Intellectual property can be a complex field through which to navigate. Intellectual property lawyer Fred Wilf, of law firm Morgan Lewis, explains patents.

“Patents protect inventions,” explains Wilf. “Inventions are defined as some new discovery, device, material, process or methodology. If you’re a horticulturist, it could be a new plant, or if you work with stereo equipment, it could be a new type of tube. For biotechnologists, it could be a new cell line. Patents may also apply to the particular way something is made, manufactured or processed.”

With patents, it’s not simply good enough to have an idea. “You have to prove that your invention is new, useful, and non-obvious to one skilled in the art or science,” explains Wilf.

Timing is very important when dealing with patents. Under U.S. law, patent applications must be filed prior to any public use or disclosure, or within one year of the first public use or disclosure of the invention.

Advises Wilf, “there is no protection for your invention under patent law until the patent issues, and patents can only be obtained on the federal level; there is no such thing as a state or regional patent. Patents are relatively expensive to obtain, but compared to the value of your business, they may be cost effective, if not cheap.

Often, the difference between the success or failure of a business can be a patent, stresses Wilf. “Patents act as good protection against competition, and licensing patents can be a great revenue stream.”

Keep in mind, current patent law generally rewards the person who is first to file, and granted patents expire 20 years after the date the application is filed.

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