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How do I patent or Copyright a Product?

MattyMac

MattyMac

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 6, 2005
1,692
17
NJ/NYC
I have a product that I made that I think is pretty cool and useful to a certain crowd.

I have a name for it and a prototype which came out really well.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing??

How can I sort of copyright the name and perhaps patent the item as well??

How expensive is this?
 
MattyMac said:
I have a product that I made that I think is pretty cool. Apple related as well...of course:D

I have a name for it and a prototype which came out really well.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing??

How can I sort of copyright the name and perhaps patent the item as well??

How expensive is this?
Click to expand...


Patent or copyright attorney to do it right.

If you REALLY want to protect it.

You could try it yourself..but...
 
Copyright is automatic upon creation, but you can register it with the government...it provides with you some additional rights and makes things easier if you want to sue someone. Runs about $400 I think.

Trademarking is how you would protect the name of your product.

Patenting is much more expensive...really needs to be done by an attorney unless you want to spend years learning how to speak and write patent-ese. A good patent attorney will write a provisional patent application for a couple of thousand dollars...$1000 if you're really lucky. A full patent application (must be filed within one year of filing the provisional) will likely cost in excess of $20,000+ in attorneys fees by the time the patent finally issues (which can be many years after the filing).
 
WildCowboy said:
Copyright is automatic upon creation, but you can register it with the government...it provides with you some additional rights and makes things easier if you want to sue someone. Runs about $400 I think.

Trademarking is how you would protect the name of your product.

Patenting is much more expensive...really needs to be done by an attorney unless you want to spend years learning how to speak and write patent-ese. A good patent attorney will write a provisional patent application for a couple of thousand dollars...$1000 if you're really lucky. A full patent application (must be filed within one year of filing the provisional) will likely cost in excess of $20,000+ in attorneys fees by the time the patent finally issues (which can be many years after the filing).
Click to expand...
Wow these things are crazy.

I've wanted something for a while, (sort of an accessory for different apple products) but couldn't find anything like it, so I decided to make one. It came out really well and I like it. A simplistic design, but it looks very nice! The only problem is that I put an apple logo on it, since I was only making it for myself. But after completion, the logo is simply what makes the item look amazing! Obviously I can't use the apple logo since it is trademarked...but that is what "MAKES" it sweeeeeeet. Oh well...

Anyway, it may be just me that likes it...other people will probably just say that it's dumb...but whatever it made me happy...real happy.

Thanks for the thoughts anyhow.

Matt
 
why don't you take pictures for us and show us your technical drawings ... then we can tell you if its worth it ;)
 
Kwyjibo said:
why don't you take pictures for us and show us your technical drawings ... then we can tell you if its worth it ;)
Click to expand...
I don't have any technical drawings or anything...its a very simple item. Nothing crazy AT ALL.
 
I suggest you do a search on the US patents database to make sure that nobody else has done something like it already.

You will need to file a provisional application, then a complete application at a later stage. You can do it all yourself, but they strongly recommend it be done through a patent attorney. I ended up writing a provisional application for my product myself because the attorney was charging osmething ridiculous and the cost wasn't justified. If you think you can make lots of money from it though, it probably is worth doing it with a professional.
 
MattyMac said:
I don't have any technical drawings or anything...its a very simple item. Nothing crazy AT ALL.
Click to expand...

Be aware that public disclosure of an invention prior to filing a patent application means that you lose all patent rights outside of the United States.
 
Oh wow....I don't think this is anythng that special...I wanted something like it so I made it...but its not really a big deal at all.
 
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