO will grant the patent to you when you have applied before the other person or company. The patent pending technology actually comes with an established filing date, but the patent is still not issued.
It is very important that you never publicly disclose the invention before the patent pending of it. Companies or people can in fact take your idea, then patent it and sue you for your very own work. You should also try to avoid changing your design without having to revise your patent application or filing for another patent. This is because your modification will not be protected from patent infringement.
Before you are going to decide whether you need to make your patent pending technology in public, you need to consider thinking on how easily another inventor will be able to copy it. When the product is easily manufactured or when it is a simple change on an existing product, some other companies may try to get profit from counterfeit versions. However, if you will let people know about your technology while it is patent pending, it will give more time in talking to investors and in getting more money on manufacturing.