A critical step in the Edison Nation screening process is Stage 6: final IP review. At this stage an Intellectual Property (IP) expert on the Edison Nation review team performs an in-depth analysis of competing intellectual property (patents) and ideas in the public domain (known products). This “insider’s perspective” blog comes from one of our resident IP experts who has valuable advice to share with inventors submitting to Live Product Searches on Edison Nation.

“To understand what we are looking for in Stage 6, final IP review, it is important that you understand what IP is and why it is valuable. To encourage innovation, and protect ideas from being stolen, the U.S. government implemented a framework to protect intellectual property. There are various types of IP recognized by U.S. Law. At Stage 6 we are mostly looking at patents/patentability. A patent is issued by the U.S. government and gives an inventor the right to ‘exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling’ the invention in the United States. However, a patent does not always guarantee inventors the right to make, use or sell their inventions. Infringement happens when some element of the embodiment of an idea breaches another’s patent rights. To avoid liability a potential infringer would need to obtain a license from the patent holder in order to bring their product to market. Having a patent can therefore give you an advantage in the marketplace.”

“To secure a patent, the U.S. has a ‘first to invent’ policy, meaning you have to be the first person to come up with the idea. You have 12 months from the date of first ‘disclosure’ to claim your invention in an application. For the patent to be granted, an invention must fulfill three requirements: it needs to have novelty, utility and be non-obvious.”

Novelty: The invention must be a new or novel idea. If it has been publicly disclosed, used or sold for more than one year before the date of application, the invention can’t be patented.

Utility: To be patented, it also must be useful. The invention must offer a benefit to society and perform the described function.

Non-obvious: To be patentable, the invention must not only be novel, but also non-obvious. Changing the size, materials or other obvious alterations on an existing product or patent are normally not patentable.

“At Stage 6 we are evaluating a submission for infringement and patentability. To identify if an idea would infringe on someone else’s IP we search the patent databases and find patents to which we compare the submission. Keep in mind that in evaluating patentability, we consider whether the idea has novelty, utility and is non-obvious. Because of this standard, we will search not only the various patent databases, but we will search the Internet for similar products or disclosures of the idea. If you are participating in a Live Product Search we encourage you to search for both the patentability of your idea and any possibilities of infringement. If you find something similar to your idea, make sure you tell us about it and tell us why you think your idea is different. This will increase your chance of success. Very rarely do you come across an idea that is completely ‘new.’ Usually an invention is an improvement on one or more products. In either case, the first step to searching for an idea is determining what’s valuable and/or potentially protectable. Once you have figured this out it will help you be more successful in your searching.”

Resources for patent searches:

• www.uspto.gov
• www.google.com/patents
• www.patentstorm.us
• www.freepatentsonline.com
• www.epo.org

The foregoing is not, and should not, be considered legal advice.