Patents & Innovation

[murali83]

Guys,

This is OT, but need some advice

"I work full time as a mechanical engineer on H1b.

During my past time (weekends) I have come up with a device (totally unrelated to my work), which I feel has the potential for a application patent.

I dont intend to do any business out of it or sell it to anyone in the near future. I will wait till I get my green card. Until then, I am going to file the patent and hopefully get the approval. If the approval comes in before I get my green card, I am going to put it in cold storage and Not use it until I get my green card.

Is there anything illegal here.

Please advise."

Thanks

Murali

[qesehmk]

Murali

Absolutely no problem whatsoever. Just go ahead and file patent. You can also get a provisional patent in case you need more time to file actual detailed one.
You have no reason to wait for your GC to sell this or do any business with it. But first file a patent ASAP. Another thing - by the way - you can search the patents already filed to check how your inevntion differs from existing ones. As long as you add one bell or whistle ... my understanding is that you should be able ot get the patent.

Guys,

This is OT, but need some advice

"I work full time as a mechanical engineer on H1b.

During my past time (weekends) I have come up with a device (totally unrelated to my work), which I feel has the potential for a application patent.

I dont intend to do any business out of it or sell it to anyone in the near future. I will wait till I get my green card. Until then, I am going to file the patent and hopefully get the approval. If the approval comes in before I get my green card, I am going to put it in cold storage and Not use it until I get my green card.

Is there anything illegal here.

Please advise."

Thanks

Murali

[murali83]

Murali

Absolutely no problem whatsoever. Just go ahead and file patent. You can also get a provisional patent in case you need more time to file actual detailed one.
You have no reason to wait for your GC to sell this or do any business with it. But first file a patent ASAP. Another thing - by the way - you can search the patents already filed to check how your inevntion differs from existing ones. As long as you add one bell or whistle ... my understanding is that you should be able ot get the patent.

Q,

Thanks a lot boss. Really cleared the air. I did search the database and I shall do it once more just to be sure. Thanks again, I shall start the filing for a provisional patent right away.

Murali

[druvraj]

Murali

Absolutely no problem whatsoever. Just go ahead and file patent. You can also get a provisional patent in case you need more time to file actual detailed one.
You have no reason to wait for your GC to sell this or do any business with it. But first file a patent ASAP. Another thing - by the way - you can search the patents already filed to check how your inevntion differs from existing ones. As long as you add one bell or whistle ... my understanding is that you should be able ot get the patent.

Murali,

I have filed and was awarded a provisional patent and now I am getting ready to file the actual patent which I am told will take a tleast 2 years and more realistic 3 years. What provisional does is it protects right away. One more thing, going through a patent lawyer is expensive if you have no sponsorship. My friend and I wrote it and only paid the lawyer for cross checking which saved us a lot. Good luck!

[pkotla]

Since you are an employee of a company, all patents automatically belong to the company you are working for..Please check with your company legal group before you proceed. May be not mention to them that you are filing for one, but just as a general inquiry...

[qesehmk]

druvraj,

did you invent something totally new or did you "improve" an existing invention.

If the latter - I would appreciate if you could share some insights - how things work there.

Murali,

I have filed and was awarded a provisional patent and now I am getting ready to file the actual patent which I am told will take a tleast 2 years and more realistic 3 years. What provisional does is it protects right away. One more thing, going through a patent lawyer is expensive if you have no sponsorship. My friend and I wrote it and only paid the lawyer for cross checking which saved us a lot. Good luck!

Since you are an employee of a company, all patents automatically belong to the company you are working for..Please check with your company legal group before you proceed. May be not mention to them that you are filing for one, but just as a general inquiry...

pkotla, is that true? That seems quite restrictive. e.g. if I am working for boeing and I find out an educational toy for a 2 year olds, clearly boeing can't claim ownership. So what are the guidelines where company can claim ownership? My initial impression was that you actually sign ownership to the company when you file the patent. But after reading your post I am a bit alarmed.

[sidd21]

SInce on the patents topic, does anyone here have a patent for a business idea?? If yes, please share the steps to get a patent for it... Thank You

[murali83]

Since you are an employee of a company, all patents automatically belong to the company you are working for..Please check with your company legal group before you proceed. May be not mention to them that you are filing for one, but just as a general inquiry...

Patent office will ONLY consider it as your sole property ONLY if you satisfy ALL the below conditions
1. You did not use company resource: Computers, Machines, Network etc.
2. You did not use a software licenced by your company, even if it was installed on your machine.
3. You did not work on it on company time. PTO and SL are considered company time.
4. You did now work on it in the company premises. Offices, Guest House etc.
5. You did not work off a already existing company code or property.
6. The "thing" was not a part of your job duties.
7. It is not an enhancement of already existing process which is owned by the company.
8. You did not work with other employees.
9. You have not signed off rights to your company in your employement contract.
10. The company didn't invest in your venture.
11. You did not use any of your company's trade secrets business practices or any other knowledge that you came across as a part of your employment.

So if you do something totally different, then I think your company cant claim rights to it. Moreover, it depends on case to case, I for one, never signed any agreement with my employer in that regard

[murali83]

Thanks druvraj. Do you recommend any tool that can help me draft my case better. Any template available? Just out of curiosity, how much does a lawyer charge, if you want the full package.

[qesehmk]

Friends ..... yesterday i was in a meeting with some of the VCs. Just sharing what I realized ... if you are an enterprenuer, start now. Don't wait for GC. Create something ... the funding will follow.

[qesehmk]

Great desi enterpreneur. I found the interview better than the nbcnews article. Enjoy!

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/vid...t-i-517435578/

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovati...e-court-n29601