Whenever a business is started it is important to protect your intellectual property to build value, attract investors, obtain a competitive edge, and to prevent others from using, stealing, or copying your inventions, creative works, brands, and trademarks. Some areas to evaluate for potential intellectual property protection include: Utility Patents - physical products, software or mobile applications, and methods of using, making, or manufacturing Design Patents - the uniq

Nondisclosure agreements (NDA) are legally binding contracts between a disclosing party (an inventor or business) and a recipient (a prototyping company, manufacturer, engineer, or investor). At a foundational level, an NDA details confidential information that the disclosing party wants to restrict the recipient from sharing or using outside of the business relationship between the disclosing party and the recipient. For example, an inventor wants to share their invention de

Utility and plant patents are exercisable for up to 20 years from the date the first non-provisional application for patent was filed. A design patent is exercisable for a term of 15 years from the date of grant. Maintenance fees are required to be paid in intervals after the utility patent is issued in order to keep it in force. Provisional patent applications stay “alive” for a year, but will go abandoned if a non-provisional application is not filed within 12 months of the

This simple answer is no, you don’t need to wait for a patent to be granted before starting to use your invention publicly or commercially. However, using your invention publicly or commercially without first filing a provisional or non-provisional application could bar you from later filing an application. In short, once you have filed a patent application, you may use your invention commercially without barring your chances of obtaining a patent, as long as the application