You may have heard the old adage, "the proof is in the pudding." While the origin of this cryptic verse is lost in the mists of time, one modern application for the phrase concerns filing a patent in order to protect your intellectual property.
Before a product, device, invention, gadget, widget, gizmo, machine or doo-hickey is ever released onto the unsuspecting public, there's usually been some brainstorming, planning, logistics work, research, and trial and error that has gone into the design and creation of the physical creation. Oftentimes these inventions appeal to a limited group of consumers and don't end up making much money for the producer or the inventor, since their appeal is limited to the narrow band of society that enjoys or needs what they have created.
Sometimes, however, an invention or creation is generated that has amazing, mass appeal. Currently, "crazy bands" (the rubber bands that hold a physical shape such as an apple, a cowboy, a monster, a surfer girl) are all the rage - everyone from 6-year olds to university professors are enjoying their strange fascination. Who'd have thought THAT was possible? Answer - the man, woman or group of people who filed the patent, guaranteeing that they owned the intellectual property - and thus the financial rights - to developing, selling and profiting from the sales of crazy bands. Filing a patent for the idea or design for the product, BEFORE it was even produced, helped to ensure that the generators of the initial idea for crazy bands were the ones to benefit from their creation.
Filing a patent can be a complicated, often arduous process, and wise inventors know that a good portion of filing a patent is to ensure that someone else, somewhere else, has not already had the same idea and patented it previously. Imagine the incredible discouragement that comes from researching, investing in and inventing a new device or process, only to see it reach fruition and receive a legal notice to 'cease and desist' because someone else has already staked their claim to a similar invention or device?!
Investigating similar patent claims, researching the best method to present your patent filing, and filing the actual patent are wise ways to ensure the successful development of your new process, idea or invention. Patent lawyers exist for just such purposes, and fledgling as well as experienced inventors and entrepreneurs are encouraged to seek the help of these knowledgeable men and women while pursuing their goal of creating a new item or process for use by others in the world.
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