According to this newsletter article entitled, Common Patent Misconceptions, the get-a-patent-and-get-rich-quick notion of prospective inventors is flawed. It's actually a challenge for an individual inventor to license his or her patent, and few are able to pull it off.

And that's not all that needs to be cleared up about patents, according to the April 2005 story. Here are some more major misperceptions...

Misconception #1: A patent bestows upon you the right to practice your invention.

"First, a patent does not provide positive or affirmative rights at all. A patent is strictly a negative or exclusionary right--the right to exclude others from using, making, selling or offering for sale the patented invention," the piece clarifies.

Misconception #2: Patents can stand alone.

All patents have what is called "prior art" or things that come before it, including other patents, publications or products. Thus, in direct contradiction to the first misconception, holding a patent does not give you the right to practice your patented invention without having to license a previous patent. What you get from holding a patent is the right to file suit against someone who is making, using, selling, or importing your patented invention without your permission.

Misconception #3: If someone is practicing something that resembles your patented invention close enough, that person is infringing on your rights.

Similarities don't amount to infringement. According to the story, "the fact is that the scope of a patent is limited to its claims, and each limitation of the claim must be met by the allegedly-infringing product or process in order for infringement to exist (this is known as the 'all elements' rule of patent infringement.)"

For more details, go to this article Is My Patent Being Infringed?.

Misconception #4: Rights commence when you file the patent application.

You gain the right to collect damages for patent infringement upon the issuing of the patent--not upon its filing date. The latter date is still significant, however. For example, if you have made your invention public, you have a one-year "grace period" in which to file, not obtain, the patent.

For more information, check out...

Nature of Patent and Patent Rights

Source:

Common Patent Misconceptions
Wealth of Ideas Newsletter, April 2005
www.patentclaim.com/Patent_Claim/newsletter/159