Blog | FAQs | Sign Up | Members Only | Search the Site

Are you ready to start your business?

Our FREE Business Readiness Assessment is a 25+ page report based on your answers to a few business startup questions. Click here to take the FREE LaunchX Business Readiness Assessment and receive your free customized business startup report in less than 24 hours.

Trying to choose the right business idea for you?

Selecting the Right Business for You is a FREE 18-page workbook that takes you through the process of brainstorming business ideas, evaluating those ideas, and selecting the right idea to pursue. Request your FREE copy of this helpful workbook today!

Having trouble finding the answer to your Business Startup question?

Ask Our Business Startup Experts! Submit your business startup question and receive a personal response via email within 24 hours. Questions with broad application will be posted, with the answers, at the Experts Q&A page.

The Free LaunchX Selecting the Right Business for You workbook helps you brainstorm, evalaute and select the right business idea for your personality, skills, and objectives.

The Free LaunchX Business Readiness Report is designed to help entrepreneurs determine the next steps to startup.

The LaunchX business startup experts are available to answer questions about starting your business.

Everything you need to start your business... Guaranteed!

The LaunchX System Business Startup Kit

The LaunchX System is a complete business startup kit that has everything you need to start your business! Check out the LaunchX System today and see how we will help you launch your great idea.

Join our Mailing List

<a href="https://secure.blueoctane.net//forms/SC36F9Q6TA0U">Click Here To Load This Formexperts.com Form</a>

Got a United States Patent? Get a few more...

Between the overload of information available to anyone with a laptop (or cell phone, for that matter) and the 24-hour news cycle, the world is shrinking much like the current economy. Original ideas are hard to come by and even harder to protect. Securing a US patent for your invention or innovation is a standard first step, but savvy inventors should seriously consider broadening that protection to the rest of the world (or most of it) as well.

The US patent application is complicated, tedious, and expensive, but the protection it provides is worth the effort if your idea is likely to turn a decent profit. Once you have secured a US patent, it is relatively easy, though still expensive, to extend that protection to the most important countries around the globe. For some ideas, simply obtaining a Canadian patent may be enough, but if there is a chance your product could be marketed worldwide, securing international patents can be a great idea. In fact, most major corporations and universities already take advantage of this option.

The advantages of expanding patent protection extend beyond the obvious. If you are seeking venture capital for your product, or even informal financing, your patent will be an important factor in the deal. Savvy investors will appreciate the conscientiousness of securing broader protections, and if you sell the patent outright, you have an excellent bargaining chip. In addition, securing international patents opens the door to licensing your idea abroad with the extra perk of already protecting the product in those regions. Failing to patent your invention means that another can snap up your design and patent it themselves in Canada or abroad. If you are not paying attention, this can cause major problems down the road.

Once you have secured a US patent, you are technically protected for one year. That is, you have one year to claim priority internationally based on your US application date, either provisional or non-provisional. Once that year is up, however, it is open season on your invention as anyone can submit that idea abroad and potentially secure a patent for your design. Fortunately, aside from the additional fees, obtaining these extra patents is relatively painless once you have completed the first.

Securing a Canadian patent is comparable to the US application process. The protection is good for 20 years, as long as the maintenance fees are paid. Like the US, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office does nothing to help you enforce the patent, but at least you have a legal leg to stand on to protect your design on your own. If you choose to apply for a Canadian patent only, there are patent agents to help you through the process.

If your product is likely to be sold or licensed internationally, the World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.int) offers an attractive option for easily patenting your design in the most important regions. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application secures patent protection at least 139 countries at once...far easier than chasing down the requirements and applications one at a time. Of course, this option is not cheap, and it is probably advisable to secure an experienced patent law or intellectual property attorney, even if you successfully acquired the US patent on your own.

Protecting your invention or innovation with a US patent is a no-brainer, but protecting it worldwide is ingenious. And, with the WIPO's help, there is no excuse not to take the extra steps to preserve your assets and increase their inherent value.

About the Author

K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur with a J.D. from Duke University, is co-founder of LaunchX and authors a blog focused on starting a business. The LaunchX System will help you start a successful business, whether your plan is to market your invention directly or sell your patents. Visit LaunchX.com for a free business readiness assessment and get on the road to starting a business today!