The success or failure of an idea often hinges upon timeliness. Was the time right for a particular innovation? If you have a great idea and want your business to capitalize on it, you need to apply for a patent. However, the average patent application takes almost three years to process. By the time you obtain your patent, someone else may have taken your patent pending idea to the marketplace, and your innovation may not be innovative anymore.
“The Fast Track Exam enhances your intellectual property by expediting the patent process,” says Jay Moldovanyi, partner with Fay Sharpe LLP. “Getting that patent prevents competitors from copying your patented idea themselves.”
Smart Business spoke with Moldovanyi about how to determine if you should fast track your idea.
How does a Fast Track Exam enhance your IP?
The Fast Track Exam is helpful for situations when you introduce a new product to the marketplace and you want to prevent another company from creating and selling a knock-off version of your intellectual property.
For example, say you run a stapler company and you want to introduce a brand new stapler. How are you going to prevent a competitor from introducing the same stapler?
It’s important to note that a patent is a negative right, not a positive right. Let’s assume your patent is for a new shift mechanism for a bicycle and someone else has a patent on the bicycle itself. Can you sell bicycles with your shift mechanism? No, because someone else has the patent on the bicycle. Can the owner of that patent sell a bicycle with your shift mechanism? No, because they need your permission to put your patented shift mechanism on their bicycle.
You have to make a deal with the bicycle’s patent-holder in order for you to sell bicycles with your shift mechanism. Conversely, he has to make a deal with you; otherwise he is unable to sell a bicycle with your shift mechanism.
You can’t enforce that negative right if you don’t have it. That’s why it is important for businesses to patent-protect their intellectual property.
