{"id":34017,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/federal-trade-commission-brief-on-patents-and-invention-promotion.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"federal-trade-commission-brief-on-patents-and-invention-promotion","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/intellectual-property\/federal-trade-commission-brief-on-patents-and-invention-promotion.html","title":{"rendered":"Federal Trade Commission Brief on Patents and Invention Promotion Firms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FTC Briefs<\/strong><\/font><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/center><\/div>

So You've Got a Great Idea?Heads Up: Invention Promotion FirmsMay Promise More Than They Can Deliver<\/strong><\/font><\/p>

July 1997<\/font><\/p>

What's Your Patent Ability?<\/font><\/font>Many invention promotion firms promise more than they can deliver. Try this True-False quiz to measure your patent-ability:<\/font><\/p>

1.<\/td>The fact that an idea is "patentable" has nothing to do with whether the idea has any potential for commercial success.<\/font><\/td>True<\/a><\/td>False<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2.<\/td>If I patent my idea, it doesn't necessarily mean the idea is protected.<\/font><\/td>True<\/a><\/td>False<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
3.<\/td>Design patents protect the external or ornamental appearance of an idea; utility patents protect the function or utility concept of an idea.<\/font><\/td>True<\/a><\/td>False<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
4.<\/td>Registering your idea with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Disclosure Document Program may help establish the date you conceived your idea, but it provides no patent protection.<\/font><\/td>True<\/a><\/td>False<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
5.<\/td>Reputable invention promotion firms don't charge high fees in advance their services.<\/font><\/td>True<\/a><\/td>False<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/center><\/div>

What's a Patent?<\/font>A patent is a grant issued by the federal government that gives inventors the right "to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the U.S. or importing the invention into the U.S." Three types of patents are available:<\/font><\/p>

Utility patents<\/strong><\/font>,<\/font> which are granted to the inventor or discoverer of any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matter, or any new and useful improvement;<\/font><\/b><\/p>

Design patents<\/font>,<\/font> which are granted on any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and<\/font><\/b><\/p>

Plant patents<\/strong><\/font>,<\/font> which<\/font> are granted on any distinct and new variety of asexually reproduced plant.<\/b><\/p>

For more information about patents, call the US Patent and Trademark Office toll-free at 1-800-PTO-9199.<\/font><\/b><\/p>

Patent Facts<\/font><\/b><\/p>