Posts Tagged: "idea invention continuum"

Every invention starts with an idea

The truth is you cannot patent or protect an idea or a concept. However, it is also an undeniable truth that all inventions start with an idea, but an idea is not something that can be protected by any form of intellectual property protection. Said another way, you simply cannot patent an idea or concept. Similarly, you cannot copyright or trademark an idea or concept. So what do you do when you have an idea? How much is required in order to have an invention?

Gene Quinn

January 24, 2015

Inventing 101: Protecting Your Invention When You Need Help

So how do you decide whether you have a mere idea or a conception that is on the road to a full blown invention? That is a difficult question to answer and one that has few, if any, bright line rules or useful generalizations. What I would say, however, is this: If you can sketch out the invention on paper (in the case of a device) or list the steps (in the case of a process) you likely have something that is tending toward the invention side of the idea-invention continuum. When you are at the point where you can describe the uniqueness of your idea in comparison to other patents and pending applications then you are again tilting heavily toward the invention side of the idea-invention continuum.

Gene Quinn

September 17, 2010