Can I patent my own idea?

12 replies
I was wondering that if I had a business idea that i felt could honestly make me tons of money, could I actually patent this idea?

Thanks Warriors!
#idea #patent
  • Profile picture of the author dipcliper
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      FYI, getting a patent can cost you a couple thousand dollars.

      Also, you will need to be as detailed as possible. You can't just say "my idea is for a shiny red beach ball" but you have to give the process of how that red shiny beach ball gets that way (I believe)
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      "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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      • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
        Originally Posted by avenuegirl View Post

        FYI, getting a patent can cost you a couple thousand dollars.
        True.

        And it can also take a long time - even an "accelerated" patent can take 18 months to 3 years before it is completed. If it's an idea for the web then it's good chances are someone will come up with the same idea within that period.

        Most of the process and laws regarding patents were established long before the Internet became part of the common vernacular.

        Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by nevillealston View Post

    I was wondering that if I had a business idea that i felt could honestly make me tons of money, could I actually patent this idea?
    Talk to a patent attorney.

    A lot of things that should be patentable aren't.

    A lot of things that shouldn't be patentable are.

    The only way to really know which one you have is to talk to a patent attorney.
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    If you have an innovative idea valuable enough to patent,
    chances are you would do well to license it to a 3rd party
    with the capital to implement it on a large scale and make
    big profits before competitors knock-off the idea.

    While a patent does offer some protection, as a practical
    matter making money from an idea is usually a matter of
    having the ability (and money) to implement it in a
    substantial manner.
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  • Profile picture of the author milan
    The short answer is: no.
    The good news is: if it could make you a lot of money, then why don't you make a lot of money and who cares about unimportant things like patents.
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  • Profile picture of the author AverageGuy
    patent costs lots of money, especially if the patent may make you $$$$$$. you need cover every aspect of it. usually, you can not simply patent an idea, you will have to have something to show it works, either the design, or the product.

    however, if you just need some cover first, check Provisional Application for Patent. it will costs you 1k-2k, and give you some rights about the patent.


    david
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  • Profile picture of the author AverageGuy
    you forget one thing: lawyer will charge more, although the patent application itself does not cost more. the more promising the patent is, the more the lawyers will charge,

    david
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  • Profile picture of the author Fox30
    getting a patent doesn't cost a couple of thousand dollars...it costs thousands upon thousands, upon thousands. What doesn't cost very much is a patent pending.

    I know for personal experience.
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