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(Brad Fach)
Good morning, in this video,
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we're going to go over
how to patent software.
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You should learn what exactly are
software patents, and how are they different
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from other types of patents,
and how to actually go about
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filing your software patent application.
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And if you stick around and
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watch the video 'til the end, I
will show you exactly where you can
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download a free template
and free information to get started
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writing your own
software patent application.
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My name is Brad Fach.
I've been filing patent application for over 11 years.
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I'm a registered patent agent with the US
Patent and Trademark office.
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I've filed over 500 different
patent applications in a variety of areas
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including many
software patent applications.
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And I'm a certified licensing
professional.
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So before we jump in to software patents,
let's talk a little bit
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about the different types of patents
you can choose from when you have
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a new invention.
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If your new invention was
a new type of plant,
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you would file a plant patent.
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If your new invention was a new design,
like a new Coke bottle design,
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you would file a design patent.
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What we're going to be talking
about here for software patents,
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are called utility patents.
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Which means there--uh, there's something
that has a unique and usefulness to them,
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and so there's different types
of utility patents applications.
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There's a provisional patent application,
a non-provisional, continuation, CIP, and divisional.
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And that's just a few of them.
If you want to learn more
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about the different types
of patent applications, uh..you can
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visit PatentFile.org.
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So, software patents,
or software patent applications,
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are a type of utility patent applications.
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Now, utility patent applications
are either compositions of matter,
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so, these are things like widgets
or tools.
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the traditional things you think of,
when you think of a new patent
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or a new invention.
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But they can also include
things like methods.
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So, in the past um--say
a new chemical process,
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um, or new biotechnology process,
those would all be protected
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as method patents.
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And that's been--ya know, around for
100 or so years here in the United States.
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Recently, within the past few decades,
people have been able to get patents
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on methods performed by software.
And so, that's where the term
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"software patents" come from.
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They're basically any methods
that are performed by a computer.
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And so, software can be protected
two different ways.
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The software code is actually protected
under copyright.
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So, that's really easy to protect
your software code by copyright.
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But if your software code is more than
just code, you know...
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it's more than just a website,
or more than just a blog...
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if it's actually a really
neat piece of software,
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that can perform a new and useful
method or function,
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then that would also fall under
the patentable category.
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You could actually protect it
by a copyright and by a software patent.
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You should know that it is
getting harder and harder
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to get software patents allowed.
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You know 10 or 15 years ago,
you could probably get a really broad
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software patent allowed on...say a method
of purchasing an item online,
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and adding it to a shopping cart.
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Um now-a-days it's very hard
to get those type of broad, softer patents
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And rightfully so, I think a lot of people
abuse the software patent system.
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So, who uses software patents?
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All the big technology companies do.
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It's probably one of the most valuable
type of patents you could have,
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at least now-a-days.
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It's important to know the best time when
to file your software patents.
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A lot of developers don't realize this,
but if you publish your software online,
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you make it
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available for sale, um you could actually
block yourself from getting a patent if
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you don't already have your patent filed
first. So I always tell people you should
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really try to get your patent filed first.
At least a provisional patent application
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Its very cheap and easy to do. Do that
before you launch your product or launch
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your software, because you might lose
your patent rights, if you don't follow it
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in that order. Now in the United States we
get this twelve month grace period.
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Which means if you want patent protection
in the United States and you did launch
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software first, that's okay you have
twelve months from the date your software
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first went public to get your patent
filed. And so this is a typical timeline
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if you have your idea, you should do a
kinda of basic patent search. Make sure no
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one else is doing what you think is
novel.
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Um, go to your prototype or your alpha or
your beta version of your software, then
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file your provisional patent before you
show anyone or have it available to the
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public. Um, once your provisional patent
is filed, then you can do your alpha or
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beta launch or or soft launch to see how
well your software is doing. Maybe find
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some customers, find some investors, um
build up some buzz about your software
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product. Then file your non-provisional
patent. That has to be filed within a year
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from the date you filed your provisional
patent. And that's kinda the real patent
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that goes through the patent process and
ultimately issued with a patent number.
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And your patent will expire twenty years
from the date you filed it.
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So there's only two ways that you can
apply for a software patent, or anything
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patent for that matter, in the United
States.
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Uh you could hire a registered patent
agent or patent attorney to write it for
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you. Um, on the cheaper end, that's going
to be about a $1,000. Uh we've paid all
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the way up to $40,000 at the university
where I work, uh for a very complicated
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software patent. Um, the second option is
to do it yourself. Um, as the inventor you
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could write or file your own patent
application yourself. And I'll show you
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how to do that in video two, which is
coming up next. Um, if you do want to
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download a software patent template or see
what different examples of software
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patents look like, you could go to our
website PatentFile.org/software