anyone know much about patents?

[djs1w]

say there's a fairly common piece of furniture, and I have an idea to improve the functionality of that furniture. Would I be able to patent my idea?

I've been messing around on the government's patent website but haven't really come across anything, my guess is I'm going to have to speak with a patent lawyer.

 

[loup garou]

If it's a chair with two extra legs to prevent you from falling out of your chair, Homer Simpson and Thomas Edison both already invented it.

 

[Trygve]

Possibly. In order for a patent claim to be valid under Title 35 of the United States Code, it has to meet five fundamental requirements:

1. patentable subject matter - a stapler or a method for purifying silicon would generally be patentable; a variation on existentialism or a new religious belief system would not be.

2. originality - it can't have been invented by someone else; if you "discovered" an invention by overhearing a discussion about it in a restaurant, you can't race to the patent office and try to get a patent on it before its inventor gets around to filing.

3. novelty - it must be a new idea, not one already in use or one that has already been written about.

4. utility - a "useful" invention is one "which may be applied to a beneficial use in society, in contradistinction to an invention injurious to the morals, health, or good order of society, or frivolous and insignificant" (Justice Story [383 U.S. 519, 533])

5. non-obviousness - the patent must describe something that would not be obvious to someone reasonably well-trained in the field.

 

[djs1w]

thanks for the info so far, bump for the morning crowd.

 

[conjur]

:frown:

<---- still kicking self in butt for not patenting his idea for online paging (instant messaging)