A guide to the key stages involved in patenting your idea
Because a strong patent gives its owner the legal right to a monopoly. But patenting can be costly and time-consuming, so in some cases it may not be justified. For example if a product is going to have such a short life cycle that speed to market is more important than IPR.
If cost is no obstacle, as soon as possible. But beware of acting in haste. First, file before you've fully thought through your idea and you may need to file additional applications later to cover improvements. Second, once you file a patent application you're on an unstoppable conveyor belt with fixed dates for commitment to often difficult decisions and serious expenditure. Overall, a more realistic answer may be 'delay filing for as long as you safely can'.
Not necessarily, but it does make IP theft more difficult to get away with and thus perhaps less likely to happen. It flashes up a warning that you claim legal rights, and that you can take people who infringe your IPR to court and claim appropriate compensation.
It varies but can easily amount to huge sums (in most people’s terms) for worthwhile protection. You can do all the paperwork yourself but this may well be false economy (see next FAQ). Using a patent attorney, a UK-only patent typically costs £1-2,000 but this may be inadequate if your idea has potential beyond the UK.
A Patent Convention Treaty (PCT) patent giving worldwide cover for 30 months costs from around £3,000, as does a European patent. But once you have to file in each individual country where you might need protection the process becomes very expensive - certainly a five-figure sum. Renewal fees for each country also have to be paid, which, while relatively small individually, can add up to a significant and recurring funding need.
Probably yes. In theory you can handle everything yourself at no direct cost except for Patent Office examination fees, just as you can do the simpler process of conveyancing when you sell your house. But the strength of a patent usually lies in the skill with which the invention is described, and especially in the wording of claims. Patent attorneys spend their professional lives honing those skills, so there is much to lose - perhaps everything - by not using them.
Don't disclose any functional details of the invention to anyone except in confidence. That means getting them to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement (NDA). And never let anyone - especially the press or other media - publicise the invention in any way until you've filed a patent application. (Organisers of school or student innovation projects please note!)
Those whose jobs require them to deal with confidential information as a matter of course (for example patent attorneys, patent librarians, DTI officials) are normally safe bets. Other parties should be trusted only if they sign NDAs. However, remember that you need to communicate to succeed, so excessive secrecy doesn't help. The different forms of IPR exist to enable progress to be made through controlled disclosure. Inventors who won't tell anyone anything, or demand huge sums before they'll explain their ideas, usually get nowhere.