Learn From My Mistakes - My Patent Team

ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN IN YOUR SHOES

ADVICE FROM FRANCISCO GUERRA

With over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I've had my fair share of success and failure. Here are 3 things I wish someone would've told me when I was starting out.

#1: DON't GIVE YOUR IDEAS AWAY

When I was first starting out, I was so excited about my ideas that I wanted to share them with everyone. I learned the hard way that not everyone can be trusted with your ideas. If you talk about your ideas/inventions without having a patent, there’s nothing stopping another individual or business from implementing it. Then, they would be profiting from your idea/invention because you didn’t have a patent.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Get a patent before you talk about your ideas/inventions!

#2: TAKE ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO'S DONE IT BEFORE

Most people mean well when they give you advice, but sometimes you have to take it with a grain of salt. Not everyone is an entrepreneur and not everyone truly understands how business works. If you’re looking for advice, the best place to get it is from someone who’s done it before. If they’ve already been through the process, they can probably think of a couple things that would’ve made it better. I would be very weary to take advice from someone who hasn’t done what I’m trying to do. Would you ask a pastry chef for car advice? Probably not. So, you probably shouldn’t take business/patent advice from someone who doesn’t have a business or patent.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Don’t take business advice from someone who doesn’t have a (successful) business!

#3: Provisional patents can come in handy

Most people think of the patent process as a lengthy, drawn-out, and expensive. While that is true in some cases, it’s not true in all cases. Provisional Patents are informal and inexpensive. The United States patent law follows the ‘first to file’ rule. Meaning whoever files first will be granted the patent, NOT whoever invents first.

Here’s an example:

John invented the selfie stick in his basement 50 years ago but didn’t file a patent.

Sally invented the selfie stick in her basement 2 weeks ago and files a patent.

Since Sally was the first to file, the USPTO grants her patent. Sally manufactures the selfie stick and it’s now in retailers nationwide.

John sees the selfie stick for sale in a store. John calls the USPTO and says, “Hey that’s my idea. I have proof that I invented it 50 years ago!”

The USPTO says, “Sorry, John. Sally was the first to file, so she owns the patent.”

Now John is sad because he didn’t file a patent and Sally is making millions of dollars.

Don’t be like John. Filing a Provisional Patents only costs a couple hundred bucks and it establishes your filing date. If two people have the same idea/invention and file a patent, the patent will be granted to whoever has the earliest filing date. Plus, after you file a Provisional Patent Application you can label your invention as “Patent Pending.”

KEY TAKEAWAY: Provisional Patent Applications are inexpensive and establish your filing date!