Protecting intellectual property

弁理士

Hello Joseph,

one thing is sure. Not filing a patent now to protect your idea or, worse, filing one badly written, will cost you a great deal more in the long run than the costs of filing a patent now.

The most important thing you have to keep in mind at the moment is: avoid disclosure. Do not disclose your idea in any way (written, orally, by advertising/selling the product, etc.) as this may take away the possibility to file the patent in the future. If you absolutely have to disclose your idea to a third party (i.e. investors), make sure you do so under a non disclosure agreement.

Once you have a more or less finalized idea of how your device will look like, I would suggest to file a UK or European patent. If your reference market is the EU, an European patent is the easiest choice. It does cost marginally more than a UK patent, but if offers a much wider territorial coverage.

The costs of drafting and filing a patent, up to the receipt of the Search Report from the patent office for a european patent are generally between 5k and 10k, depending on the complexity of the invention and how expensive your IP attorney is. Generally speaking, as in any job, an attorney located in an expensive city (i.e. London) will cost more than one in a comparatively cheaper location. I would suggest choosing a firm with several attorneys, who has been in business for a while, and who can ensure your work will be done by an attorney, and not by the last hired trainee.

Once you receive the search report from the patent office, you will have a realistic feedback on how likely it will be for you to get a patent, and with which scope of protection.

Should you have any question, do not hesitate to get in touch.