In his book, Common as Air: Revolution, Art, and Ownership, author Lewis Hyde explains that Franklin believed that any claim to own his ideas and inventions could only lead to the kind of disputes that “sour one's Temper and disturb one's Quiet.” It was for that reason, Franklin never took a patent or registered a ...
It involves documenting and mailing yourself a description or drawing of your invention in a sealed envelope, to use the postmarked date as the date of invention. Unfortunately, a poor man's patent has limitations because it is not legally recognized and will not hold up in court should a dispute arise.
The Poor Man's Patent Is Obsolete Being the first to invent will no longer save you is someone else filed first. So even if you did write out the idea for your invention and mailed it to yourself, that date would not matter.
The rights granted by a patent are to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention in the US. If you make and use your own, you would be infringing, which is illegal. I suggest that you contact the inventor and see if he will sell you one or grant you a personal license to make and use the invention.
In the United States, patents may be invalidated through inter partes review, ex parte re-examination proceedings, and litigation commenced in the Federal District Court.
For the United States, it's the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You can prepare the application yourself (there are many good books on the details of how to do this) or you can hire a patent attorney to do it for you.
Ownership of the patent does not furnish the owner with the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import the claimed invention because there may be other legal considerations precluding same (e.g., existence of another patent owner with a dominant patent, failure to obtain FDA approval of the patented invention, ...
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the agency responsible for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks.
Use Trade Shows and Conferences: Publicly presenting your idea at industry events can establish you as the original creator. Watermarks and Digital Signatures: Use watermarks on digital documents and digital signatures to establish ownership and trace any unauthorized use.
The five primary requirements for patentability are: (1) patentable subject matter; (2) utility; (3) novelty; (4) non-obviousness; and (5) enablement. Like trademarks, patents are territorial, meaning they are enforceable in a specific geographic area.