Richard L. Bigelow, Patent Attorney LLC

The grant of a U.S. Patent gives the patent owner “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. A great deal of information on the patenting process in the United States can be obtained from the US Patent & Trademark Office website. The USPTO website also contains links to information about Trademarks and Copyrights.

A Warning About Patent Scams and Inventor Fraud: Sadly, there are many fraudulent companies looking to take advantage of inventors.  The USPTO website has many useful resources to help you avoid falling victim to invention promotion firms.  The USPTO's scam prevention brochure:  http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/documents/scamprevent.pdf The USPTO's public forum for complaints against promotion firms:  http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/complaints.htm InventNet.com has an excellent article on avoiding scams:  http://www.inventnet.com/scam.html Always remember to trust your instincts and do plenty of research before handing over your money.  Always ask lots of questions about a firm's fee structure and ask for references.  Please keep in mind that the process of obtaining a patent can be time-consuming and expensive.  Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Links to other online resources: Intelproplaw Website World Intellectual Property Organization Website National Association of Patent Practitioners American intellectual Property Law Association