Greenville Business Magazine 2010 March issue : Page 20
››industry trends The Necessities of Invention: Getting A Patent Is Neither Simple Nor Cheap BY RICHARD BREEN PHOTOGRAPH BY COMMERCIAL IMAGING Alan Adolphson I t has been four years since Alan Adolphsen came up with a way to make firearms shoot more accurately. Since that time, the Maine resident has found a busi- ness partner and launched a startup operation in Greer. He says he is receiving rifles “almost on a daily basis” from customers who want the guns modified. But he still doesn’t have a patent yet. “We are in the process,” Adolphsen says. That “process” - which starts in the workshop or laboratory and ends when the inventor receives his or her patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, can be long and expensive. Local intellectual property attorneys say it may not be worth even trying unless the inventor can see their idea as a fully fleshed-out, money-making business. Doug Kim, shareholder with McNair Law Firm, PA in Greenville, says he gets frequent phone calls from inventors inquiring about how to get a patent for their idea. 20 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | MARCH 2010 “I’m honest with people and I ask them, ‘Have you thought this through?’” he says. “People don’t appreciate the resources necessary to get the product off the ground. The patent is only as valuable as what it’s protecting.” The first thing inventors may want to do is hire a company to conduct a patent search. While some legwork can be done over the Internet, Greenville attorney John Perkins with Nexsen Pruet, LLC says professional searchers have access to information you and I don’t. “It’s much more thorough and much more likely to yield useful results,” he says. It also comes at a cost: as much as $1,500 to hire a reputable firm. “That step is going to be an expense some folks just can’t afford,” Perkins says. If the inventor does pay for a search, the report they get back will likely show what truly is patentable about their idea.
>>industry trends - The Necessities of Invention
Richard Breen
Getting A Patent Is Neither Simple Nor Cheap
It has been four years since Alan Adolphsen came up with a way to make firearms shoot more accurately. Since that time, the Maine resident has found a business partner and launched a startup operation in Greer. He says he is receiving rifles “almost on a daily basis” from customers who want the guns modified. But he still doesn’t have a patent yet.
“We are in the process,” Adolphsen says. That “process” - which starts in the workshop or laboratory and ends when the inventor receives his or her patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, can be long and expensive. Local intellectual property attorneys say it may not be worth even trying unless the inventor can see their idea as a fully fleshed-out, money-making business.
Doug Kim, shareholder with McNair Law Firm, PA in Greenville, says he gets frequent phone calls from inventors inquiring about how to get a patent for their idea.
“I’m honest with people and I ask them, ‘Have you thought this through?’” he says. “People don’t appreciate the resources necessary to get the product off the ground. The patent is only as valuable as what it’s protecting.”
The first thing inventors may want to do is hire a company to conduct a patent search. While some legwork can be done over the Internet, Greenville attorney John Perkins with Nexsen Pruet, LLC says professional searchers have access to information you and I don’t.
“It’s much more thorough and much more likely to yield useful results,” he says.
It also comes at a cost: as much as $1,500 to hire a reputable firm.
“That step is going to be an expense some folks just can’t afford,” Perkins says.
If the inventor does pay for a search, the report they get back will likely show what truly is patentable about their idea.
“The real challenge is not coming up with the concept,” says Ralph Heredia, “it’s proving to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that what you’ve come up with is truly unique.” Heredia has gone through the process multiple times with Bell Labs and as co-founder of Greenville based Zipit Wireless Inc.
Typically, three conditions must be met to earn a patent – novelty, utility and non-obviousness. They can be rephrased as three questions that must be answered yes, yes and no:
››Is it new?
››Does it do something?
››Would anyone of reasonable skill in the same trade come up with the same solution to the same problem being solved by the proposed invention?
Having worked in the firearms industry for years, Adolphsen had an inkling that his method of making gun barrels more accurate was novel, useful and non-obvious. He did some online research that bolstered his opinion. Then he hired an attorney and began the patent process.
“It dragged out forever and nothing ever became of it,” he says. “You’ve got to be real careful in your selection of an attorney.”
He eventually switched to Kim. Kim, in turn, introduced Adolphsen to Mark Roth, a businessman and U.S. Army veteran. Adolphsen and Roth have launched Teludyne Tech Industries Inc. to market Adolphsen’s Straight Jacket system for improving firearm accuracy.
“It’s remarkable the process we’re going through to set this business up,” Roth says.
Right now, the Straight Jacket is patent pending. Adolphsen also has a provisional patent. A provisional patent can cost $2,500-$3,500 and provides foreign and U.S. protection for 12 months while one prepares to file for a full patent.
Achieving a full patent can often cost an additional $15,000. That, Matt Gevaert says, raises a basic business question.
“Is there any chance we’re going to get 15 grand back?” he asks. Gevaert was involved in multiple patent applications while working as a Clemson University researcher. He currently serves as chief executive of Kiyatec Inc., itself a spinoff of Clemson-born intellectual property.
Adolphsen says business considerations also played into locating his company. He describes the business climate in Maine as “oppressive” and says he has family and friends in South Carolina.
“I thought this state would be a better place for this business to start up,” he says.
John Moore, executive vice president with the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, says efforts have been made in recent years to make the Upstate more hospitable to cultivating innovation.
“It’s a key ingredient for developing globally competitive companies,” Moore says. “There’s a surprising amount of world-class innovation that is going on in our region.”
Previous Page Next Page
Publication List
