Patent laws and patent work is confusing enough but the steps taken prior to patent application can be really confusing. Some authors in books, magazine articles, and on the WWW recommend one approach and some another. One oft-recommended approach to protect and invention is to record the details then seal this in an envelope which is then mailed to oneself or to a trusted friend or attorney with instructions to not open the envelope. However, other writers have noted that this process has not withstood the tests in court very well because this approach is too easily compromised; a tampering can take place too easily.
The US Patent Office has built some assistance in this process with their "Document Disclosure Plan". This entails sending a form along with the inventive description including drawings and $10.00 to the Patent Commissioner. A serial number is assigned to that document and the document is kept in confidence for a maximum of two years. After two years the document is destroyed. This action is an assist to the pre-patent protection but is not a total answer. Here is how one can further strengthen the process.
Harrie Buswell invented his own approach to this some years ago and has applied this approach repeatedly. This system strongly covers the prepatent application time but also can be useful long after. Here it is step by step.
1. Collect descriptives and drawings on the invention (or inventions) as complete as possible. Make copies because there will be no access to them again for some years. Harrie's approach is to make copies of his logbook and copies of everything he is going to insert into this system.
2. Take all of this to a bank and initiate a new lock box.
3. Put everything into the lock box. The bank will make record of this initiation of that lockbox. And they will not ever allow you access to that lock box again without making a record of the date accessed. You will not want to go back to it because that date of initiation will be your proof of date of invention as of that date. Your papers would have earlier dates; these are supported and substantiated by the date of the lock box interment. Those dates may be contestable but the date of the lock box inception is rock solid (as long as you do not return to it) 4. Next fill out the document disclosure form from the USPTO. Harrie notes the title of the invention (or inventions…you are not limited to only one with this system). And note bank, the city, and the lock box number indicating on that document that the details are interred at that location …with the lock box initiation dated as well. Send that (and the $10.00 fee) to the Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO.
5. This process costs $20 or a bit more depending upon the cost of the lockbox. And more than one invention can be handled as well for this price. The Patent Office is only recording what you send them by establishing a date and assigning a serial number to whatever it is that you send them; they do not screen or pass judgment on it. The disclosure system at the Patent Office is a one-time fee while the lock box fee is, of course, for a year. The lock box can be kept for a year or two until covered by the patent application. Or it may be wise to keep it longer. The reason to keep the lock box after patent application is that if there is any question that might arise about prior work or about due diligence then keeping the lock box longer is wise. Well, how does one know if a question will arise? That is like looking in a crystal ball … since this is not possible to know the decision reverts to the value of the invention.
A rock solid date is thus established. Dates on your log pages or other data you put in the lock box are subject to challenge but the date of the lock box inception is established beyond any doubt (again, this is only if the lock box is not returned to). If your log pages are dated and initialed and even witnessed by another person (dated and signed or initialed) then earlier dates may well be possible to establish, certainly this approach is going to strengthen and support even the earlier date credibility.
This approach is for use of anyone who needs it and cares to but the content is Copyrighted © 2004 harrie r. buswell. Alternate title INVENTING SOME MORE INVENTION PROTECTION.