Patrick Duffy Richards's Answers

I would like to patent an "Idea" before I pitch it to any major manufacturing co.

The quickest, easiest and least expensive way to obtain a patent is going to depend quite a bit on your specific matter. As always, the best way to get a reasonable answer is to consult a registered patent attorney that specializes in filing patent applications (you can verify your attorney's registration at the patent office website https://oedci.uspto.gov/OEDCI/). You may want to discuss the costs/benefits of provisional patents vs. utility patents and the timelines associated with each...

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Building something that has a patent and giving it away for free. Patent Infringement?

You can infringe a US patent by making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing into the US a product covered by the US patent. So, assuming what you would do would be covered by the patent, your use of the process would be an infringement.

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My invention is similar to a patent in what they do except mine folds up and is portable. Patentable?

Your question is fact specific and a full qualified analysis would be required to answer, but you haven't given me enough information to tell you your invention is not patentable. Speaking to a more general point, nearly every invention is an improvement of existing technology. The key to patentability is often whether that improvement would have been obvious at the time the invention was made. Your patent attorney will be able to assist you in analyzing obviousness and other matters...

Are my improvements to an already patented invention enough to spend the time, effort and money?

It is uncommon to find an inventor that has the technical legal training to analyze patents for their impact on the patentability of your invention. The analysis should be a joint effort between you and your patent attorney, where you are the expert regarding your invention and your patent attorney is the expert as to what is disclosed and claimed in the prior art. You should find a patent attorney that will be willing to help you through the analysis, weigh the costs and benefits and provide...

Is there a Patent Lawyer with Video Gaming Patent Expertise?

Hopefully I can give you some information to help you in your search for qualified help. A video game patent is going to have a lot in common with other software patents, which is fairly common subject matter for patent attorneys currently practicing. If I were you I would look for a patent attorney that has a suitable background and experience in this area by searching for lawyers using keywords such as: software patents; business method patents; software controller patents; electronic...

How can I get legal assistance to ensure that I am not infringing on patents of a company that patented a similar idea?

Mr. Ballard's answer above is very good. Your patent attorney is going to be able to help you identify all of the closest related prior art (not just the patents you've seen) and, as Mr. Ballard has suggested, help you identify design elements of your product that prevent you from infringing others' patents. The addition I wanted to make for anyone else interested in the answer to your question is that the best time for this analysis (freedom to operate / freedom to practice) is prior to...

How do we go about getting something patented?

Like Mr. Elman, I have also patented games in the U.S. Depending on the content and context of the game, it may be patentable elsewhere as well, but that is not often the case. However, as with any patent specific questions, any serious inquiry should be posed to a trusted patent attorney who can help you sort through your specific strategy, timeline, costs and benefits. There are a number of ways to find a patent attorney, but for your specific question you will want to locate someone that...