You might wonder why an inventor would want to obtain a patent and why a patent is useful other than just for protection and from someone else stealing it.
Patents provide incentives to and protection for the inventors by offering recognition for creativity and the possibility of material reward for their inventions. The historical purpose of the patent system was really to encourage the development of new inventions and to encourage new inventions to be disclosed but inventors are often hesitant to reveal their inventions for fear that someone might steal it. This would lead to keeping inventions secret, which slows down innovation..
A patent system helps to correct such under-provision of innovative activities by providing inventors with limited exclusive rights, thereby giving them the possibility to receive appropriate returns or rewards for their innovative activities. Through these exclusive rights, inventors are able to prevent others from commercially using their patented inventions, which helps to reduce competition. Public disclosure of the technical knowledge in the patent, and the exclusive right granted by the patent provide incentives for competitors to search for alternative solutions and to make other inventions around the first invention.
A patent would give you or your business a positive image. Many people would view patent portfolios as essential and a demonstration of a high level of expertise. This would prove useful for raising funds, finding business partners and raising your company’s market value.
Another important reason to file for a patent is that it is a much stronger right than copyright. Copyright only protects your own particular expression of an idea and does not protect against implementation of that idea. A patent protects the idea itself, if the idea represents an invention.
Also, patents can be used as bargaining chips. If one company has a patent on a particular invention which another company wants to practice, the other company will have to pay. Also, many capitalists will refuse to invest in a company that does not have at least a patent application on its product(s) or service(s).
If there is a significant market demand, a patent could allow an inventor to sell a product at a higher price but does not help increase the market demand for the product. If there is a large enough demand for a patented invention, the patent can be used to prevent others from selling their version of the patented product.
The advice of an attorney would be best to help you decide if a patent would be useful for your invention.
