Product Development AMA, Patents, Engineering, Manufacturing

[Mitch Babkes]

I am a senior product designer/engineer with nearly 50 patents that stem from a broad range of experience in device development and global manufacturing, for consumer, medical, and industrial markets.

I provide complete product development services and mentorship to startups, through distribution- personally and with an extensive network.

Please reply if I may be of assistance to your organization.

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mitch-h-babkes/0/2a2/54

http://www.coroflot.com/babkesm/portfolio1#

Sincerely,
Mitch Babkes

 

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[juan917]

Can you talk about your personal experience of obtaining a patent. I'm interested in learning how much it costs and how long it would take. Is a lawyer really necessary?

 

[Mitch Babkes]

I am a senior product designer/engineer with nearly 50 patents that stem from a broad range of experience in device development and global manufacturing, for consumer, medical, and industrial markets.

I provide complete product development services and mentorship to startups, through distribution- personally and with an extensive network.

Please reply if I may be of assistance to your organization.

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mitch-h-babkes/0/2a2/54

http://www.coroflot.com/babkesm/portfolio1#

Sincerely,
Mitch Babkes

 

[Roli]

People expect you to post here rather than try and take them off the forum, answer people's questions. Good answers will drive traffic to your website, not posted links. Read the rules of the forum.

 

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[Mitch Babkes]

Can you talk about your personal experience of obtaining a patent. I'm interested in learning how much it costs and how long it would take. Is a lawyer really necessary?

Even without a patent attorney or the use of professionally prepared patent drawings, it costs approximately $1,500 in fees to file and obtain a patent from the USPTO. Without an attorney, the patent process is difficult. I have always used an attorney costing no less than $3,000, and as high as $30,000 including patent search fees.

But don't despair. A Provisional Patent can protect you for 12-14 months, for as little as $130 if you fill out the form yourself.

Google Provisional Patents, and also check out this link...
http://www.uspto.gov/patents-gettin...t-applications/provisional-application-patent

Provisional Patents can buy you a year's time to raise funds needed for a full blown patent, as well as for design detailing, engineering and prototyping (seed capital- often from friends and family). If you decide not to pursue the product within that year, then you have saved a bundle.

Mitch Babkes
661-607-6125

 

[Hackdroot]

But don't despair. A Provisional Patent can protect you for 12-14 months, for as little as $130 if you fill out the form yourself.

DISCLAIMER: IANAPA. Know your filing status clearly otherwise you could face penalties and an invalidation to your patent.

Thanks to the AIA (America Invents Act) signed in 2011, that price can be as low as $65 for a micro-entity fee filing, if you meet the small entity requirements as well as the additional micro entity requirements:

A small entity is
(a) a nonprofit organization; or
(b) an entity which/who does not, together with all affiliates, have 500 or more employees; and
(c) has not assigned, licensed or otherwise conveyed, and is under no obligation to assign, license, or otherwise convey, an interest in the invention to a non-small entity.

A micro-entity, as defined in the legislation, is one who
(d) has not been named as an inventor on more than 4 prior patent applications (other than applications assigned to a prior employer); and
(e) has gross income less than 3 times the amount reported in the U.S. as the median household income for the previous calendar year (currently $155,817, or 3X $51,939); and
(f) has not assigned, licensed or otherwise granted, and is under no obligation to assign, license, or otherwise grant, an interest in the invention to an entity who has gross income more than the amount listed above (unless the entity is an institution of higher education); and
(g) also meets the requirement for small entity status.


Per the USPTO:

Starting on or after March 19th 2013, if you meet the micro-entity requirements, you are eligible for a 75 percent reduction on most fees. To put this into perspective, the current filing fee for a provisional application for patent is $250 and has a small entity reduction of 50 percent, resulting in a $125 filing fee for independent inventors. Once fees change on March 19, the base cost of filing a provisional application will rise to $260. For small entities, the new price will be $130; however, for micro entities receiving the 75 percent reduction, this results in a provisional application fee of just $65.

References:

37 CFR 1.27 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9020-appx-r.html#aia_d0e316949

35 U.S.C. 123 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#al_d1b0d9_16b04_f6

37 CFR 1.29 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9020-appx-r.html#ar_d1fc9c_19092_1c8

MPEP § 509.04 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s509.html#ch500_d1ff69_210b3_1ca