If you need free patent filing help in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, you are at the right place. Your invention is finished. You’ve got a great product idea, worked out all the bugs, and have an amazing new product. You know that patents can protect your invention but don’t know how to apply for one. What’s next?
It is not easy to apply for a new patent. To be granted a Patent, your invention must not only be new and non-obvious but also meet certain legal requirements. For example, the application must be detailed enough to allow someone to reproduce the invention. It must also follow procedural requirements such as detailed instructions for preparing drawings. A patent application must also include claims that describe what you as the inventor consider to be your invention. Patent claims are important because they define the legal rights that a patent provides.
You may not be an expert on USPTO procedures and patent law if you are an inventor. It’s possible that you will want to hire an experienced patent agent or lawyer. For this purpose, the office maintains a list of registered practitioners that can be searched. Remember that in order to represent an innovator before the office, you must be registered as a USPTO patent agent or attorney.
USPTO supports two other programs which provide free legal services in the form of preparation, filing, and prosecution of patent applications to inventors that cannot afford an agent or attorney. Patent Pro Bono Program is one of the programs that aim to connect eligible inventors and volunteer patent practitioners.
The Law School Clinic Certification Program allows students to perform services under the supervision and approval of a supervising lawyer who is registered as a patent practitioner with experience in the office. All volunteers, students, and faculty-supervising lawyers operate independently from the USPTO.
Patent Pro Bono Program
Qualifications for Inventors
Patent Pro Bono Program helps small businesses, non-profits, and solo inventors. The requirements for each category of the applicant are different, but they all have to meet:
- Number of inventors
- Residency;
- Income;
- Ownership Interest
- The number of patents that have been filed.
Solo Inventor Qualifications
To qualify as a Solo Inventor:
- Number Of Inventors: There must be exactly one known inventor.
- Residency: the innovator must reside in Pennsylvania
- Income: the inventor’s total income must be less than 400% of the federal guidelines for poverty (See hhs.gov).
- Ownership interest: the patent owner must not have an obligation to sell or transfer ownership to a third party.
- Previous Patents: The inventor must not be in possession of 4 or more patent applications filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Non Profit Qualifications
To qualify as a Non-Profit:
- No. of Inventors: there must not be more than four inventors known of the invention.
- Assignment of Rights to Organization: Each inventor must agree to transfer his/her rights.
- You can qualify individually:
- Individual Resident: each inventor must reside in Pennsylvania.
- Individual income: each inventor must have a household total income that is less than 400% of the federal guidelines for poverty. (See hhs.gov);
- Number of Patents Previously Filed: Each inventor cannot have filed more than 4 patent applications at the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
- Types of Non-Profit Organizations: the organization must not be an institution for higher education or a research institute.
- Residency: the not-for-profit organization must be a domestic company established in Pennsylvania and have 501(c),(3) status.
- Budget for Previous Year: the budget must be less than one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000).
- Budget for the Current Calendar Year: the not-for-profit organization must have a current budget of less than one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000);
- Ownership interest: the not-for-profit organization must be free from any obligation to sell or transfer ownership to a third party.
- Previous Patents Filed: The non-profit organization must not have filed four or more patent applications at the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Small Business / Inventor Group Qualifying
Qualifying as a Small Business / Inventor Group
- No. of Inventors: there must not be more than four inventors known for the invention.
- Assigning Rights to an Organization: Each inventor must agree to transfer his/her rights.
- You can qualify individually:
- Individual Resident: each inventor must reside in Pennsylvania
- Individual income: Each inventor must have a household total income that is less than 400% of the federal guidelines for poverty. (See hhs.gov);
- Number of Patents Previously filed: Each inventor cannot have filed more than 4 patent applications at the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
- Previous Business Income:If the business operated in the previous calendar year, it must have had an annual gross income less than 150 000 dollars;
- Business Income Projected for the Current Year:the company must project a gross annual income of less that one hundred fifty thousands dollars ($150,000).
- Ownership interest: the company must not have an obligation to sell or transfer ownership to a third-party;
- Previous Patents: The business cannot have filed more than 4 patent applications at the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Invention Requirements
The invention must be patent eligible
Certain inventions are not eligible for a patent. These are usually products of nature or abstract ideas. They can also be laws of nature. These include “Methods for detecting fraud during a credit card exchange”, “Investment instruments and methods for tax-deferred property exchanges”, “Antenatal Screening for Down’s Syndrome”, “Cloned Mammals produced by somatic-cell nuclear transfer” (note that the cloned animal cannot be patented but a method of cloning may be patent-eligible), “Lipid-Containing Compositions and Methods The Patent Pro Bono Program does not provide assistance for these inventions.
Other things that are not patent eligible include Brands and business names, artworks, trademarks, T-shirt designs, game rules, recipes, etc. The Patent Pro Bono Program does not provide assistance for these items.
If you are seeking assistance with one of the not patent-eligible topics, please reach out to your local LaunchBox or go to https://happyvalley.launchbox.psu.edu/.
The Invention Must Be Reduced to Practice
To qualify for assistance under the Patent Pro Bono Program, a concept or invention needs to be “reduced into practice”. This means that the inventor’s invention must be a physical object. Patent Pro Bono Program inventors must either:
- Create a prototype that works;
- Describe your invention in enough detail that someone with ordinary skills in the field can use the invention without outside assistance.
We need to reduce the practice in order to make sure that an inventor has a permanent and definite manifestation of their invention, not just an idea. The inventor must have a settled, specific idea or solution to the problem in order for an idea to become a permanent manifestation. The inventor’s general goal or plan of research is not a permanent and definite manifestation of the invention and does not qualify under the program.
The Inventor must not have disclosed the invention more than 10 months ago
In the United States, there are several rules that must be followed to get a patent. If an inventor publicly discloses their invention, they have one (1) year to file a Patent Application for that invention. In the event that the inventor fails to submit the patent application within one (1) year after the first disclosure, the invention will not be able to receive a patent.
In order to protect our patent agents/attorneys from being rushed to file and draft a patent, we ask inventors to give at least two months’ notice to our agents/attorneys. The Patent Pro Bono Program will not place any inventor who has disclosed more than 10 months before the current date with a patent attorney/agent.
Inventor must have a good-faith belief that the invention is novel and non-obvious
The inventor must believe in good faith that:
- The inventor is the person who first invents or discovers the invention.
- The invention or improvement cannot be patented, published in print, used in public, sold, or made otherwise available to the general public by anyone else.
- The combination of simple prior art references would not allow a person with ordinary skill to know how to use and make the invention.
Other Requirements
Before being placed with a Patent Attorney or having an intake, each inventor is required to attend a seminar on patents or show that he/she was a named inventor in another patent. Prior to an intake meeting, inventors are required to conduct a prior-art search and locate at least three relevant prior-art references.
Patent Training
Before scheduling an intake, inventors must complete the USPTO online patent training module . They can print (or take a photo of) their final certificate and email it to our office.
All inventors listed on the patent MUST:
- Already be listed in another patent or pending applications;
- Attend a training seminar approved by the company;
- Complete the USPTO Online Training Module.
Prior Art Search
You must comply with this requirement to be eligible for the program. The term “prior art” refers to all information, knowledge, and references that existed anywhere in the universe prior to filing for a patent. Not all prior art is relevant. Patent agents and attorneys refer to “prior art” when they discuss your invention.
- Prior patents (U.S. and foreign);
- Published Articles
- Demonstrations in Public Places;
- Other Public Disclosures
You are not asked to find the exact same invention. You are asked to search for similar inventions. You should be able to find at least one similarity and at least one difference between your invention and the prior art reference. An Example of an Appropriate Search If you have invented an umbrella that illuminates the ground in darkness, you can use a flashlight, an umbrella, and a light sensor as references. Each of these references is a valid prior art reference, but not one of them discloses the entire invention.
Patents are a great place to begin. You can do this on the USPTO website, European Patent Office website , or any of the paid subscription services. A product search of websites that sell similar products to yours is another great place to begin. If you do a thorough search, you should find similar inventions and possibly even those on which your invention is based. The search for prior art should also help you as an inventor to understand the current state of your invention’s field.
The USPTO takes into account all prior art worldwide, not only applications, patents and other descriptions from United States. The EPO receives patents from companies all over the world, many of which are in English or have been translated into English. You can search for patents and applications separately.
The USPTO’s resource center is located at Penn State! The Patent and Trademark Resource Center will teach you how to conduct an efficient and effective patent search. The library’s website has a number of tutorials and the coordinator can schedule consultations via Zoom, email, or in person. https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/patents
If you use the services of a search company for commercial purposes, the results should be no older than three months. We will also need a copy of the contract to verify that the invention has not been disclosed or any patent rights assigned.
Pre-Application Checklist
Please make sure that you have:
- You must have read and completed the steps.
- Each inventor should be notified by email and given their name.
- Gather financial information on each inventor, and (if applicable), your business or non profit.
- Gather basic information about the invention.
- Information on the previous patents/applications of each inventor. (if applicable)
When you are ready, complete the Solo Inventor Application (for solo inventors) or the Small Business/Non-Profit Application.
law school clinics
Over 60 law school clinics participate in the Law School Clinic Certification Program, which provides free legal services to members of the public including inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. The participating law school clinics offer patent and/or trademark legal services to members of the general public who have been accepted as clients of a clinic. Each participating law school has its own requirements and will accept new clients at its discretion.
Pennsylvania inventors and entrepreneurs can obtain free legal help for trademark matters by contacting:
- University of Pennsylvania Law School Detkin Intellectual Property & Technology Legal Clinic: DetkinlPTC@law.upenn.edu (trademarks)
In addition to the law school clinic listed above, there are 19 law school clinics that provide free patent and trademark services to all residents of the United States regardless of location.
Patent and Trademark Resource Centers
Certain libraries throughout the United States are designated as Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRC), which provide resources and trained staff to help customers use and understand USPTO information and filing systems. Pennsylvania is served by the following PTRCs:
- The Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia
- The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
- PAMS Library, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/
https://techcrunch.com/
https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/startup-resources
https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/fund-your-business
https://hbr.org/1998/11/how-venture-capital-works
http://patentpc.com/
http://uspto.gov/
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