Should you Patent all Your Ideas?

A business is reliant on the ideas it generates. These ideas can be turned into products which can break into the market and generate thousand of dollars. Hence, it is critical that you protect your ideas. A common way to protect your product ideas is to patent them. From this thought process, arises a question I’m often asked - "Do I need to patent all of my ideas to protect my business?" Furthermore, you may believe that by patenting all your ideas, you prevent any other person or business from stealing them.

Here’s what you need to know about patenting all your ideas.

No one is going to Steal your Ideas

Unfortunately, ideas are dime a dozen and many businesses are not trying to steal it. Contrary to belief, no one is going to steal your ideas. Ideas are worthless unless they are executed and turned into actual products. When running a business, it is critical that you grasp this aspect. It can affect the way you run your business from getting employees, to attracting investors, to selling the product.

Patent the Ideas

You can only patent the idea if it qualifies under several factors. The patent idea must be new, have some functionality, be innovative, and most importantly, it needs to be substantial.

For a patent idea to be substantial, it must be a product, a chemical, a machine or a process. It must be something you are able to present, in the form of a prototype or a design draft.

Defensive Publication

If your ideas are currently not substantial, that is you don’t have a prototype or a design draft prepared, then you can adopt a strategy of defensive publication. Also known as defensive disclosure, this is an intellectual property strategy that prevents any other entity from claiming a patent on your idea.

To execute Defensive Publication, you release a description of the novelty factor of the product into the public domain. When you have done this, the product becomes prior art. You can then proceed to file for a third party prior art, which blocks any other entity from claiming a patent on the invention.

This brings us back to the question of ‘Should you Patent all your Ideas?"

It isn’t necessary. Unless your patent idea is close to becoming a reality and you have something substantial to show, there is no real requirement to protect your patent idea.

However, if your patent idea has a commonality with others. For example, you have a patent idea to build a new smartphone battery, because such technology has such a high demand and competition, it is recommended that you patent the idea or adopt a defensive publication strategy.

For further advice, don’t hesitate to contact an Intellectual Property Lawyer.