By Barbara J. Luther

As an attorney who has specialized in patent law and protecting intellectual property for 25 years, I have had the pleasure of working with many environmentally friendly products and businesses that have had an impact on improving sustainability. In the New Year, as people are thinking about protecting their ideas, I would like to share a few considerations related to the questions I hear most often.

What Tools Are Used To Protect Intellectual Property and When Are They Used?

Patents, trademarks and copyrights are used to protect your intellectual property and sometimes more than one of these at a time. A patent protects new products and methods. A trademark protects words, logos and phrases that indicate your product or service. Copyrights are used to protect artistic works like websites, books, computer programs, music and movies.

Why Is It Important To File For a Trademark and/or Patent?

To introduce a new product, you could spend from $20,000 to $100,000 on marketing tactics to splash your new name everywhere. Now, wouldn’t it make sense to first spend about $2,000 for a professional search and legal analysis to make sure the name is free and clear to use? Otherwise you may have to start over with a new name and marketing blitz.

If properly protected, your idea can earn you extra income from licensing and receiving royalty payments. You could even keep your idea for your business in your industry, but license it out to others. For instance, if you have a better way to assess energy waste, you can license other professionals to use your method and share profits with you.

Remember, timing is important and waiting to file for protection can also cost you money. Under the new patent law, the first to file a patent application wins! If someone beats you to the patent office—even if you have a business and sales—the patent owner may block you from selling your product and profiting from it.

How Long Does It Take?

While anyone can file for intellectual property protection themselves, and many do, I have seen too many cases where people shoot themselves in the foot. It often winds up being a long and frustrating process for the individual. Frequently, offices will tell individuals to consult an attorney. That’s important on trademarks because you have to answer dozens of questions, many of which have a legal basis. A thing as simple as the product or service description has potential pitfalls. Most rejections of patent applications occur because the patent examiner either doesn’t understand the invention or isn’t clear about what makes the invention original. The attorney works to produce lengthy connections and/or rewrite and resubmit the application, which costs you time and money. Starting with a quality application is the faster, more efficient route to a strong patent that is more likely to hold up in court and to garner royalties.

Barbara J. Luther, BS in Medicine, MBA, JD, is the owner of The Luther Law Firm in Scottsdale, a certified woman-owned business that specializes in the protection of intellectual property.
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