So you think your company has come up with the proverbial “better mousetrap” the marketplace is waiting for? Well, before you race to cash in on your product, you might consider the following.

First and foremost, keep the invention confidential until you consult with a registered patent attorney and develop a strategy for commercializing and protecting the invention. Although the United States provides a one-year grace period in which an invention can be publicly disclosed and sold before a patent application is filed, most foreign countries require absolute novelty. That is, if the invention has been made available to the public before a priority patent application is filed, it is too late to obtain a patent.

Article authored by McAfee & Taft attorney: Cliff Dougherty

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