Patent Prosecution

In an article published in the October 2024 issue of Smart Shop Essentials, a guide for small and midsize manufacturers, Jonathan Hughley provides simple advice to future patent holders: Keep your ideas close to the vest.

“It’s certainly understandable that you’d want to show your idea to others, but take a step back and consider how to actually protect your idea – that’s often the most important step in the product development process,” Jonathan told the publication in a recent interview.

The publication writes about Jonathan’s advice: “Until that glorious day, he has some common sense advice, starting with the not-so-fun part of product development: documentation. ‘Write a summary of your invention,’ Hughley urges. ‘Explain what it is, how it works, why it’s beneficial, and so on. From there, people can take one of two paths. They can just reach out directly to a patent attorney and say, ‘Here’s my idea. What do you think of it, and how can I bring it to market?’ Otherwise, the inventor can begin the protection process themselves by searching publicly available documents to see if their innovation is truly new; and, if so, go ahead and begin the patent application process.’”

To read Jonathan’s guidance to manufacturers and all patent seekers, you can access the article here.