patents

kickin king

Ok
this may sound bad but here goes

wel
ive an idea for a service that i think could be a potential success.
i want to get it patented and fast
firstly how long does it take to get a patent
how much does it cost in the short-term
i would also like to know are petent agents worth the money
and are they difficult to acquire


merci

Axwell

I am pretty sure although I could be wrong that you cant patent a service. You can attempt to patent a process or method by which the service is provided but not the service itself.

CatFromHue

There's alot of good info here:
http://www.patentsoffice.ie/en/patents.aspx

kickin king

hi
does any one know roughey how much a patents costs

Deepwell

Contact the Irish Patent office, I've heard they have a very approachable info office that can give you proper info.

As a guide, I believe an Irish patent will cost in the region €60-125 per year assuming you can do the submissions yourself. A European patent is in the region of €5100.

Offy

kickin king wrote: »

hi
does any one know roughey how much a patents costs

Enterprise Ireland might help with the costs. Back in 07 I looked into buying one, the estimate was €14k.

robd

Deepwell wrote: »

Contact the Irish Patent office, I've heard they have a very approachable info office that can give you proper info.

As a guide, I believe an Irish patent will cost in the region €60-125 per year assuming you can do the submissions yourself. A European patent is in the region of €5100.

I took a course in Intellectual Asset Management as part of a Masters I did a couple of years ago. The reality is that patenting is extremely complex and specific skill. You can't realistically write a patent submission yourself. There's too much at stake to mess it up. You generally need to engage a patent consultant and then a patent lawyer. This is expensive, don't know exact cost as there isn't one, depends on complexity etc. Usually 5 figure sum though outlaid over long time period.

Also, Irish Patents aren't much use on their own and are only the start of the process. An Irish Patent would only protect your work in Ireland which isn't much use in the global world we live. There's a specific process for filing in Ireland, then Europe, then the US etc. There's an exact way to do it as you have first rights internationally by following the process but without the upfront cost. Thus you defer the cost till your idea proves itself. If the idea isn't commercially useful you drop it.

Google Patent Consultant Ireland. Kieran Comerford is the guy who lectured me, but he seems to have retired now. Has some books you can buy if you want further info or try Amazon for other options.

You might be able to get some free consultation if you're linked with an Enterprise Centre or Program.

robd

Axwell wrote: »

I am pretty sure although I could be wrong that you cant patent a service. You can attempt to patent a process or method by which the service is provided but not the service itself.

You definitely can't patent a service.

See http://www.genewoodle.com/patent-tests.html
for basics of a patent test.

Also you need to really think about the point of patenting. You wouldn't normally patent a process etc. You would protect this though non disclosure. By patenting it you are revealing it. Coca Cola for example as a formula is not patented but hidden. KFC secret sauce is the same. Typically you patent a physical device which could easily be reverse engineered by another person. Software patents etc are questionable in a lot of peoples opinion and really should be outlawed. They're use by big corporations for building walls.

antoinolachtnai

In the United States you can patent something called a 'business method'. Obviously this only protects you in the United States. This is not the same as a patent protecting a service, but it is not altogether different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_method_patent

All in all patents are not a lot of use in the world of service. If there is a true innovative, technical step, it might be possible though.

It is hard for us to say, and you obviously aren't in a position to disclose. This is why people pay money to patent agents.

Axwell

Mod Note: Threads merged as there is really no need for two threads on the same topic