If you’re still developing your business and product and are thinking about looking into patents once you’ve finished developing your product, now is the perfect time to jump into the first phase of The IP Link’s Product Protection Playbook program.
Learn more in the video below:
Find the Gaps in your Market
I’ve had a couple clients wait until their product was further along in its development only to find that they were “reinventing the wheel” so to say. Completing an in-depth competitive review will illuminate the gaps in the market and help you focus the development of your product. A careful review of related patents will greatly improve your chances of uncovering competitors and competitive technologies.
In one case, even though a company I worked with was aware of their competitors, they hadn’t carefully searched the patent literature early in the creation of their product so they missed an important patent in their space that was owned by a company that wasn’t on their radar prior to the search.
Product Development from the Shoulders of Giants
The added benefit of completing such a search early in the development of your product is that you may be able to use what you find in existing patent applications, expired patent documents, patents in countries that you don’t operate in, and scientific publications to improve your own product. You do have to be careful not to infringe on any active patents in your country, but the vast majority of published patents and other documents never issued or are no longer active, and therefore won’t impact your ability to operate.
Further, gaining an understanding of the prior art will enable you far more effectively improve on it. Without knowing what already exists, you may end up developing a product or solution that is already publicly known, even if it may be in an obscure corner of the patent literature. Why waste your time on that, when you could start from what’s known and improve on it!
When it comes time to file your own patent application, you’ll be far ahead of the pack and much more likely to have a patentable product on your hands. When it comes time to sell your product, your offering will be truly unique!
If this sounds like where you are currently in your business, let’s jump on a call and I’ll share all the info you need to join The Product Protection Playbook.