The importance of patents

As an exclusive right for an inventor or innovator, a patent is one of the most important business assets that you can secure. But understanding how patents generate income can be tricky. With only 2 to 3 percent of all patented products making it to market, it may seem as though filing a patent is unnecessary at best – or, at worst, an expensive hassle and possible delay before you can begin selling a product. Still, by filing a patent with the government, you are securing your invested time and resources and setting yourself up for future dividends.

Registering a patent essentially secures your market position for a particular product of your design. It creates a government record of you as the creator of a particular product as well your exclusive right to market that product. This means that if your product is copied by a competitor, you have legal recourse to compel them to remove that product from the market, obtain a portion of the income generated by the copycat, or sue your competitor for damages. 

Even if a competitor is marketing a dramatically different product than the one you patented – such as a streamlined and updated version with additional features – a patent can still protect your investment. So long as you can prove that the knock-off features proprietary design elements that you innovated and registered as part of the patent, you have a legal claim to the market share of the modified product.

Finally, even if you have no intention of selling your invention yourself, a patent is an asset that can be sold or licensed as a form of income. You could be generating money without having to produce a single thing outside of the prototype. 

The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, P.C., have years of experience handling asset protection. To find out more, get in touch today. 

Categorised in: Arizona LLCs, Asset & Liability Protection, Business Law, Intellectual Property Law

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