Excerpt fromAdventures of an Inventor by Jacob Fraden |
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About Making Inventions
…The next logical step is to protect your idea. Of course, you have kept your dated notebooks, even had their pages notarized. Perhaps someone has already told you that the cheapest way to secure your distinction of being first is to make a full written description of your idea, seal it in an envelope and send it to yourself by registered mail. When it arrives, do not open the envelope and keep it in a safe place. I did things like that many times, though later I learned that such protection is worth little or nothing. In the case of a dispute, no court will seriously consider those sealed envelopes, unless you kept constantly working on your invention after that. You must show diligence in order to claim that you did something sooner than someone else. A conceived idea which has been sealed in an envelope and then left alone is considered abandoned and the inventor loses his rights to it. There is only one real way to protect an invention—to file a patent application with the Patent Office. Unfortunately, it is an expensive way to go about it, but unless you are making your invention just for the fun of it, you had better be prepared to spend the money.
It makes sense to apply for a patent only if your idea meets two requirements. Number one is that the patent can be obtained. Number two is that you need the patent. Before spending money to acquire a patent, you should ask yourself why you need one. Apart from the question of ego, a patent may be necessary in order to create a monopoly for yourself from which you will then benefit. It is funny, but the patent system, which is set up in the Constitution, is the only monopoly allowed in this country, where antitrust laws are so vigorously enforced (the antitrust law was not provided for in the Constitution). Yet that kind of monopoly is a healthy and fully justifiable reward and incentive to an inventor for his pioneering work….